This assignment is a Teaching Council mandated element of the final professional practice for all programmes. It is an inquiry-based assignment where student teachers use the ‘teaching-as-inquiry’ approach to identify an issue or question, related to their own practice as a teacher, which they explore on their final professional practice.

The focus of the culminating professional inquiry is guided by the student teacher’s kaiārahi and associate/mentor teacher. Student teachers will explore, discuss, and reflect on their chosen focus in relation to their teaching decisions and experiences during their professional practice placement, and with reference to the teaching standards. Activities that we suggest will assist student teachers to explore their issue/topic include:

• observations
• discussions with a range of professionals in the centre/school
• talking to tamariki and ākonga
• reading/viewing relevant material to create an evidence base for their project.

Student teachers must maintain a narrative journal during their placement and create a presentation to be shared with peers and submitted for assessment after their professional practice.

We encourage associate/mentor teachers to maintain professional conversations and offer guidance about the culminating professional inquiry during PP3. Student teachers may wish to share their presentations with associate teachers during the final week of the placement.