Biography

Since beginning teaching, Margaret has been interested in a number of issues pertaining to language and social justice. These include:

• the integration of language and content learning in secondary schools;
• migrant student re-settlement.

Out of these personal interests, developed a commitment to teacher professional development. Margaret has published regularly in the teacher journal Many Voices, and has also assisted classroom teachers to publish. She has run contracts for the Ministry of Education in the field of teacher inquiry into effective practice for students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Margaret has been a member of Ministry of Education advisory groups such as Pasifika Literacy, Learning languages, Teacher Resource Bank Viability Study, English Language Intensive Programme, Making Language and Learning Work 1: Integrating language and learning in secondary Maths and Science.

Margaret is a committee member of AKTESOL and on the organising committee for CLESOL 2008.
 

Research Intrests
Teacher research, classroom-based second language acquisition, school and community engagement in particular the Korean community and The New Zealand Curriculum.
 

Qualifications
MA (Hons), Diploma in Korean, Diploma in English Language Teaching, Diploma of Teaching
 

Teaching Background
As a secondary school teacher Margaret has worked in the English language teaching field since 1973, teaching in south Auckland and involved in refugee re-settlement. While school teaching Margaret was active in professional development in her school and as a contributing writer to the professional development programme Learning Through Language. Margaret was also active in curriculum development, for example as a principal writer of Korean in the New Zealand Curriculum.

Since 1992 Margaret has taught on the Graduate Diploma in TESSOL teaching courses in Year 2, and optional courses on assessment and teacher research. For seven years Margaret ran the Ministry of Education’s major online resource for mainstream and ESOL primary and secondary teachers - ESOL Online on Te Kete Ipurangi.
 

Most Recent Publications

• 2007. Teacher research: Are the outcomes worth the struggle? Set (3), 44-49.
• 2006. Secondary schools as gatekeepers: The role of ESOL students in placement decisions. The TESOLANZ Journal, 14, 60-74.
• 2006. Teacher research as TESOL professional development: A case study. New Zealand Journal Of Teachers’ Work. http://www.teacherswork.ac.nz/journal/volume3_issue1.html