Teaching excellence win for Massey Uni professor
Teaching is no ordinary job for associate professor Margaret Brunton.
Brunton, who teaches communication at Massey University, received a Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award for Sustained Excellence at a ceremony in Wellington’s parliament on August 17.
She has also been awarded a Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
The fourth-generation former nurse says teaching is a passion and something that goes ‘‘way beyond enjoyment’’.
‘‘When you’re a teacher, you can make a real change, and help [students] with their progression in life and career and all sorts of things, and it’s fabulous. We’re so, so lucky.’’
Brunton says she’s fortunate to have received such great mentoring, including a significant teacher at Waikato University. The mother of two mostly worked at Waikato Hospital while her family was growing up, eventually specialising in cardio-thoracic and vascular surgery nursing.
She didn’t go to university herself until after her own children had graduated.
Through Waikato University, Brunton completed her PhD in Health Communication in 2001.
When starting her first teach- ing job was at AUT in 2001, she says she ‘‘hadn’t had a minute in front of a class.’’
Right away however, she knew it was for her and says she’s never lost that feeling.
Brunton has taught at the School of Communication, Marketing & Journalism at Massey for 12 years. Her research interests are multi-disciplinary and span across health, communication, organisation and education pedagogy. She tries to put at least 40-50 per cent of her research time towards teachingbased issues.
Massey Business School dean and professor Ted Zorn says Brunton’s portfolio brims with positive comments from students.
She’s now working on a study with international collaborators on workplace communication between overseas and host [country] nurses. Her main teaching goal is ’’to keep on reading, and get better and better’’.
‘‘It’s just one of those things that you know that you’re in the right place, and you’re doing what fulfils you as a person. I count myself so, so fortunate - I truly do.’’