Video: School wide benefits of the Science Teaching Leadership Programme to enable high quality science education

Now, Aidan is the is the Head of Department Science at Aorere College in Papatoetoe, Auckland, and teaches students from years 9 to 13. As well as teaching science directly to students, he supports a team of passionate science teachers.

Aidan wasn’t always a science teacher. He began his career as a researcher looking at mosquitos’ sense of taste and he found a passion for teaching further down the track.

He says the motivation to apply for the Science Teaching Leadership Programme came when his Head of Department at the time, Chloe Innes, saw an opportunity to upskill as a department and work on the way they delivered the curriculum and engage students with science education.

“She was very strongly motivated by one of our pieces of data that tells us that our Māori and Pasifika learners [were] not choosing to take sciences into the senior levels at the same rate as our other students.”

“One of the things that we really aspire to see is more Māori and Pasifika health professionals."

Aidan has continued to focus on equity for students at the core of his mahi.

During phase one, Aidan was placed with two teams within Auckland Council – the Sustainability Education Group and the Kauri Dieback Research Group.

Aidan worked with the Sustainability Education Group on behaviour modification in the greater public to ensure people don't veer from walking tracks. They researched how to get schools and the wider community to consider sustainability education.

He was also able to ponder how those spaces could be reimagined and repurposed for education.

Aidan’s connections with Auckland Council still “bear fruit” – he and his kura have expanded a stream restoration project since connecting with the council and another participant.

Now, 350 students visit and work to restore the stream, and 3500 native trees have been planted. Another 1500 are scheduled to be planted by the end of this year.

Since STLP and engaging with the wider community, Aidan has seen a “huge uptick” in the number of practical lessons being developed and delivered in his science department.

Aidan says that participants will develop leadership that will enable their team to deliver better science education for their students. 

He says that this will result in a more connected and locally relevant science curriculum, delivered in a high-quality way. 

"Jump in and give it a go."

Applications are now open for STLP 2025, beginning in term 3. 

Apply now!