This paper is a version of the author's Keynote Address at the Oceania Comparative and International Education Society (OCIES) Annual Conference on November 21, 2018. She talks about the history of comparative education and how the it relates to the Oceania region. It is a field that relies heavily on accounts of Oceanic lives and classrooms…

Folk devils have to date been significantly overlooked in previous studies of moral panics. While several studies have called attention to this problematic (Thornton and McRobbie 1995, De Young 2004, Lumsden 2009), no specific theoretical framework has been proposed for reading this dimension of a moral panic. This paper argues that a moral panic…

The globalized nature of modern society has generated a number of pressures that impact internationally on countries' policies and practices of science education. Among these pressures are key issues of health and environment confronting global science, global economic control through multi-national capitalism, comparative and competitive…

Last February, in search of expanded thinking, the author led a group of 20 early childhood professionals on a study tour to Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). The group included two Canadians and two Aussies, with everyone else from the United States. While they knew they had much to learn from the overall system of early childhood education in NZ, the…

An educational researcher describes and reflects on a qualitative research project she conducted, focusing on her positioning, neutrality, and objectivity throughout the research process and during subsequent data analysis. The research took place in a K-12 school in a remote rural New Zealand community inhabited by Maori, 1970s…

This paper discusses the development of research on early childhood education in New Zealand, the people involved in the research, and other general issues concerning early childhood education in New Zealand. Content analysis of the New Zealand Early Childhood Care and Education Bibliography reveals an increase in published materials concerning…

The premise of this paper is that the state of educational sociology in New Zealand is uncertain. The following reasons are given: (1) The tradition of sociology is underdeveloped in New Zealand; (2) The community of scholars is scattered and divided; (3) Not enough effort has gone into the development of graduate research and occupational…

Advocates teaching as a research-based activity. Describes the national curriculum in English Schools and compares it with curricular development in New Zealand. Recommends inservice training (InSET) to ensure teachers' confidence in presenting scientific ideas. (Contains 25 references.) (YDS)

In the 1980s and 1990s the discipline of philosophy of education had an impact on schooling and the public service in New Zealand because of the contracted work of James Marshall and Michael Peters. This personal reflection by Robert Shaw is a tribute to James Marshall and provides insight into the relationship between Ministry officials, the…

Policymaking is a subjective, cultural, and intellectually complex activity in a democracy and should be researched with the multidisciplinary approach. This paper focuses on theoretical implications of the multidisciplinary approach and on its opposing position, the structural-functional approach, in educational policy research. The paper briefly…

Critiques many research efforts on women in educational leadership. Describes a feminist, action research project, and argues that it more accurately explores the issues and facts of this subject. The research project involved 10 women in education in New Zealand and sought to empower them to seek professional advancement. (JB)