Associate Professor Catherine Theys has taught for 10 years in UC’s Speech and Language Pathology Programmes (part of the School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing). Her passion and creativity in the development of learning resources and one-on-one mentoring of her students are not only an exemplary display of UC’s values themselves, but also maximise her students’ ability to display these values as well, supporting their own communities just as she has supported them: with manaakitanga, tiakitanga, and whanaungatanga.
Using a range of pedagogical strategies such as authentic assessment and a strong commitment to biculturalism, Catherine creates what Professor Don Hine describes as “engaging and supportive learning environments… fostering a rich and interactive educational experience”. Her students’ projects and learning activities include active learning opportunities such as developing resources to build community awareness about neurogenic communication problems and visiting the University of Otago’s pathology museum, where they solve case studies supported by clinical experts.
She is actively engaged with both national and international community and professional organisations as a researcher and well-known as a supportive mentor for new lecturers and her postgraduate students, nurturing their development as innovative and successful researchers themselves. More recently, as programme director of the Master of Speech and Language Pathology, she led the process of realigning course offerings in her discipline to ensure that they are Te Poutama-guided, providing clear steps for student progression. Her efforts have been reflected in notable improvements in retention, including in the number of Māori and Pasifika students completing postgraduate studies.
In the words of one of Catherine’s recent students, she is “Always kind and straight to the point… She has a brilliant mind and brings out the best in her students.”
