Primary trainee Jackson Barker: "That gesture really meant a lot to me"

22 September 2026

When Jackson Barker was in high school, he had major surgery that took him out of class for weeks. One of his teachers visited him in hospital and video-called him into lessons so the class could check in. Another gave up part of the holidays to help him catch up on Maths before his NCEA exams.

"He didn't have to do that, and I didn't expect it, but the gesture really meant a lot to me," Jackson explains.

It’s the kind of moment that Jackson – now training at The Teachers’ Institute to become a Primary School teacher – points to when he talks about why he wants to be a teacher himself. And why he believes relationships, not just results, are most important in the classroom.

"If you're able to have strong relationships with the students and create a really good environment for them, they will engage in your teaching more. Connect with them, get to know them a bit more - it really helps them to learn the content as well."

Before taking the leap into teacher training, Jackson spent five years as a youth worker in colleges across Auckland.

"I loved what I was doing, but I was ready for a change, and teaching was what I’d first thought about when I left school" he says. "I felt like it was the perfect time to transition into teaching with everything that I've learned and with some life experience."

That experience is what drew him to TTI's school-based model where, being based in schools from day one, he’s been able to build good relationships with the students and journey with them throughout the whole year.

There have been some challenging times. As a Primary teacher trainee, Jackson has gone from teaching 12-year-olds in Year 7 in his home school to teaching five-year-olds in Year 1 during his away placement.

“It was a massive jump, but seeing what happens in different levels of teaching and learning all the new techniques has helped me a lot when working with different students.”

Before starting the programme, he also wondered whether he had the right personality for a classroom. "I was nervous because I thought I had to be the loudest person in the room, and be really confident. I'm somewhat softly spoken. But when I got into teaching, I realised I could be myself, could still be softly spoken, and it can work in the classroom."

Now, three quarters of the way through his teacher training, he is struck by the impact the profession can have.

“Teachers have such an important role in the development of our young people. Whether that's providing the foundations of learning how to read and write or preparing them for Intermediate or even High School level. Being able to teach our young people and see the gems in them and what they bring to this world trumps everything else. It’s a great profession to be in.”