Suzi
Gould

Lead Facilitator (English-medium)

Region: Canterbury/Chatham Islands
Suzi Gould

Qualifications

Supervision skills for health and social service professionals – NZQA
Te Hapūtanga o Te Reo – NZ Certificate in Te Reo (Rumaki) Level 4 and 5 – Te Wananga o Aotearoa
Diploma of Web Design – Natcoll Teacher Scholarship
Bachelor of Education – University of Waikato
Diploma of Teaching – Christchurch College of Education
Diploma of Holistic Learning

Professional experience

Suzi has significant experience working with change leadership, pedagogy and innovation. She has worked with several schools, Kāhui Ako and clusters mentoring and coaching principal groups, lead principals and within/across school teachers.

Her current interests lie in coaching and mentoring, wellbeing, cultural capability, student-led innovation and the role of agency through these kaupapa. Suzi is a New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience accredited facilitator and can work with schools and teams to develop whole-school wellbeing programmes.

She provides a supportive and safe environment where you and/or your team are able to:

  • articulate thinking and talk your way to meaning
  • identify and redefine goals
  • learn to work more cohesively
  • declutter and deepen thinking
  • simplify processes to achieve goals
  • explore multiple perspectives and test assumptions
  • be yourself and laugh a little.

Expertise

Suzi has expertise in the following areas:

Localised curriculum design

Successfully supporting learning communities to:

  • review your local curriculum to ensure it reflects treaty partnerships, is future focused and meets the needs of your akonga and their whānau
  • partner with mana whenua and the community to determine ‘what matters here, for whom’ and aspirations of all (vision and values)
  • implement the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum as it is released, including the Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories content
  • develop coherent pathways of learning across the learning community
  • design an inclusive local curriculum with a focus on place based, authentic, inclusive learning opportunities.
Culturally responsive and bicultural practice

Suzi is an accredited culturally responsive facilitator who has worked alongside schools and learning communities to develop marau-ā-kura, embrace the principles of treaty partnership and reflect local history, and te reo and tikanga within English medium curricula.

Change leadership

Suzi has experience and expertise working with leadership teams to establish priority projects and area(s) of focus. She uses a strength based approach to encourage shifts in thinking and practise and helps to identify and celebrate successes through coaching and mentoring.

Mentoring and coaching

Suzi has been coaching and mentoring for many years, both within education and business contexts and within the He Waka Unua mentoring programme, supporting leaders and educators. Her clients describe her as non-judgmental, motivating, genuine and kind. She is known for helping people to not just think about the what, but the how and why of things – moving from lists of jobs and to-do lists into considering how your actions can:

  • align with your values
  • encourage ownership and gain consensus through co-design
  • establish mutually agreed goals; then plan and implement effective improvement programmes.
Assessment for learning

Successfully supported schools and learning communities to:

  • learn new ways of partnering to strengthen evidence-based local assessment practices and develop assessment capable learners who are the owners of their assessment information
  • collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data from multiple sources to rethink and redefine success for all learners
  • build coherence across the learning community and develop evaluative capability
  • ensure that assessment is culturally responsive and provides equitable outcomes.

Conference presentations, keynotes, seminars, workshops

2016–2021: uLearn conference presenter
2019-2021: Learning through play webinars 
iNVENTIONATOR student programme

Publications

Enabling elearning
Using Spirals of Inquiry to transform practice and raise literacy levels for boys
Primary school teachers use maths assessment to increase student agency

Personal statement

I enjoy working collaboratively and co-designing approaches within learning communities. I adore experiencing “a-ha" moments with teachers, leaders and supporting them to move through challenges and change. I love learning how to learn, not just what to learn, and I fully believe it’s not if you’re intelligent, it’s how!

My general approach to work is about being inclusive, challenging, scaffolding progress, working collaboratively and being positive – in other words learning stuff while at the same time having fun together. Work in education is about smiling, challenging, encouraging, accepting, enjoying, growing, and achieving.