Train the teacher programmes: Wintec/Chengdu University collaboration

Abstract

The Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) in Hamilton, New Zealand, is a government run tertiary vocational education institution offering programmes up to degree and postgraduate level. For a number of years Wintec has offered Train the Trainer/Teacher type programmes to staff from various overseas institutions, including universities and hospitals. The purpose of these is to offer groups of professional staff a unique opportunity for professional development, studying a programme in adult education in a Western country, and taught fully in the medium of English. These international programmes are tailored to suit varying lengths of time, but what does not vary is the huge impact on staff of the experience of living and studying for six weeks to six months in New Zealand with both their Chinese and new Wintec colleagues. This has consistently proved to be not only a memorable personal and professional experience for individual staff, but also one which the organisations sending staff to New Zealand perceive as a valuable institutional experience. From Wintec’s point of view also, it provides a genuine opportunity to get closer to understanding the world of other academics and their students, and to appreciate the different approaches to education both historically and in our modern world. It is an opportunity to learn from one another collegially, to share understandings, and to engage in mutual research. This presentation presents an overview of the particular nature of this programme offered at Wintec and discusses the collaborative relationship with Chengdu University, China.