The Big Apple was even bigger and brighter than usual in last month. The end of March saw approximately 20 Faculty of Education academics join with 16,000 other conference goers in mid-town Manhattan. They were in New York City to attend the annual American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference, presenting papers and engaging in discussions across the broad spectrum of educational research.
University of Auckland contributions to the AERA conference included the presentation of 11 papers and a breakfast for the Education Deans from the top thirty Universities in the United States. The breakfast was co-hosted by the New Zealand Ambassador, the Ministry of Education, the Universities of Auckland and Waikato, UniServices, NZCER and CERT.
Sandie Gusscott, the University’s UniServices Business Manager, attended most of the presentations by Faculty of Education academics. She said their papers garnered the respect of educationists from around the world.
"The nearly unanimous feeling among those who attended these sessions is that Faculty of Education academics are both world-leaders and forward-thinkers in their field. Whereas many of their international colleagues are talking about how to make a difference, we are doing it—particularly in the areas of literacy, teacher education and student achievement," says Sandie, who also promoted the University’s education research to the World Bank in Washington DC.
Dr John Langley, Dean of the Faculty of Education, said he was delighted but not surprised by the response to the University’s education-focussed research excellence.
"Following the success of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and School Improvement conference in January, the AERA convention proved without a doubt that our educationists are cutting edge when it comes to evidence-based research and practice. Their work is already respected as cutting edge and that respect will only strengthen in the years ahead."
