How to engage and inspire tauira to care for the natural world!

Conservation Learning Facilitator, PJ with a tauira at Auckland Zoo.

Auckland Zoo is one of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s biggest providers of education experiences outside of the classroom, engaging tens of thousands of students to learn and imagine the future for wildlife, environment and people. Therefore, we know how challenging it can be for teachers to make conservation science accessible, enjoyable and inspiring.

Our expert Conservation Learning team have developed a Teacher Professional Development Programme. This programme is made available to selected teachers for free, thanks to our friends and proud sponsors Mazda, to support the kaupapa of accessible conservation science education. The goal is to empower Auckland secondary school teachers to feel confident in delivering exciting in-classroom lessons. This initiative has been championed and developed by our Conservation Learning and Community Engagement Manager, Colleen Cavanaugh who has dedicated her career to education and environmental organisations.

Conservation Learning and Community Engagement Manager, Colleen Cavanaugh.

“I have the privilege of supporting our zoo educators, championing them, helping them develop professionally and ensuring they have the resources they need!”

Colleen understands that empowering educators through providing tools and a deeper understanding of conservation science, can have a profound impact on connecting with young people. This nine-month Teacher Professional Development Programme will give teachers the tools they need to weave/incorporate wildlife conservation science into their lessons.

This is delivered through a self-paced module on the Zoo’s purposed-built online learning platform, a one-day workshop at Auckland Zoo led by facilitators and staff leading native species conservation projects around Aotearoa, and a visit to the participants’ school from the Zoo’s Conservation Learning Facilitators to provide outreach support. Using the knowledge they have gained, the teachers will then lead their students to implement a conservation project in their school or community.

We’re very excited to deliver this programme with the support of our partner Mazda, who have sponsored this programme free for selected teachers. This ensures that it is an equitable and inclusive programme for teachers from various backgrounds to expand their conservation science understanding and capability.

Head of Conservation Advocacy and Engagement, Sarah Thomas.

Sarah Thomas, Head of Conservation Advocacy and Engagement sees this programme as being pivotal to strengthening how we champion connection especially as a Zoo in Aotearoa New Zealand. “As humans, we’re part of, not separate from te taiao, which is threaded through our lives, shaping who we are and how we live.” Looking to the future, Sarah says “As we journey to position Auckland Zoo as te pā hono — a place of connection — we’re evolving our purpose to be an inclusive, accessible gateway that reconnects people with nature, enhances community wellbeing, fosters empathy, builds optimism, and drives social change for people and nature.”

To find out more about the programme – be sure to visit:
www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/visit/teacher-professional-development