Ali Glasgow
Contact
Location: Wellington, NZ
Information
Senior Lecturer | Victoria University of Wellington
Areas of expertise:
Education
Special Needs
Early Childhood
Available for:
Masters & PhD supervision | Media enquiries | Collaborative projects | Mentorship & career advice | Panelist & speakerships | Advisory committee
“It is greater to give than to receive.”
Ali likes this quote as it embodies the idea that helping and looking after others will bring its own rewards and personal happiness and contentment. She was raised with this understanding that to serve others and to help others in need including family and the wider community, in a humble and respectful way has its own personal rewards.
About
Ali is New Zealand born of Cook Islands, Tahitian, and American heritage. Her career as a teacher practitioner spans more than twenty-five years. This has included managing, supervising, and teaching across the wide diversity of early childhood education service provision. In recent years she has acted as mentor, and adviser for Pacific Language Nests and more recently researcher with these communities. She has a background in early childhood education (ECE) and as a Pacific teacher and researcher, she seeks to advance Pacific education, foregrounding cultural and linguistic pedagogy and practice, drawing on cultural community perspectives. She has worked extensively and researched with Pacific communities both within NZ and overseas. She has provided specialist advice in a number of contexts both in NZ, in the Pacific including the Cook Islands, and the Solomon Islands, as well as Indonesia and East Timor.
Ali’s PhD research investigated the language, culture and traditional practices in Pacific Language Nests in New Zealand. Through this research she built up a strong relationship with the Pacific ECE communities and works to foster and support these communities. Physical, temporal, interpersonal, intergenerational, relational (vā), cultural (tuakana / teina) and values based environments are key considerations when considering optimum learning environments for Pacific communities.
Ali is also involved in a VUW-funded cross-educational sector research from ECE to Tertiary. This project explores Pacific teachers’ perceptions of the Pacific values of respect, service and leadership. The research is conducted in educational settings in New Zealand, Samoa and the Cook Islands.
She maintains a strong interest in Pacific early childhood education in relation to language and cultural maintenance and village-based provision. She works closely with several Pacific language nests in the wider Wellington region. Her current research interests also include special needs and inclusion particularly social communication and competence in children diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum).
Academic Qualifications
2019 | Doctor of Philosophy (Education), Victoria University of Wellington
2006 | Master of Education, Victoria University of Wellington
1998 | Bachelor of Arts (Education), Victoria University of Wellington
1989 | Diploma of Teaching - Early Childhood Education, Wellington College of Education
Professional Memberships & Affiliations
Executive Member, NZ Association for Research in Education
Accolades
Recipient, Teaching and Learning Research Initiative, 2015