Could the challenge of mastering threshold concepts be a potential factor that influences a student's decision to continue in electronics engineering? This was the question that led to a collaborative research project between educational researchers and the Faculty of Engineering in a New Zealand university. This paper deals exclusively with the…

Educational researchers can incorporate benefits for themselves and teacher participants by planning for interactions between research, practice and teachers' professional learning from the outset of a project. However, the dual role of a researcher as a professional learning partner has rarely been explicated and theorised in studies of…

In this article the author reviews and discusses John Hattie's book "Visible Learning". In this book Hattie presents the results of a meta-meta-analysis on the conditions of successful teaching and learning in schools. Hattie's work is based on more than 800 meta-analyses, and these meta-analyses are substantiated by more than 50 000…

The growth of interest in historical research into the commonplace provides opportunities to explore the different means through which we can understand the everyday world of teachers. Unlike the "well-known" in education past, where significant traces of their lives remain in archives and official records, little such evidence exists of…

This paper draws on the experiences of 20 academic developers as they examine the proposition that the organisation and work of academic development in higher education is fragmented. Academic development was seen to have neither the status of a field nor a profession, and there was recognised tension between an institutionally focused service…

In March 2004, Stephen Ball and others presented a symposium at the conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) on the necessity of theory in educational research. Like Ball, I have observed that theory, not just social theory, is a difficult space and one that divides researchers (those comfortable with theory and those less…

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…

A five-part cumulative report details the activities of the Pacific Circle Consortium. Section 1, on the origins of the Pacific Circle, describes the consortium on three levels: participating organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, participating institutions, and development teams. In section 2, the involvement of…

Initial activities of the Pacific Circle, an educational exchange project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, are reported. Information is divided into four sections. Section I outlines the origins and evolution of the project. Section II details membership and describes the main lines of activity which have taken place…

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…

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…

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…

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)

As exemplified by New Zealand, the nature of educational policy research is shaped by political and social factors that impinge upon the research environment. Following a description of the educational system and research funding methods, this paper analyzes three areas that affect policy research in New Zealand and addresses relevant social…