Wellington College of Education
Wellington College of Education (formerly Wellington Teachers' Training College) was established in 1888 with the purpose of educating teachers in New Zealand. It became the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, formed from the School of Education (of the Faculty of Humanities of Social Sciences) of the University, and the Wellington College of Education on 1 January 2005. From 1968 to 2016, it occupied an architecturally award winning campus in the Wellington suburb of Karori, designed by local architect William Toomath. The campus was awarded an NZIA Silver Medal (1972), and an NZIA Local  Award (Enduring Architecture) (2005). The campus had many facilities including a "marae" called Ako Pai Marae that was closed in 2016. About. Wellington Teachers’ Training College had a 125th anniversary in 2005, the College having been originally established in 1880. A decision to expand the teacher training facilities in Wellington was made in the 1930s, however it was not until 1966 that the building of the Karori campus began. There were teacher training reforms in the mid-twentieth centenary that were triggered by increased populations after World War Two. The campus was architecturally significant and had a Category 1 rating  by Heritage New Zealand. It was transferred from the Ministry of Education to Victoria University of Wellington in 2004 for $10. It was sold by Victoria University of Wellington to Ryman Healthcare in 2017 for $28 million. Two of the heritage buildings were subsequently planned for demolition as part of the development by Ryman's, with Historic Places Wellington stating this would be a "significant cultural loss". A local group proposed the hall and cafeteria be retained for community use.The faculty has had many notable teachers and students over its long history, significantly in New Zealand’s  education system, arts sector and Māori rights movement. Māori studies was introduced in 1963 with the appointment of Barry Mitcalfe in the Department of Social Studies. Tīpene O'Reagan joined Mitcalfe in 1968 and then redesigned the programme in 1972 when Mitcalfe left. Author David McGill, who attended in the early 1960s, says of his experience: As students, we all wore desert boots, fishermen's knit jerseys. We'd go to cafes and pubs. Barrett's was the nearest pub, or the George. Girls weren't allowed into pubs, so we'd go into coffee bars with them. Those were the  days, at that wonderful teachers' college in Karori, with liberal teachers like Jack Shallcrass.Wellington Teachers Training College was renamed the Wellington College of Education in 1988 in line with government policy.