The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) is New Zealand’s only national, independent educational research organisation. NZCER Press is the organisation’s publishing arm, publishing research-based assessment tools, journals, books and classroom resources, written by external authors and in-house researchers. Their publications are designed to meet the needs identified through their research work.
NZCER is at the leading edge of educational thinking, both nationally and internationally. All publications are research-based and peer reviewed. They are particularly strong in the areas of curriculum design, educational leadership, culturally responsive pedagogy, research methodologies, student wellbeing, and te reo Māori.
Featured series
Educational research
NZCER’s educational research publishing provides comprehensive resources for teachers, school leaders, policy makers, administrators and other stakeholders seeking to update their knowledge of current issues and practice. Education Studies in Aotearoa New Zealand: Key disciplines and emerging directions provides a comprehensive introduction to the core disciplines, and contemporary concerns, that inform the study of education in Aotearoa. Understanding Enduring Ideas in Education: A response to those who ‘just want to be a teacher’ presents philosophical thinking as a deep, ongoing exploration of the relationship between education and society. Diversity in community: Indigenous scholars writing celebrates and reflects on what it takes to build a dynamic community of Māori scholars. Kia Tangi Te Tītī – Permission to Speak explores what constitutes successful schooling for Māori students in the 21st century.
Professional development
Creative and philosophical approaches to professional development in NZCER publications offer teachers new visions for educational interventions. Teaching for Complex Systems Thinking is a future-focussed book that identifies complex systems thinking as an essential capability for citizenship, and sets out to show teachers how they might foster it. Educational Leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand: Issues of context and social justice offers school leaders and teachers 10 inspirational case studies of how leaders and principals have enacted change towards a more equitable and democratic society. The Hidden Lives of Learners is the culmination of Professor Graham Nuthall’s forty years of research and his observation that “just because a teacher is teaching, does not mean students are learning.”
Culturally responsive education
NZCER publishes a significant range of books that directly address issues of equity. Te Kura Tapa Whā: Embedding an Indigenous model of wellbeing into the learning environment provides a framework for culturally responsive action and is designed to be used by individuals or staff groups as an explorative exercise. The Hikairo Schema: Culturally responsive teaching and learning is an adaptable guide that invites teachers to rethink approaches to engaging students, re-envisage the teacher/learner dynamic, revise old habits, and reconfigure learning environments to acknowledge and embrace cultural differences. Three separate books for The Hikairo Schema cover early childhood, primary, and secondary teaching. Te Aotūroa Tātaki: Inclusive early childhood education addresses how teachers and policy makers can work for inclusion with diverse children and families. Teaching to the North-East: Relationship-based learning in practice responds to the marginalisation of particular groups of students with a way of teaching intended to increase equity in the education system.
Kaupapa Māori and te reo Māori
NZCER’s award-winning publishing in the area of kaupapa Māori and te reo Māori seeks to challenge, unsettle and provoke for educational change. Decolonisation in Aotearoa: Education, research and practice draws together leading Māori writers and intellectuals on topics that are at the heart of a decolonising education agenda. It was the winner of the Kōrero Pono / Non-fiction category at the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Awards 2017. Te Mauri o Te Whare offers a collection of essays pertaining to Māori teaching, learning, place, history, and literature. It was the winner of the te reo Māori / Māori Language category at the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Awards 2017.
Classroom resources
NZCER offers a wide range of practical resources to support teachers at ECE, primary, secondary, and tertiary level. Topics span from curriculum design to peer tutoring, to inquiry learning and integrating cross-curricular approaches. Mental Health Education and Hauora: Teaching interpersonal skills, resilience, and wellbeing offers teachers lesson plans to enhance student learning in these areas. Literacy Across the Divide: Information literacy as the key to student transition brings five years of research to light for teachers, librarians, and researchers.
Journals
NZCER publishes a range of research-based journals to support excellence in education. Set: Research Information for Teachers is a refereed peer-reviewed journal that has been in print since 1974. Offering quality educational research which reflects current practices and thinking, the journal reaches most New Zealand schools and is used extensively for professional development. Evaluation Matters—He Take Tō Te Aromatawai is an online, international, interdisciplinary journal published annually which provides a forum for articles on evaluation and evaluative thinking, particularly within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Early Childhood Folio is a refereed peer-reviewed journal aimed at early childhood leaders and practitioners, tertiary students and academics. It is an ideal resource for staff discussions and is a source of practical ideas for centre programmes. Curriculum Matters is an annual, peer-reviewed journal that provides an avenue for discussion, commentary and information about curriculum. Assessment Matters is a refereed, international journal that pushes the thinking in assessment in education research, policy, and practice.
