26 April 2004

Media Release

Auckland College of Education score gives confidence

Auckland College of Education’s score in the Performance Based Research Fund exercise is an excellent platform to build on, says Principal of the College, Dr John Langley.

The college ranked first out of the four stand alone colleges of education and finished in the middle of the ratings of tertiary education institutions that participated.

“In recent years we have made a concerted effort to build a research culture. This result is great testimony to our pool of researchers and emergent researchers at the college, many of whom are respected nationally and internationally for their work.”

The college’s PBRF results have added significance, given the proposed amalgamation of the college and University of Auckland. “The situation we have now is that the top ranked college and top ranked university from this exercise are proposing to amalgamate. We are seeing more clearly the strengths of our two institutions and what we can bring to the table in an amalgamation. We believe it’s setting a new benchmark for educational excellence and leadership in New Zealand.”

Dr Langley said the college’s focus had traditionally been excellence in teaching. “The college’s strengths are, and always have been, in teaching and applied research about and for the education community. For over 123 years we have been providing the nation with top notch teachers and social workers through our specialised education programmes, taught by leading teaching academics.”

ENDS