Mike Hughes is Teacher Preparation and Support Director at Teach First NZ. After graduating with a Master of Arts in literature and film, Mike qualified as an English and Media Studies teacher with a Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) from The University of Auckland. He has taught for over a decade in Auckland schools and was a Dean and a Head of Faculty, before becoming Deputy Principal at Pakuranga College. Mike completed his Masters of Educational Management in 2009 (University of Auckland), and through these studies became increasingly interested in Assessment for Learning and how its effective use in the classroom could have a real impact on student engagement and achievement. Teach First NZ’s focus on the development of high calibre participants into reflective teachers and leaders in education in order to improve student outcomes appeals strongly to Mike’s sense of educational purpose. He is particularly excited by the alternative pathway into teaching that Teach First NZ provides for highly capable and motivated individuals. A key piece of mahi that has led to a lot of personal learning, and growth for Teach First NZ organisation, has involved partnering with a number of Māori stakeholders, including our local hapu Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. This partnership has allowed for some really good kōrero and āko for our staff and for participants and we have been really privileged to have got to a stage where we have a number of noho on marae as part of our programme, each year. Mike has been invited to lead sessions on developing cultural responsiveness in teacher education by Teach for All (Mexico 2014) and Teach For America (Dallas, 2015).