The history of New Zealand Education
Professor Rata is a research expert in the history of New Zealand education. She is currently completing a series about ‘The History of New Zealand Education 1870s – 1970s’.
The series consists of:
RESEARCH REPORT 'An Historical Inquiry into New Zealand Education'
Read more
VIDEO LECTURES (available from July 2026)
The first Research Report is about the English syllabus in the ordinary schools, Māori village schools, and Māori boarding schools. There are 4 sections:
SECTION ONE: Knowledge-Rich English Curriculum
SECTION TWO: Evidence: School English 1847-1900
SECTION THREE: Evidence: English in the Native Village and Māori Boarding Schools
SECTION FOUR: Evidence: School English 1904-1963
The research uses primary resources, including Annual Reports to Parliament, Chief Inspector Reports, and subject syllabuses, to provide an accurate and verifiable record of an education system that saw New Zealand rise to become a leader amongst OECD nations. The final two episodes explain the system’s decline from the 1970s and the current move to a knowledge-rich curriculum.
My aims are:
- To provide an accurate and reliable account of our nation's educational history.
- To restore the emphasis on subject knowledge and to improve curriculum design and to use contemporary cognitive science in connecting knowledge to children’s understanding.
- To show that throughout the 19th century and up to the 1970s, all New Zealanders, including Maori, colonial-descendants and more recent migrants, were committed to the New Zealand nation and to liberal democracy.
The research makes full use of this valuable archive –The Lilburne Rata Archive of New Zealand Education 1870s-1970s.
Read more
Previously Professor Rata has written about the establishment of Kura Kaupapa Māori, an analysis which benefited from her own participation in the movement’s foundation.
Government Kura Kaupapa Maori Working Group (Raglan, January 1989)
Back: Pem Bird, Govt recorder, Brian Joyce, Pita Sharples
Middle: K. Mataira, Tilly Reedy, Tuki Nepe, Cathy Dewes, Elizabeth Rata, Rahera Shortland
Front: Graham Smith, Katerina Mataira, Tony Waho
