Keeping it in the family with a career in teaching

After graduating himself, he used his skills in language teaching to support his travels in South Korea and China.

Peter has now cemented that family influence, and his own experiences as an educator overseas, into a teaching career with his graduation from the university’s Faculty of Education and Social Work – the same faculty where his mum, Marineke Goodwin, has taught since 1990.

Peter, who lives in Morningside, received his Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Primary) on Wednesday (May 9) at the faculty’s graduation ceremony watched, with pride, by Marineke who graduated from the Epsom campus herself in the 1970s.

This was Peter’s second University of Auckland graduation ceremony – he received his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts double major in English and History , and went on gain a Master in Applied Linguistics at Australia’s University of New England.

Now 31, Peter had no doubt, after his experiences at schools in South Korea and at Beijing International Studies University, that he wanted to make teaching his future – but it was still a hard decision to go back to full time education.

“It's never easy to take a year out of your life to study – I'd been working full-time for close to a decade at that point,” he says. “Also, I had to begin again from the bottom which is quite humbling, especially for someone who had been working as a teacher for five years or so already.”

But the sacrifice was well worth it.

“I have discovered a passion for maths I had no idea about. As someone who had always had an affinity for languages and literature, I was very impressed with the changes that had happened in mathematics education since I'd been away from school. I feel like schools are now far better prepared to encourage mathematical learning in all students,” he says.

Peter is now putting what he has learned into practice at Westmere School where he is already teaching. And although his studies are complete for now, he will still be gathering information to help him in his role. “The learning never stops,” he says. “A good teacher needs to be a scavenger, looking out all the time for interesting ideas they can bring into the classroom.”

And with an awareness of teaching, and appreciation of education, language and literature, that goes back to childhood and influenced his travels, it’s likely Peter already gathered a treasure trove of ideas to keep his young Westmere students engaged.

Media queries

Alison Sims | Media Adviser
DDI: 09 923 4953   
Mob: 021 249 0089  
Email: alison.sims@auckland.ac.nz