02/10/2026
🎓 30 years of teaching you to teach 🎓
In 1995, three teacher educators, Lois Chick, Kevin Knight and John Langley, came together with a shared belief that there was a need for a high-quality alternative to traditional teacher education.
They formed the New Zealand Graduate School of Education with a clear vision: to challenge and improve teacher education by example, and to prepare teachers who were academically well qualified, highly skilled practitioners and committed to the highest standards of professionalism.
That vision became a reality on 1 October 1996, when NZGSE welcomed its first cohort of just eight students training to become primary teachers.
Thirty years later, we are incredibly proud to have supported more than 1,700 graduates through our Primary and Secondary teaching programmes, with more than 97% going on to teach.
While so much has changed over three decades, the heart of what we do remains the same. We teach teachers to teach, with a focus on ensuring our graduates can cause learning in the classroom.
And we couldn’t have reached this milestone without the many interns, graduates, tutors, schools, colleagues and communities who have been part of the Grad School story.
Rachael, pictured at the opening ceremony in the first slide and cutting the cake in the second, is one of many who have been part of that story. One of our first secondary interns, Rachael went on to spend more than two decades in the classroom before returning to NZGSE as a tutor, bringing with her years of experience and wisdom to share with the next generation of teachers.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of the past 30 years. We’re incredibly grateful for the people, relationships and shared commitment that have brought us here. 💙🧡
