Education

Before you start

Before searching the education databases please take some time to develop a search strategy using the concept map below.

You can brainstorm concepts and also find new keyword terms as you begin searching different databases.

Keywords

Think about different ways to describe the topic you are researching. You may need to repeat your searches using different variations.

Alternative terms for education sectors

• early childhood, infants, babies, toddlers, preschool, kindergartens

• primary, elementary, K-6, (K-12 for primary and secondary together)

• intermediate, middle school, junior high

• secondary, high school, post-primary

• tertiary, higher education, universities, colleges, post-compulsory

Alternative terms for key topics

• assessment, evaluation, testing

• ICT, mobile learning, e-learning, web-based learning

• attitudes, perceptions, perspectives, beliefs

Concept mapping

List your alternative keyword terms by concept to systematically construct multiple searches.

For example, if your topic is "secondary school teachers' attitudes to ICT" you might map the key concepts as below.

From the table above you would enter one keyword from each column in successive combinations, criss-crossing combinations to exhaust all possible combinations if needed.

It is worthwhile to use "speech marks" around two or more word phrases to ensure you do not get erroneous results based on just one of the words, but you can also try without speech marks too:

• e.g. ICT AND "secondary teachers" AND attitudes; e-learning AND high school teachers AND beliefs, etc.

The words or terms within each concept column can be linked using or to give the database choices:

• e.g. ICT OR "mobile learning" OR e-learning OR "web-based learning", etc.

Sometimes the database will provide combinations in a drop-down menu and you can create complex search formulas if you wish (the square brackets are just to distinguish between each combination):

• e.g. [ICT OR "mobile learning" OR e-learning OR "web-based learning"] AND "secondary teachers" AND [attitudes OR perceptions OR perspectives OR beliefs]

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To begin your research, use handbooks, encyclopedias and guides to help define your terms:

• Oxford Bibliographies - Education
  Highly recommended starting point. Summarises the literature on a wide range of education topics and lists the most important sources.
• Routledge Handbooks Online
  A range of online handbooks on education topics.
• Routledge Companion to Education
• International Encyclopedia of Education
• Sage Handbook of Philosophy of Education
• The Student Engagement Handbook of Higher Education
• Handbook of Qualitative Research in Education

To find others, use the Catalogue and enter your subject plus the word handbook or encyclopedia.

Use the Catalogue to find material in the University of Auckland Library’s collection of books, journals, theses, television programmes and conference proceedings. Follow these research tips to find education material.

Full list of databases for Education.

Ministry of Education

• Ministry of Education
  New Zealand education policy and guidelines.
• Education Counts
  New Zealand education statistics and research.
• Te Kete Ipurangi
  Curriculum material and professional development for teachers.
• Educational Leaders
  Professional development for leaders in schools.
• Online video collections: CORE Ministry video | Ministry of Education

Curriculum and policy

Key curriculum documents

• New Zealand curriculum online
  Includes New Zealand curriculum, Te anga marautanga o Aotearoa, New Zealand curriculum framework
• Te Whāriki: He whāriki matauranga mā ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa = Early childhood curriculum (2017)

Key policy documents

• New Zealand strategies and policies
  Policy on Ministry of Education website. Includes Ka Hikitia: Accelerating success: Māori education strategy, Pasifika Education Plan, Tau Mai te Reo.

To find additional curriculum or policy documents search by the exact title in the Catalogue or use the web links below:

• Graduating Teacher Standards
• Our Code, Our Standards: Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession
• Practising Teacher Criteria
• Guidelines for Induction and Mentoring and Mentor Teachers
• Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners

New Zealand curriculum documents are listed in the Catalogue.
Many are available online or in Short Loan (click on 'Find in library').

New Zealand education news

• Education news
  NZCER’s news site.
• Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero
  ​Official fortnightly magazine of the Ministry of Education.
• Education Central
  An independent news source published by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME).

New Zealand organisations and centres

• Education Council New Zealand | Matatū Aotearoa
  Professional organisation for teachers.
• New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER)
  Independent educational research organisation.
• Research completed | Research in progress
  Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI).
• Browse the Resource Centre
  AKO Aotearoa National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.

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Choosing a methodology

Consult your supervisor about methodologies to use in your research. These resources may be helpful for understanding and evaluating methodologies.

• Sage Research Methods
  A very useful database of material looking at different research methods.

Faculty of Education and Social Work resources

• Research strengths
  Describes Faculty of Education and Social Work research strengths to help guide your choice of Education methodologies.
• Finding a supervisor
  Research interests and preferred methodologies of particular supervisors.
• Quant-DARE
  Quantitative data analysis and research support at the Faculty of Education and Social Work.

Finding books and articles

You can search these examples of Library of Congress Subject Headings in the Catalogue or try your own combinations:

• Education -- Research -- Methodology
• Social sciences -- Research -- Methodology
• Indigenous peoples -- Research -- Methodology
• Ethnology -- Methodology
• Physical education and training -- Research -- Methodology

Theses

Use search terms to find digitised theses at the University of Auckland and other tertiary institutions on the Catalogue

• Enter your chosen methodology into the search box, then use the filters to choose doctoral or masters. Read the abstract to ensure the thesis has the methodology you are searching for. This is because a keyword search is not a methodology-only search.
• To find theses from other institutions you can use nzresearch.org.nz. You will not be able to limit to a methodology-only search. You will need to check the abstract or the full-text for the methodology used.

A list of exemplary theses completed recently at the Faculty of Education and Social Work may also be useful for considering different methodologies.

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The Faculty of Education and Social Work uses the American Psychological Association APA style.

APA

• Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition)
• APA Style blog

Support

• Referencing
  Access a range of tools and support material to assist your referencing work.

Examples

• Quick©ite
  Use this interactive tool to view examples of references.
  Covers a range of styles used at the University of Auckland.