Position

Senior lecturer

Biography

From the South Side: Pennie is a New Zealand-born Niuean raised in Mangere and currently residing in Flat Bush. She has four beautiful Niuean-Samoan children and four gorgeous mokopuna.

Pennie comes to us from a short prison stint (true story), but she loves to meet new people and learn new languages. She comes with almost 30 years of educational experience across the schooling sector, the Ministry of Education and as a supervisor/mentor for senior leadership in schools.

Pennie’s master’s research focussed on Niuean secondary school boys and their aspirations to pursue tertiary education and she followed this up with a doctorate in Education from Auckland University. This time with a focus on Vahāloto and the impact of Niueaness on doctoral success. Pennie is keen to give back to the community, and she has chosen MIT as her first home to share the fruits of her own success.

Why I love MIT

Fakaalofa atu everyone. My daughter graduated from MIT with a Bachelor in Performing Arts under the esteemed tutelage of amazing Pasifika academics and mentors. Her achievement is a testament that MIT has the goods to grow our young people to achieve in their chosen fields of passion and interest and I am keen to support our community in that same pathway of tertiary level studies.

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