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Senior Lecturer
PhD (UTAS) MEd (UTAS) DipEdLdrship (DCE) CertEdMan TTC

Southland Campus
Tel 64 3 211 6843
Email brenda.shanks@otago.ac.nz

Biography

I am a Lecturer at the College of Education's Southland Campus in Invercargill. I teach and mentor in the Primary programme and have responsibility within the campus for the delivery of curriculum science. I also coordinate and lecture in the 300-level Education Studies paper EDUC 335Construction of Learning in Educational Settings across both Dunedin and Southland campuses. Within the postgraduate programme I am a member of the team delivering the online paper EDUC428 Becoming a Research-Capable Teacher.

In 2010, I completed my PhD, Forgotten Students, Forgotten Teachers: Positioning the Middle Years in New Zealand Teacher Education. Middle level (Years 7-10) education continues to be the key focus for my research.

Teaching Area

  • Education Studies
  • Curriculum: English; Science; Technology

Research Interests

  • Middle level (Years 7-10) education
  • Initial teacher education
  • Primary science education

Publications

Shanks, B., & Dowden, T. (2013). Reinvigorating middle-years teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 48(1), 99-112.

Shanks, B. (2010). Forgotten students, forgotten teachers: Positioning the middle years in New Zealand teacher education (PhD). University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. 212p.

Paris, J., Polson-Genge, A., & Shanks, B. (2010). Effective pedagogy: The influence of teacher educators' practice on student teachers' practice and philosophy. Waikato Journal of Education, 15(1), 145-155.

Shanks, B., & Dowden, T. (2010). Sustaining middle level teacher education in Australia. In S. Howard (Ed.), Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference: Making a Difference. Retrieved from http://www.aare.edu.au/10pap/abs10.htm

Shanks, B. (2012, June). Positioning the "middle years" in New Zealand teacher education. College of Education Research Seminar Series, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar].

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