Living and working in Aotearoa/New Zealand

In 2003 my husband and I moved to Aotearoa/New Zealand, together with our two cats. This move was inspired by our passion for nature and tramping, and the wonderful people we had met during earlier travels to this amazing country. We have not regretted the move one single moment, and we are calling Aotearoa/New Zealand home now.

Another reason for me to emigrate was the opportunity to work and learn in other cultural contexts. I had already tasted this at the university in my international consultancy projects, and I was intrigued by differences and similarities in approaches to education, which were clearly intertwined with the politics of the particular universities and nations. My experiences in Aotearoa/New Zealand, in my role as academic advisor at the Eastern Institute of Technology in Napier, strengthened these notions. This encouraged me to gain in-depth understanding of education and educational theories and practice. My thesis, for which I was awarded a Doctorate in Education at the University of Waikato in 2011, describes and explains the complexity of programme design practice in a polytechnic in Aotearoa/New Zealand in relation to ideological discourses in our society.  One of the key messages this study has given me is the importance of our responsibilities as educators to think critically about the discourses we follow in our decision-making and the possible consequences for students, our communities, society and the earth.

My advisory work at the Eastern Institute of Technology has been driven by vision, process, critical thinking, inclusiveness, and respect for the people involved. Projects and activities have been wide-ranging, including: small-scale research; development and implementation of institutional graduate attributes; programme development and review; programme, course and cross-organisational evaluations; educational project planning and management; policy development; embedding literacy and numeracy; staff development; provision of everyday academic support; and, participation in academic decision-making bodies. Working with people, helping them develop by challenging them to go out of their comfort zones and change their practices is still the greatest reward I can receive for my work.

I have gained a lot of knowledge, expertise and experiences in tertiary education. In 2011 I founded Govers Educational Consultancy and Research to enable educators and educational organisations to contract me and draw on my knowledge and expertise to realise their visions.