Education is broadly the study of learning and teaching at all stages of people's lives. It includes the history, sociology, philosophy, politics and psychology of education and teacher preparation.

Studying Education as a teaching qualification equips you with the knowledge and skills to be an excellent teacher. It covers a wide range of topics, including the theory and context of education, philosophy and ethics, the New Zealand curriculum, teaching specific subjects, and assessment. It looks at how people learn, how to work with whānau and communities, how to engage children in meaningful learning, the history and philosophy of education in New Zealand, te reo and tikanga Māori, and the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi. The programme also involves in-depth study of the NZ Curriculum and Te Whāriki.

You can specialise in Early Childhood Education, Primary or Secondary teaching, Huarahi Māori (Māori-medium teaching), teaching Sport, Health and Physical Education, or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in schools.

When you join us for your doctoral study in Education, you will be able to help improve the educational and social wellbeing of communities. Our research harnesses the vast potential that diversity brings to address education and social justice issues – nationally, regionally and globally.

Faculty researchers explore educational and social science research from a wide range of perspectives, many of which are aligned to the central theme of superdiversity and the following key sub-themes:

- Leading learning

- Advancing equity for all sectors of society

- Enhancing indigenous opportunities

- Promoting lifelong wellbeing

- Supporting intercultural inclusiveness

- Pasifika research

We welcome research proposals on a wide range of topics, some of which contribute to projects being undertaken in our research centres/units and schools:

- The development of education and schooling success for diverse communities (Woolf Fisher Research Centre)

- Educational leadership

- Māori and indigenous language revitalisation (Te Puna Wānanga School of Māori and Indigenous Education)

- Pasifika education

- Enabling staff and postgraduate students to succeed in their academic careers (Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education)

- Promoting leadership, equity, achievement and diversity in early literacy (The Marie Clay Research Centre)

- Increasing research and evaluation capacity through targeted support and networking in collaboration with the social services sector (Centre for Community Research and Evaluation)

- Health, education and welfare (Centre for Child and Family Research)

- Applied theatre with an international focus (Critical Research Unit in Applied Theatre)

- Knowledge in education (Knowledge and Education Research Unit)

- Parenting and family intervention aimed at preventing behavioural and emotional problems in children and adolescents (Parenting Research Group)

- Critical studies in Health Education, Physical Education, and Sports Studies (The Richard Tinning Research Unit)

- Higher education (Higher Education Research Network)

- Statistical data analysis in research (Quant-DARE - Quantitative Data Analysis and Research)