He pepeha

Ki te taha o toku matua
Ko Ngongotaha te maunga
Ko Awahou te awa
Ko Ngati Tunohopu toku hapu
Ko Ngati Whakaue ahau

Ki te taha o toku whaea
Ko Parahaki te maunga
Ko Ngunguru te moana
Ko Ngati Kahu, Ngati Hine me Ngati Hau oku hapu
Ko Ngapuhi ahau

Biography

Melinda is a former primary school teacher who has been lecturing and researching at The University of Auckland since 2001. Melinda is currently working as a researcher on the Starpath Project. She is also engaged in a tribal educational research project called ‘Te Ara a Ihenga: Maori student success’ in her home town of Rotorua. Melinda has recently completed her PhD titled - Identity matters: Racial-ethnic representations among adolescents attending multi-ethnic high schools.
 

Qualifications/Degrees

• BEd - The University of Auckland
• Dip Teaching (Primary) - Auckland College of Education
• Post Grad Dip Education - The University of Auckland
• MEd (first class honours) - The University of Auckland
• PhD - The University of Auckland

Current Research Projects

• The Starpath Project – Partnership for Excellence
• Te Ara a Ihenga - Maori student success in the Rotorua district

Research Interests (area & methodologies)

• Adolescent social psychology
• Racial ethnic identity construction
• Maori Gifted Learners / Maori student success
• Maori social sciences
• Qualitative research methodologies
  

Postgraduate Supervision

Completed Dissertations and Theses

• Chelsea Wills – BEd Honours - 2009: Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of writing ability
• Karen Liley – BEd Honours - 2009: Practitioner voices: new early childhood graduates’ perceptions of their preparedness to teach a bicultural curriculum
• Tessa Tupai – MEd - 2009: Experiences of first-generation university students: A New Zealand context
• Lisa Watson – MEd - 2011: Factors supporting Maori student success in two Northland high-schools
• Kiri Kirkpatrick – BEd(Hons) – 2011: Teachers’ use of information and communication technology to differentiate for gifted and talented students
• Rachel Aranui – MEd – 2011: Self-efficacy, classroom connectedness and racial-ethnic identity of tamariki Maori in bilingual classes
• Kirsten Clark – BEd(Hons) - 2011: Great Expectations for Male Maori in Education
   

Current Research Students

• Carla Hedgeman - MEd: An examination of Pakeha educator identity
• Vivienne Russell – MEd: Gifted Maori students in an English-Medium secondary school
• Catherine Mitchell – PhD: The experiences of first generation doctoral students: choices and challenges

Teaching Area/Interests

• Maori student achievement
• Maori research methodology - Kaupapa Maori
• Educational social-psychology – Identity development
• Gifted Education

Recent publications

• Webber, M. (2011). Identity matters: Racial-ethnic representations among adolescents attending multi-ethnic high schools. Unpublished PhD thesis, The University of Auckland, Auckland.
• Webber, M, & Kukutai, T. (2011). Navigating the ‘Space Between’: Authenticity and Identity in Māori Social Science. New Zealand Sociology, (26), 4-20.
• Webber M. (2011). Gifted and proud: On being academically exceptional and Maori. In P. Whitinui (Ed), Ka tangi te titi - Permission to speak: Successful schooling for Maori students in the 21st century. Pp 227-241. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington.
• Webber, M. (2011). Look to the past, stand tall in the present: The integral nature of positive racial-ethnic identity for the academic success of Maori students. In W. Vialle (Ed), Giftedness from an indigenous perspective. Pp 100-110. NSW, Australia: University of Wollongong Printery.
• McRae, H., Macfarlane, A., Webber, M.J. & Cookson-Cox, C. (2010). Maori students experiencing success: A pilot research project. Ngati Whakaue Education Endowment Trust Board, Rotorua, Te Waipounamu Focus Group: University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
• Webber, M. (2009). Nga haerenga: the bumpy road to research insight. Critical Literacy: Theories and Practices (3) 1. Pp 5 – 11.
• Webber, M. (2009). The multiple selves and realities of a Maori researcher. Mai Review (1), Article 1
• Bartley, A., & Webber, M. (2009). Duelling Imperatives? The Problem of Managing Equity Outcomes in a Rationalised University System. International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, Volume 9, Issue 2, pp.71-84.
• Webber, M. (2008). The role of education in ethnic identity development: The hybrid Maori/Pakeha experience. In Rubie-Davies, C. M., & Rawlinson, C. (Eds.) Challenging thinking about teaching and learning. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
• Webber, M. (2008). Walking the space between: Identity and Maori/Pakeha. New Zealand Council for Educational Research: Wellington.
• Webber, M. (2007). Hybrid Maori/Pakeha: Explorations of identity for people of mixed Maori/Pakeha descent (1st class honours), University of Auckland, 2007
• Webber, M. (2006). Explorations of identity for people of mixed Maori/Pakeha descent - Hybridity in New Zealand. International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, 1, 7-14, 2006.