Sue Brown
Writer , Editor
Biography
My working life has taken some interesting twists and turns, starting at Wellington Teachers College long ago. I’ve taught most ages and stages, from new entrants through to teachers doing postgraduate courses. I’ve worked in primary, secondary, special, and community education, as well as teaching teachers in New Zealand and in the United States.
I eventually realised that what I enjoy most of all about teaching is making complex things clear and easy to follow. In most areas of education, that means translating big teaching or learning goals into small, manageable targets then working out how to achieve those targets.
Along came Learning Media! I loved my four-plus years at Learning Media, writing, editing, and publishing countless teachers’ guides, at first for the North American market, then later for the New Zealand commercial market. Highlights included writing a book and making a video on shared reading and being on the team that developed the Orbit/Skyrider materials, including shared reading posters, the W.R.A.P. assessment tools, and Write Tools.
Travel in the job included going to the United States for the International Reading Association conferences every year. I heard some of the biggest names in reading research and met American teachers who were fascinated that a tiny country like New Zealand could have developed so much expertise in teaching reading! I also went to Sweden, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia to look at schools, work with teachers, and help to “spread the word” about the excellent literacy practices and materials developed in New Zealand.
I’m now working fulltime for myself, working for a variety of different organisations. I’m developing, writing, and editing resources for educators in schools, tertiary institutions, industry training organisations, and other places. Working with people who teach, at all levels, continues to fire me up.