Wanganui school takes part in education research
St John’s Hill School in Wanganui will be a participating school in a new research project that will contribute to the
government's goal of raising education standards, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said today.
The study into environmental education is being led by Dr Chris Eames from the University of Waikato’s Centre for
Science and Technology Education Research. Entitled Investigating teachers’ pedagogical approaches in environmental
education that promote students’ action competence, the study is based around a series of case studies of classrooms
where coordinators will partner teachers to research classroom practice in environmental education.
The two-year study will be carried out in collaboration with schools and researchers in Northland, Auckland, Waikato,
Wanganui, Wellington, Kapiti, Christchurch, and Otago and is one of 18 research projects under the Teaching & Learning Research Initiative (TLRI).
“These projects continue the important work we are doing in the early childhood, school and tertiary sectors to raise
education standards through quality teaching.
“The research projects announced today cover all aspects of teaching and learning, and allow the benefits of
partnerships between education research experts and teachers to be maximised.
“Through these projects we can build on teaching and learning knowledge by enhancing the links between educational
research and teaching practices so that these projects have outcomes that are of practical use to teachers and other
educators.” The New Zealand Council of Educational Research has been contracted to manage the programme on behalf of the
Ministry of Education. A team of specialists in key areas of educational research will manage the initiative and assist
the researchers.
A list of the research projects in the 2004 funding round and background information is attached, and more information
on the TLRI programme is available at http://www.tlri.org.nz.