College of Humanities and Social Sciences staff

Emeritus Professor Margaret Walshaw staff profile picture

Contact details +64 (06) 356 9099

Emeritus Professor Margaret Walshaw BSc, MEdAdmin, PhD

Emeritus Professor

Institute of Education

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I am a past editor of the international Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (JMTE) and of the Mathematics Education Research Journal (MERJ). I have also served on the editorial board of three further international journals: Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), Educational Studies in Mathematics (ESM), and Research in Mathematics Education (RME). 

I am attached to the Institute of Education. Formerly, I was research director of the Institute, leader of the Doctor of Education programme, and co-director of the Centre for Research in Mathematics Education (CeRME).

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Professional

Contact details

  • Ph: 84404
    Location: 4.1, Institute of Education
    Campus: Turitea

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science - University of Canterbury (1973)
  • Master of Educational Administration - Massey University (1995)
  • Doctor of Philosophy - Massey University (2000)

Prizes and Awards

  • I received the Research Supervisor's Award from the College of Humanities and Social Science at Massey University, 2017 - Massey University (2017)

Research Expertise

Research Interests

The Centre for Research in Mathematics Education, of which I am formerly co-director, supports research across the sectors from Early Childhood to Tertiary education. My specific research focus within the Centre is in theory development and in understanding and explaining access to and empowerment with mathematics in schools. I am also interested in research within pre-service teacher education.

 

Series co-editor of international books

I have recently been appointed, by publishers Palgrave Macmillan, as co-editor of their international book series: Palgrave Studies in Excellence and Equity in Global Education.

Associate editor of international journal

 I am associate editor of the international Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education (JMTE).

 

 Current Research Projects

 Mathematics anxiety is a collaboration with Prof Roth, University of Victoria, Canada and A/Prof Harvey, Massey University. We are investigating the link between negative emotions and students’ mathematical learning. Using classroom data, we are working at developing a theoretical explanation for why mathematics anxiety develops.

 

Theory meets method in mathematics education research is a collaboration with Prof de Freitas, Adelphi University, New York. This project is about ideas and different ways of theorizing and analyzing mathematics education. It explores the fundamental philosophical tenets underpinning key theoretical frameworks and investigates how these tenets map onto particular kinds of research practice in mathematics education research.

 

The effects of structural changes on teacher educators is a collaboration with Prof Brown, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. The project explores how structural and policy changes influence teacher education practices ‘on the ground’ within the New Zealand and United Kingdom contexts.  

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Curriculum and Pedagogy (130200): Education (130000): Mathematics and Numeracy Curriculum and Pedagogy (130208)

Keywords

mathematics education; qualitative research

Research Projects

Completed Projects

Project Title: Challenging convention within educational enquiry

This project was funded by the International Visitor Research Fund at Massey University. The grant enabled a collaborator with expertise in mathematics education and based in New York city to travel to Palmerston North for a period of time in order to collaborate with a Massey University researcher. The collaborative project used video data gathered from mathematics classrooms for the specific propose of this research. One dataset was from a New York classroom and the other dataset was from a New Zealand classroom. The two researchers involved had worked together in the past via chapters in each other's edited volumes and through collaboration, presenting at conference symposia. While both had a keen interest in theory and methodology, neither was fully conversant with the other's specialist areas. The project provided a unique opportunity for both to bring their respective expertise and knowledge together. There were two key advantages in working on site together: (i) Discussion and sharing of ideas face to face was enriching for both the researchers, and (ii) Since neither had a sound understanding of the cultural resonances of mathematics teaching in the other's location, viewing the video data together allowed points of differentiation to be readily identified.
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Date Range: 2013 - 2013

Funding Body: Massey University

Project Team:

Project Title: Troubling Voice in the Classroom

This objective of this project was to gather and transcribe video data from a New Zealand mathematics classroom. The data were collected from a sequence of algebra lessons in a Year 9 class. During this data collection process the video camera was focused on the teacher's actions and speech. Lesson worksheets and other relevant material were collected and the teacher's work on the white board was recorded. An interview with the teacher at the end of the unit of work was also carried out. The data represented one part of a two-part dataset for a larger project that was focused on understanding the multiple layers of mathematics teaching within Year 9 classrooms at two distinct educational sites. In the analysis of the data from the two locations - one in New Zealand and the other in New York - the intent is to examine multiple layers of teaching by looking at the cultural inflections of teaching. The analysis will pay particular attention to gestures and shared meanings between teacher and students at the respective sites and, through that attention, it is anticipated, a different view of teaching may emerge.
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Date Range: 2013 - 2013

Funding Body: Massey University

Project Team:

Project Title: Stories from young people about technology

This project explored the process of how new technologies shape ways of being and doing, amongst young people. In the project I wanted to understand how technological communications contribute to how young people understand and position themselves in relation to others. Since my interest is also in educational practices, I was particularly interested in finding out how these practices are convergent with or are differentiated from practices in the classroom. The study was intended to provide a lens through which to view students' experiences of teaching and learning at the secondary school level. The study was part of a larger study (survey) completed by Year 12 students in September 2011 on national identity. To complement and enhance the survey dataset specific to technological experiences, I conducted semi-structured individual interviews with a stratified purposeful sample of 20 year 12 students. The interviews were conducted as telephone interviews rather than face-to-face because of the difficulties associated with organizing times and locations suitable to both interviewer and interviewee. The findings of the study reveal that, typically, classroom practice does not honour the technological familiarity and knowledge that students bring to their school work.
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Date Range: 2012 - 2012

Funding Body: Massey University

Project Team:

Project Title: Numeracy and Literacy Policy making

This educational project explored the public debate over numeracy and literacy standards in New Zealand during the two decades represented by the 1990s and 2000s. In the history of education, this period is highly significant because it is synonymous with widespread changes within the school sector. In particular, major changes to numeracy and literacy curricula were introduced. The focus of the study was on the part that the general public played in the debates that shaped the ways in which literacy and numeracy came to be constructed. The interest was in exploring the viewpoints and specific social conditions that had driven the intense interest in numeracy and literacy over this twenty year period. The study involved searching through daily newspapers and general interest magazines during the chosen period. The newspaper search focused on the major newspapers Dominion/Dominion Post, the New Zealand Herald, The Press, and the Otago Daily Times, and the media search focused on national magazines such as North and South, Metro, Next, and the Listener. By tracking the ebb and flow of public concern over 'standards', the study highlighted the ways in which those not typically involved formally in policy making, came to influence what counts in schools.
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Date Range: 2008 - 2009

Funding Body: Massey University

Project Team:

Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Statement

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Contact Supervisor

Completed Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

  • 2022 - Ann Simpson - Doctor of Education
    Dialogic Activity: A Study of Learning Dialogues and Entanglements in a Vocational Tertiary Setting
  • 2022 - Julie Whyte - Doctor of Education
    Mathematics anxiety and primary school teachers: The histories, impacts, and influences.
  • 2020 - Penpisoot Maitrarat - Doctor of Philosophy
    The Development of Higher Education in Thailand: Influences and Effects
  • 2019 - Heather Thomas - Doctor of Education
    Pedagogies of presence: Contemplative education across the disciplines in Aotearoa New Zealand
  • 2018 - Raewyne Bary - Doctor of Education
    Whariki for Life: Weaving relationships with infants and toddlers in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood settings
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  • 2018 - Maureen Hyett - Doctor of Education
    A Trial of the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI): A Case study
  • 2017 - Reen Skaria - Doctor of Education
    Experiences of overseas nurse educators teaching in New Zealand
  • 2016 - Bilinda Offen - Doctor of Education
    Factors that Influence Teacher Appraisal in Primary Schools: Making appraisal meaningful for teachers
  • 2016 - Margaret Crawford - Doctor of Education
    Acceleration and Gifted Girls
  • 2015 - Jayne Jackson - Doctor of Education
    Collaborative Support for Reading Development: Parent Partnership in Practice
  • 2014 - Kirsty Farrant - Doctor of Education
    Teaching socioscientific issues and ethical decision-making: a self study
  • 2012 - Wayne Duncan - Doctor of Education
    Understanding the nature and function of empathy in synchronous multimedia conferencing
  • 2012 - Janelle McKenzie - Doctor of Education
    Redefining Appraisal:Giving teachers ownership of their practice
  • 2007 - Timothy Burgess - Doctor of Education
    Investigating the Nature of Teacher Knowledge Needed and Used in Teaching Statistics
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Co-supervisor of:

  • 2020 - Amy Edwards - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
    Emotions in the classroom: Exploring relationships between students' perceptions of teachers' practices and students' strengths and difficulties
  • 2018 - Philippa Butler - Doctor of Philosophy
    Negotiating multiplicity: Macro, meso and micro influences on the ethnic identifications of New Zealand secondary school students
  • 2015 - Kevin Shore - Doctor of Education
    Career Assistant/Deputy Principals: Asleep at the Wheel or Motivated Drivers in Education
  • 2011 - Aluthge Wijayawardana - Doctor of Education
    Exploring the potential for an alternative teacher education programme for pre-service teacher education in the Environmental Related Activities Curriculum in Sri Lanka through the problem based learning approach used in one university in New Zealand
  • 2008 - Roberta Hunter - Doctor of Philosophy
    Mathematics Education: Teacher Development and its relationship to classroom practice.

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Last updated on Monday 27 February 2023