Mapping the building of capacity and capability within the educational research community Publications
Publication Details
This research project focuses on the educational research capacity and capability of the educational community in New Zealand. Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, the study was conducted by a joint team from the Universities of Auckland and Massey. The study involved 15 higher education institutions (universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, whare wananga) who offered postgraduate level education programmes or were located in population areas where Māori and Pacific nations people live.
Author(s): Auckland UniServices Limited
Date Published: 2001
Executive Summary
This project focuses on mapping the building of the educational research capacity and capability of the New Zealand research community. It originated out of joint discussions between the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) and the Ministry of Education over their collective concern about the future supply of educational researchers. The contract to investigate this educational research capacity and capability was awarded jointly to the School of Education, the University of Auckland, and the Massey University College of Education.
The research team met with an advisory group from the two above organisations which helped develop the framework for the study. It was agreed that the team concentrate on the postgraduate level of educational research to acquire a better understanding of the training of educational researchers and that the situation of Māori and Pacific nations researchers be given special priority.
Methodologically, this project employed the development of a template (a basic questionnaire) which was sent to the 15 participating institutions of higher education. The template was used as a guide for the interviewees who, in each case, represented the education school, department or college of that institution. The sample for the study was selected after a rigorous scrutiny of the current educational research capacity of higher education institutions. While other providers were considered for the sample, those private training providers did not have postgraduate courses in educational research so were excluded. The final 15 consisted of those institutions who met the criterion of postgraduate educational programs, including research, and/or were located in population areas of proportionately large numbers of Māori and Pacific nations peoples.
The 15 institutions are representative of the diversity of higher education in New Zealand - there are four traditional universities (Auckland, Victoria, Canterbury, Otago); two `newer' universities (Waikato and Massey); a university of technology (Auckland University of Technology); one whare wananga (Awanuiārangi); four colleges of education (from the main urban centres); and three polytechnics (UNITEC; Manukau Institute of Technology; Whitireia Community Polytechnic).
The data were gathered principally by face to face interviews (in 14 of the 15 institutions), complemented by document analysis of pertinent prospectuses and publicity material and e-mail contact with the participating individuals or groups. Data were collected by one member of the team to ensure consistency of approach and comprehensive notes from the interviews became the primary basis of the case studies, written by another member of the team. In every instance, the accuracy of the write-up was heightened by initially returning the interview notes to interviewee(s) for checking; subsequently, the institutional profile, once translated into prose from note form, was returned to the interviewer to validate that the intentions of the interviewee(s) were adhered to in the case study report.
The study found that there was considerable variation among the `types' of higher education institution, with the universities having far greater educational capacity than other kinds of institutions. However, the particular history and social context of each participating institution also played a significant role in shaping the particular contours of educational research culture for that institution.
Notions of what constituted `research' varied among the institutions. The universities tended to be more content with a classical view of research which allowed for more theoretical and philosophical research methodologies; the colleges of education and polytechnics generally felt that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) definition of research matched their current and future intentions in developing educational research cultures. This definition emphasises a more diverse range of conceptualisations of research, more particularly its applied or pragmatic character.
Postgraduate programs in the institutions also varied in size and scope. The traditional universities typically offered a full range of levels of courses in education, including doctorates. They had research pathways encompassing both liberal education and professional education strands. More specifically, they offered an MA or BA (Hons) pathway in which full-time students could pursue a career in research or an MEd option wherein current professionals could increase their research competency as part of gaining a higher degree. In this respect, the EdD available in three universities allows for a more concentrated examination of education for practitioners which entails greater research training. Overall, the postgraduate research courses on offer tended to have a stronger qualitative character - there were more qualitative than quantitative courses available across institutions.
The idea of a research career in education is in some danger of grave dilution if the data of this study reveal an accurate indication. This is because the vast majority of postgraduate students are part-time and full-time in their professional commitments. This means that their undertaking research courses as part of their obtaining a higher degree provides them with a modicum of research capability and the ability to critique research rather than a substantive research competency which will be longstanding as they conduct research as a career. Fewer students are moving on from a Bachelor of Arts degree in education into an MA; the more prevalent path is for some BEd students to continue their studies or for current practitioners to top up their credentials with a professionally-oriented program. The latter group is becoming the predominant cohort of postgraduate students of education in New Zealand i.e. mature-aged students, usually women, who currently have a professional position and return to higher education to acquire a 'finishing' degree.
Amid the 15 institutions there was unanimous support for the strengthening of research cultures. In the larger institutions, this is translated into continuing to support already established cultures; among the emergent players, the situation is typically one of trying to build both staff and student capability simultaneously. In many instances, the colleges of education and polytechnics have only a fledgling research culture which is being built up by encouraging staff to gain doctorates while at the same time these staff are maintaining an intensive teaching regime. Across all types of providers the commitment is strong but there is a hard road ahead for the emerging members to consolidate their resources.
The strategies for establishing effective educational research cultures are well recognised by all the institutions but their capability to achieve this goal is differentially distributed. Respondents in this study commonly talked about the need for research seminars by both staff and students; of acquiring financial resources to support travel to conferences; of the provision of good physical amenities such as computers and rooms for study; of incentives in the form of scholarships for students (so part-time students can become full-time); for effective mentoring of senior staff of other staff and of students; of the setting up of opportunities to critique other students' work and to publish. These and other strategies are hardly innovative but they do require funding and strong commitment from staff to make it happen.
The situation of Māori and Pacific nations postgraduate research in education is not strong. While Māori educational research capacity is considerably stronger than for Pacific nations, it is nevertheless struggling in some institutions. For Māori education, there are some universities with strong programs such as at the universities of Auckland, Waikato and Massey. In each of these cases, there is a critical mass of staff who work collaboratively for the benefit of their students and communities. Elsewhere, the commitment is usually strong but contesting for resources is fierce in an EFTS driven enrolment economy. The whare wānanga of Awanuiārangi, though young in its history, is establishing a strong culture of research for its staff and students. However, it will take a few years for the benefits of this work to come to fruition. While education postgraduate programs are developing, this has not yet flowed over into research for most institutions.
Pacific nations educational research is in a weak position. Most institutions in this sample did not have adequate resources to meet their goals. It is difficult to establish an appropriate learning environment, especially when it is not easy to recruit and retain capable Pacific nations staff. Again, the institutions want to expand in this area, but feel hampered by financial constraint.
The research output from the institutions tended to match the history of the School or College. Not surprisingly, the traditional universities were the leaders in international publications, in securing research contracts and developing partnerships with other institutions which would supplement their research strengths. There is residual resentment among some of the emerging players about how research contracts are typically won by the established institutions and there was a plea for greater consideration from funding bodies.
Research capability is stronger in those institutions which have established research centres. While the universities without exception have at least one such centre, only some of the emerging institutions have established them. An example of where a polytechnic has established one is at UNIEC where it has chosen to focus on educational management and set up a corresponding centre which appears to be paying dividends.
In general, the challenge to all institutions is similar: to establish a critical mass of well qualified academics in education who can generate a research culture where staff and graduate students can work collaboratively. At present, this study reveals a hierarchy of capacity which places the larger institutions in a much advantaged situation.
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