Hon. Jan Tinetti

Associate Minister of Education

Jan is a list Member of Parliament based in Tauranga. She was born in Hokitika and grew up rurally on the outskirts of Christchurch. Jan attended Villa Maria College before graduating from Christchurch College of Education with a Diploma in Teaching (Primary) and the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Education. In 2016 she graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Masters in Education with First Class Honours.

Jan pursued a career in primary school teaching which saw her working in schools in Invercargill and Greymouth before embarking on a career as a school principal. Over her 20 years as a primary school principal, she led across four schools across Southland and Tauranga.
Jan’s last position as principal before entering politics was Merivale School, Tauranga’s sole decile1 school. Throughout her career in education, she has fiercely advocated at a national level for
equal educational opportunities. After seeing families struggling in her local community, she has campaigned for them to access everything they need to thrive.

Jan’s entry into politics stemmed from her belief that the Government has a role to play in ensuring all New Zealanders have access to the services they need to help them to be the best they can be.

Jan is currently the Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister for Women, and Associate Minister of Education.

Kent McIntosh

Co-Director | PBIS

Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports

Kent McIntosh, PhD, is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Special Education at the University of Oregon and Director of Educational and Community Supports, a research unit in the College of Education. His current research focuses on implementation and sustainability of school-based interventions, increasing racial equity in school discipline, and integrated academic and behavior support.

He is lead author of over 90 peer reviewed journal articles, presenter of over 50 keynote addresses, and principal or co-investigator of over $60 million in federal grant funding.

He is Co-Director of the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and lead of the Center’s Equity Workgroup, as well as a founding member of the PBIS-SCP Canada Network and a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Positive Behavior Support.

Professor Meihana Durie
Deputy Vice Chancellor Māori
Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa

Professor Meihana Durie is Deputy Vice Chancellor Māori at Massey University, Aotearoa-New Zealand, and was previously Head of School, Te Pūtahi-a-Toi (School of Māori Knowledge) at Massey University and at Te Wānanga o Te Raukawa.

He has a research, teaching and development background spanning Māori Education, Māori Health, Mātauranga Māori and Whānau, Hapū and Iwi Development. He also carries a range of leadership roles for his iwi of Rangitāne and Ngāti Kauwhata and sits on a number of panels, boards and committees that are concerned primarily with Māori success, advancement and development.

As a proponent for Māori and Indigenous Education, Meihana has presented nationally and internationally on a range of issues and areas concerning Māori educational futures, with a major emphasis upon the centrality of: Whanau (family); Ākonga (student), Puna Mātauranga (Māori knowledge systems); Kaupapa (guiding cultural principles and values); Tikanga (cultural practices) and Te Reo (ancestral language).

Katie Fitzpatrick Ph.D.
Head of School of Te Kura o te Marautanga me te Ako The School of Curriculum and Pedagogy
Associate Professor of Health and Physical Education | Rutherford Discovery Fellow
Faculty of Education and Social Work| Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland

Katie Fitzpatrick is an Associate Professor and Head of School in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. Her research and teaching are focused on health education, physical education and sexuality education, as well as critical ethnographic and poetic research methods.

She has a background teaching in New Zealand high schools, and also led the writing of the policy: Relationships and Sexuality Education: A guide for Teachers, Leaders and Boards of Trustees (Ministry of Education, 2020), and co-authored a teaching resource for mental health education: Mental Health education and Hauora: Teaching about resilience, interpersonal skills and wellbeing (NZCER, 2018). Katie has published 6 books, over 60 articles and book chapters, and is the lead co-editor of the book series Critical Studies in Health and Education (Routledge, New York).

She has recently co-led the writing of a new national curriculum policy with Professor Melinda Webber, Mental Health Education: A guide for Teachers, Leaders and Boards of Trustees (Ministry of Education, due out late 2022).