Ministry of Education

New Zealand Sign Language Professional Learning and Development

We are seeking to procure a professional learning and development (PLD) provider/s who will raise the acquisition and use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) among teachers that have Deaf or Hard Hearing (DHH) ākonga in their school community. The PLD is targeted at teachers at 150 schools who are currently accessing NZSL@School service. Teachers will have access to PLD across four years delivered by facilitators who will train and monitor progress in NZSL.

This is a unique opportunity to develop and deliver a programme for teachers of Deaf or Hard Hearing (DHH) ākonga to acquire and use NZSL within the school community.

Acquisition and adoption of NZSL by the education workforce will reduce the isolation of all DHH ākonga and standardise NZSL vocabulary across school and community settings.

Building the NZSL capability of the workforce will raise the profile of NZSL related education roles and create a skilled workforce that can transition with DHH ākonga and/or be employed as community resource, not locked into one education setting.

Normalisation of a person’s first language within the education environment has a positive impact on the wellbeing of each ākonga.

Department/Business Unit: Early Learning and Student Achievement