Nau mai, haere mai.
Warm Pasifika greetings.
With over forty full-time academic and general staff members, this is the second-biggest academic division within the Faculty. It was formed on January 1st 2008, bringing together staff from the School of Social and Policy Studies, and the School of Pasifika Education. Our team includes staff at Auckland City, Epsom, Tamaki and Tai Tokerau campuses. This School is uniquely diverse, engaging in a varied range of teaching and research. Yet its activities centre on a common theme: the place of education and its transformative potential in New Zealand society, the Pacific region and the world.
This nation’s history and our place in the Pacific and in the world confer much of the special character of the University and the work of Faculty of Education’s Schools. Universities in New Zealand have a statutory responsibility to take on the role of "critic and conscience of society". This means that one key task of a Faculty of Education in a New Zealand university is to act as the critic and conscience of education in this country. In the School of Social, Policy and Pasifika Education Studies that responsibility is addressed through our teaching, research and broader service to the profession. We promote a critical understanding and an informed practice that will create a better, more just New Zealand.
Most of New Zealand’s population growth over the next five years is expected to occur in Auckland, and much of it will be of Māori, Pacific and Asian peoples. Our School is researches and addresses the implications these changes poses for the education sector. The School, contributes to the University’s commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi, seeking to promote Māori presence, participation and success in education. Our Auckland location, the largest Pacific city in the world, necessitates and provides opportunities for the School to contribute positive actions towards transforming educational outcomes for Pasifika peoples. The fast-growing Asian population adds to the diversity and vibrancy of the education sector. The School seeks to strengthen links with Asian communities. Our teaching, research and service addresses ways in which informed practice might engage effectively with a wide range of backgrounds including socio-economic status, ethnicity, age, sexuality, gender, special needs, and languages.
The School’s academic staff members are organised in four main working groups:
An academic profile of each of these groups can be found by going to their individual pages.
Contact details for our School’s general staff are also available.
Some of the Faculty’s degree programmes and specialisations, in areas such as Physical Education and also Pasifika Early Childhood Education, are mainly based in this School. The school also plays a major role in the Doctor of Education programme. The School participates in other programmes as well, and engages in teaching and supervision at every level, ranging from undergraduate to research degrees.
We invite students and colleagues to explore the School’s web site and learn more about our activities and contributions.
Dr Airini
Head of School
