Brent Caldwell, of Mornington, has won the 2015 Otago Primary Principals' Association Ricoh Prestigious Award, which will allow him to travel to other parts of the world to conduct research which could improve New Zealand's education system.
Mr Caldwell said his research project aimed to examine the latest ''best practices'' used to support the learning of priority learners, such as children with dyslexia.
Much of his research will be carried out at Fairley House School (FHS) - an independent day school in London for children with special learning disabilities.
''FHS doubles as a research centre to advance teaching and learning programmes for dyslexic children.''
Mr Caldwell said he had a particular in
terest in dyslexia, so he trained at FHS and went on to work there between 1989 and 1994.
As part of his work there, he also received training at the National Hospitals College of Speech Sciences in London.
''I'm very excited. I'm looking forward to going back and brushing up on what's new in the field of support for children with specific learning difficulties.
''Part of the project is, I'm hoping to interview former students of the school and hear their life stories, and see how the work we did with them has helped them, and see if there is anything we can learn from their experiences.''
He hoped his research would not only help his fellow educators at Otago primary schools, but also assist schools across New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
''What I'm trying to do is examine best practices here in New Zealand, and compare them with best practice in the United Kingdom, and see if there are things we can learn from each other. There's always more that we can do.''
Mr Caldwell said he had been thinking about doing the research project since his time at the Fairley House School.
''Now, I've got the opportunity to go back and find out what's changed and what's new. It's a constantly evolving area of education.''
Mr Caldwell said his research trip could take up to five weeks. He hoped to go to London next June.
