Rota Carrington
Chair
Ko wai au
Kō Maunga-a-rangi rāua kō Mākeo ōku maunga
Kō Ōtara rāua ko Waiaua ōku awa
Kō Ngati Ngahere rāua kō Ngato Ruakenana ōku hapū
Kō Whakatōhea tōku iwi
Kō Mātaatua tōku waka
Kō Ken Carrington, Ngati Pakeha no England tōku pāpā.
Kō Tarati Eerueti Edwads, Whakatohea no Ōpōtiki tōku māma
Kō Rota Carrington ahau.
My life experiences and career journeys have mostly centred around people and learning.
I trained as a teacher in the early 70’s and have spent a majority of the years since involved in education.
As we acknowledge the importance of learning in the first thousand days I would also like to acknowledge the journey of lifelong learning. Taking on new experiences and challenges throughout life contributes to our kete of knowledge that we are able to share with others.
Some of the experiences and challenges that have been part of my learning journey are:
· Being a Teacher and School Principal for 35 years. In that time, I was fortunate to be able to carry out research into the common attributes of high-achieving schools with majority indigenous rolls. This research was conducted across 5 different countries.
· I was an Officer in the NZ Army Reserves for 15 years, learning to lead others from all walks of life.
· Cafe owner for 6 years.
· Iwi Education Group Manager for Whakatōhea Iwi.
That role reinforced for me the concept of “lifelong learning”. I oversaw the Management of two Early Childhood services, Alternative Education, Long term unemployed, gang rehabilitation and youth not in school or employment. It was in this role that I realised that the learning in those first thousand days enables tamariki to begin school on the same start line as those that are more privileged.
This realisation bought me to Talking Matters, looking for answers for the tamariki of Whakatōhea and eventually saw me joining the Board of Talking Matters.