Cognition

Our governance facilitators come from a range of backgrounds as parents, board members and chairs, primary and secondary teachers and principals and working with the Education Review Office and the  Ministry of Education. All have previously worked for Cognition as part of the Board Training and Support contract.

	Jim Peters has been a secondary teacher, guidance counsellor and teachers' college lecturer. He was principal of several schools and in recent years has worked in programmes including: school improvement projects in Tonga and Vanuatu, alternative education, student truancy and transience, restorative practices and stopping domestic violence.
	Bill Gavin was principal of Otahuhu College from 1985 to 2001. More recently, he has coordinated the AIMHI schooling improvement initiative and acted as a NZAID consultant in Vanuatu. He presently chairs the City of Manukau Education Trust.
	Micheal King brings a wide variety and depth of experience in teaching and learning in both mainstream and Maori Immersion classrooms at year 1 – 8 in both low and high decile schools. He has been a deputy and principal of a number of primary schools in the Waikato and Taranaki.
	Ian Gardiner has considerable experience as a trustee on a range of school boards. He was the first Field Officer for NZ School Trustees Association in Auckland and was part of the group of trustees who established the Auckland STA, being first vice president and then president. Since 1995 he has been a  consultant to boards of trustees.
	Charlene Scotti has been a secondary teacher, deputy principal and education advisor. From 1993 to 2006 she was the Auckland Area Manager of the Education Review Office reporting on the quality of New Zealand's schools and early childhood centres. She has participated in international evaluation projects and in 2007 became an associate of Cognition Consulting.
	Alan Burton has had successful experience as principal and acting principal in a range of schools and held senior positions in the Ministry of Education.  In recent years he has been involved in a number of school establishment and restructuring projects.  He has had long experience of working with the boards of trustees of state, integrated and independent schools.

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