Selwyn Times: March 07, 2018

SELWYN TIMES Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Wednesday March 7 2018 7
Your Local Views
Tai Tapu’s new principal
‘finding the right balance’
Tai Tapu
School
principal
John Kane
writes
about his
new role
I WAS appointed to the
position of principal at
Tai Tapu School at the
beginning of this year.
Prior to this I was
principal at Star of the Sea
School in Sumner.
My career in education
began 22 years ago and
I have taught in remote
Aboriginal missions in
the Australian outback,
private preparatory schools
in central London and for
the last 10 years here in
Christchurch.
It has been wonderful
teaching in different
countries and at both
ends of the educational
spectrum.
I reside in Sumner with
my wife, Michelle and
four-year-old daughter Isla.
The one constant in
education is change.
It’s incredible to see how
education has changed
with modern technology
and 21st-century teaching
and learning practices.
That being said a lot has
remained the same and so
it should.
For me as a school
principal it is about finding
the right balance between
modern teaching practices
and fundamental teaching
practices that have been
around for decades.
Schools should be a
reflection of our changing
society.
We cannot expect to have
a 1980s view of the world
and then teach with that
mindset.
The world is changing
by the minute and as
educators we need to do
our best to equip our
children with the necessary
skills, knowledge and
values to enable them
to make a worthwhile
contribution to society in
the future.
More than anything
else I want our kids to
be thoughtful and kind
citizens.
I am very honoured to
be the Tai Tapu School
principal.
The school has a
wonderful reputation in
educational circles and the
school has been completely
redesigned and built to
accommodate 21st-century
teaching and learning.
In my humble opinion
the learning environment
has little impact on
learning.
It can certainly assist
and facilitate things such
as technology but it is the
quality of the teachers in
each learning environment
which will have the greatest
impact on learning.
I’m very proud to be the
leader of a wonderfully
creative, innovative and
experienced teaching team
and this is backed by a
very supportive parent
community.
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