Tania Coutts

Professional experience

Tania has been part of the CORE Education Tātai Aho Rau team for seven years. Tania has worked across all sectors in a range of professional learning development projects focused on learning with digital technologies.  Tania is currently working within the Manaiakalani Outreach programme and Te Ara Whītiki - The Connected Learning Advisory.  

Tania has been part of the Manaiakalani Outreach team since January 2015. During 2016 Tania has worked predominately in an online capacity across the five Manaiakalani Outreach clusters.  This role has included providing 1-1 mentoring support for leaders and teachers and implementing programmes to promote collaboration between teachers/leaders and schools.  

Throughout 2015 Tania worked across the Kaikohekohe and Kootuitui clusters. The focus of this work was based on strategic visioning and planning for transforming pedagogy and learning across the schools in each cluster. Within the clusters Tania supported leaders and teachers to create an understanding of good pedagogy using 1:1 technologies and role modelled this in classroom environments. This understanding was developed through consultation, facilitation, collaboration and reflective discussions in a responsive and inclusive manner.

Tania has been contracted through CORE Education Tātai Aho Rau by two local schools to work in a regular consultancy role in the classroom with teachers and students. This has involved supporting teachers in their understanding of new pedagogies in learning and how digital technologies can support the nature of learning.

Tania became a Google Certified Teacher at the Google Teacher Academy, 2011, in Sydney. This has given Tania a vast amount of knowledge that she is able to share with teachers as they integrate Google Apps for Education into their classes/schools/centres. In 2013 Tania trained as an Apple Professional Development Consultant. 

Expertise

Change leadership 

Successfully supported learning communities to:

• explore current research to support shift to future-focused teaching practices
• evaluate pedagogy and practices to ensure they reflect future-focused education practices, driven by inquiry
• lead change within a school community.

Digital fluency

Successfully supported learning communities to:

• apply agreed frameworks to self-review practices and capabilities to identify and target areas for improvement
• increase student engagement and achievement through the use of digital technologies
• develop digital capabilities of teachers suited to the needs of future-focused teaching practices.

Future-focused education 

Successfully supported learning communities to:

• implement new teaching practices and pedagogies to enable achievement of future-focused goals identified by the learning community
• understand how to leverage knowledge creation and networked sharing in a digital environment to increase engagement and improve educational outcomes for learners
• increase inclusiveness, accessibility, and visibility of teaching and learning
• manage change by enabling cross-school coherence of goals and vision.

Communities of online learning

• facilitating online communities of practice for teachers
• mentoring, coaching and facilitating teachers and learners in online settings
• implementing innovative learning and teaching practices
• designing curriculum to empower teachers and learners.

Conference presentations, keynotes, seminars, workshops

• Coutts, T. (2016, October). Let’s Get Creative - Moving your stories with Animation. ULearn Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand
• Fagan, T. & Coutts, T. (2016 October).  Coding and Robotics
• Fagan, T. & Coutts, T. (2016 October).  Digital Literacies in the Early Years
• Coutts, T. (2016, May). Visible Teaching and Learning through the Power of Google Sites.  Digital Horizon Conference, Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2016, May). Let's Get Creative - Moving your Stories with Chrome Apps. GEGNZ Summit, Auckland, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2016, Jan). Let's Get Creative - Moving your Stories with Chrome Apps. Kaikohekohe Educational Trust - Teacher Only Day, Waitangi, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2015, Sept). Google Apps as a Launching Pad - Supporting Modern Learning Pedagogy. CORE Education Breakfast and Workshop, Dunedin, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2015, March). Google Apps as a Launching Pad - Supporting Modern Learning Pedagogy. CORE Education Breakfast and Workshop, Hamilton, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, November).  The Art of Storytelling in the Digital World.  New Zealand Tertiary College Research Conference, Auckland, New Zealand
• Coutts, T. & Fagan, T. (2014, October) iPads for Learning and Teaching.  ULearn Mobile, Rotorua, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. & Muston, S. (2014, October) Learning with Digital Technologies - Moving from integration to invisibility.  ULearn Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, August) Mobile Devices to Support Learning and Teaching. Hawkes Bay Primary Principals Conference, Taupo, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, May) Learning and Teaching in a Collaborative Google World. Learning@Schools Roadshow, Ashburton and Dunedin, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, May) Student Inquiry for Digital Citizenship.  Learning@Schools Roadshow, Ashburton and Dunedin, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, May) The Art of Storytelling.  Learning@Schools Roadshow, Ashburton and Dunedin, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, May). Learning and Teaching in a Collaborative Google World.  New Zealand Literacy Association Conference, Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Coutts, T. (2014, Feb, March, June).  Learning and Teaching in a Collaborative Google World. CORE Breakfast Seminars and Workshops.  Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington & Christchurch.

Publications

• Fagan, T. & Coutts, T. (2013).  To iPad or not to iPad? Interface, 45 12. 
• Spencer, K.M., Coutts, T., Fagan, T., & King, A. (2013). Connections, Diversity, Coherence: Three Vignettes Exploring Learning with iPads in Primary Schools. Computers in New Zealand Schools: Learning, teaching, technology, 25(1–3), 38–55
  
• Coutts, T. & Cribb, B. (2013) California Learning.  Interface Issue 48
• Fagan, T. & Coutts, T. (2012).  To iPad or not to iPad? (PDF, 111 KB) 
• Fagan, T. & Coutts, T. (2012). Visioning for Future Learning - Integrating iPads using the eLearning Planning Framework - Tara Fagan and Tania Coutts
  
• Coutts, T. & Kaye, B. (2009). Inspiring and Engaging Learners through ICT. Swings and Roundabouts, Issue 4. Early Childhood Council Pg 14/15.
• Coutts, T. & Kaye, B (2010) “Here’s my blog address – you’ll be needing this!” In V Ham and D Wenmouth (Eds.). eLearnings: implementing a national strategy for ICT in education, 1998-2010: CORE Education.

Personal statement

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata - I am driven to develop strong and effective relationships with people, built on a high trust model and a shared vision. I believe in providing a safe and engaging learning environment in a culturally respective way. I am highly skilled at working within a range of contexts from Early Childhood Education to secondary, bringing creativity and depth to the learning environment. I am experienced with facilitating both face-to-face and online, tailoring delivery and professional learning in a dynamic way to meet the needs and identity of individuals. An ongoing area of my professional passion is mentoring leaders and teachers, supporting them to embrace the rapid change and transformation occurring in education.

Social links

• Impossible is Nothing