Teaching Excellence Award for Faculty of Education’s Christine Rubie-Davies
Congratulations to Dr Christine Rubie-Davies from The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education, who has received a 2007 national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award.
One of ten recipients gathered for the recent prize-giving ceremony at Parliament, Christine was recognised for excellence in New Zealand tertiary teaching. This win follows her earlier success as a recipient of a University of Auckland Teaching Excellence Award for sustained excellence in teaching.
After an outstanding career as a primary school teacher, Christine brought her considerable skills to the University, where she has been involved in teacher education programmes since their inception at this University in 1998. She has made a significant contribution to the University's teacher education programmes and has played a key role in mentoring other staff members in the Faculty of Education.
In the University nomination for the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards, Christine noted that teaching the student and teaching the subject are the two key facets to her teaching philosophy. In accepting the award, which was bestowed by Minister for Tertiary Education, the Hon Dr Michael Cullen, Christine highlighted these areas of interest.
"I want [my students] to love teaching as much as I do, to make every lesson (theirs and mine) an exciting and meaningful learning experience. But most of all I want them to care about their students, to take responsibility when their students learn and, more importantly, when their students don't, to examine their own practice and grow as teachers," said Christine.
"The Faculty of Education is privileged to have an academic of Christine’s calibre in our midst and this award is richly deserved," says Dr John Langley, Dean of the Faculty. "Through the work of teachers such as Christine, our students are receiving the highest quality education possible, and we are confident their skills will transfer from our lecture halls into their own classrooms."
