Special recognition for Distinguished Teacher
FOR LYNETTE PIVAC, her Distinguished Teaching Award from AUT University was not only an acknowledgement of her hard work, but also the progress made by the Deaf community.
Lynette, who teaches on the Diploma of Sign Language Interpreting, was presented with her Distinguished Teaching Award by the Vice-Chancellor at a special luncheon.
AUT is the only university to teach the three official languages of New Zealand - English, Te Reo Maori and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). NZSL was made an official language last year.
Lynette, who is Deaf, has been associated with AUT since 1992, progressing from a tutorial assistant to a lecturer in 1998.
"The students, who are hearing, train to become interpreters so they can work in the field of interpreting two languages - English and NZSL," says Lynette. "If they are fluent in Te Reo Maori, they can work as trilingual interpreters.
"Since I started teaching, the interest in NZSL has developed a great deal. Hopefully the passing of last year's act will continue to increase interest, although not much is known yet within the Deaf and wider community about the benefits it brings," she says. "We aim to promote these through events such as New Zealand Sign Language Week this year."
This was the last Distinguished Teaching Award. From this year the new Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Excellence in Teaching will be given up to four teaching staff each year. Winners of th award will receive $15,000 each, paid as a taxable salary supplement.
Lynette Pivac and Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack
NB: Another member, also Deaf, has won a teaching award at Victoria University of Wellington. Click here for details.
