Our purpose
There is increasing focus on climate anxiety, despair and hopelessness among university students. Less work has been done to understand how teachers embed hope in learning environments. Hope in Higher Education is a research project that aims to explore hope-based pedagogies.
"In the face of adversity, hope is not a luxury; it is a necessity."
Our project has 3 research objectives for adding hope in higher education.
- Mapping conceptions of hope – understanding and enacting hope in higher education.
- Engaging outputs – translating research findings into outputs that improve teaching practice in distance learning.
- Community of practice – bringing together an international community of practice.
We are an interdisciplinary team. Our track record is strong in research and teaching initiatives. We welcome curious conversations, collaboration and contributions. Together we can establish our research platform and an international community of practice.
Research projects
Educator hope in higher education survey
Educator hope in higher education survey
We surveyed educators teaching at a tertiary provider, such as a university, wānanga, VET, Tu Pukenga or PTE, in Aotearoa New Zealand to understand their views on hope, how or whether they use it in their teaching and what supports or challenges their ability to teach with hope.
Survey insights will be shared in 2026.
Our people
Meet the people behind Hope in Higher Education
Dr Alice Beban
Alice holds a PhD in Development Sociology from Cornell University. She has focused on environmental sociology from a feminist political ecology perspective. She has done research in Cambodia, Thailand, the Mekong Delta and Aotearoa. She leads "He Kaupapa Tūmanako / Project Hope", a project for high schoolers. It weaves mātauranga Māori and hopeful social science methods in distance learning.
Associate Professor Elaine Khoo
Elaine holds a PhD from the University of Waikato and a master's degree from Vanderbilt University. She is an expert in digital teaching methods. Elaine collaborates across learning contexts from early learning to tertiary study. Her work enhances teaching and learning across digital contexts like online, blended, mobile, flipped and virtual environments.
Dr Clare Mouat
Clare is an interdisciplinary scholar-storyteller specialising in community, planning and governance. She holds a PhD in Planning from the University of Auckland. Her work planning and designing for hope has inspired many ways to build a flourishing future. Her work also influences law and policy in multiple places.
In the media
Our team work with other researchers and media professionals to tell meaningful stories for the public and the industry.
All resources
All resources
Books
Stories on Hope: Reimagining Higher Education, published in 2025.
Leading Learning: Making Hope Practical in Schools, published in 2003.
Blogs
Education as hope building, published in 2025 on Future Makers.
Why we need hope, published in 2023 on the Speaking of Psychology podcast.
Websites
How Hope Helps Us Build a Meaningful Life, published in 2025 in Greater Good Magazine.
In Schools, Finding Hope at a Hopeless Time, published in 2021 in Edutopia.
Centres
"Dissecting HOPE", published in 2020 by The Intersection Construct.
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