Prof John O'Neill

Contact details

• Ph: +64 6 356 9099 x84384
  Location: 2.21, Institute of Education
  Campus: Turitea

Prizes and Awards

• Awarded Honorary Life Membership, New Zealand Association for Research in Education, November 2017 - New Zealand Association for Research in Education (2017)
• Appointed by Minister of Education to the Independent Taskforce to Review Tomorrow's Schools - Office of the Minister of Education (2018)

Research Interests

A major strand of my research for over twenty years has been the relationships between education policy and teachers' work and learning. There are two key questions here.

• First, how do politicians and officials attempt to persuade teachers of the value of new policies, and support them to change their practices?
• Second, how do teachers mediate, or respond to official policy mandates?

The first requires examination of policy trajectories: how do particular aspects of education get framed as 'problems' or 'crises' that government needs to address, what language and processes are used to frame policy options and on what basis does the preferred policy option get selected? Then, how does the machinery of government, the polity, gear up to persuade teachers that it is in their interests to change their customary ways of teaching and interacting with students?

The second looks at the extent to which, and how, teachers and their representatives respond to policy. Do they change? On what basis do they accept new education policy as valuable, or not? How long does it take for policy to change teaching and learning practices? Whcih policies are beneficial, and which harmful?

Papers on these questions have been published in Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of Educational Administration and History, Journal of Education Policy, Cambridge Journal of Education, Educational Research and Learning Culture and Social Interaction.

For the last ten years, I have had a leadership role in research ethics both within the university and, more recently, the New Zealand Association for Research in Education. The issues that interest me here concern:

• the place of ethics in the modern enterprise university;
• the relationship between institutional ethics committees, researchers and their disciplinary norms; and
• applied professional ethics in education (researchers and practitioners).

Papers on these issues have been published in the International Journal of Research and Method in Education, Educational Action Research, Ethics and Education and Education Policty Futures.

I am developing research programmes in four areas:

1. Teaching and learning in everyday activities and settings
2. Educational charities
3. Oral histories of teachers' lives, work and careers
4. The quality of education policy advice

Research Opportunities

• Teaching and Learning in Everyday Activities and Settings  (Ongoing) This research project explores how people learn in their everyday lives and the relationships between individual learning and family, neighbourhood and local community resources.
• Oral Histories of Teachers  (Ongoing) This research project aims to build a national oral history archive of New Zealand teachers' work.
• Educational Charities  (Ongoing) This research project aims to examine the extent to which educational charities fulfil their objectives and provide a public benefit, and to document their networks of influence.

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Education (130000): Education Systems (130100): Educational Administration, Management and Leadership (130304): Specialist Studies in Education (130300): Teacher Education and Professional Development of Educators (130313)

Current Projects

Completed Projects

Courses Coordinated

• 254.203 Sociologically Imagining Education
• 258.721 Teaching Students with Literacy Learning Difficulties
• 267.781 Research Methods in Professional Practice
• 267.792 Research Exercise

Current Doctoral Supervision

Supervisor of:

• Huidan Niu - Doctor of Philosophy
  The professional role of teacher unions in NZ
• Karen Anderson - Doctor of Philosophy
  To what extent can Bourdieu's Theory of Practice (1972) contribute to our understanding of secondary principal practice in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Anne-Marie O'Neill - Doctor of Philosophy
  The Politics of Curriculum Change in Aotearoa New Zealand

Completed Doctoral Supervision

Supervisor of:

• 2018 - Linda Warner - Doctor of Philosophy
  Uncovering everyday learning and teaching within the quilting community of Aotearoa New Zealand
• 2016 - Moshi Mislay - Doctor of Philosophy
  The Politics of Teachers' Work in the Context of Curriculum Resources Marketisation Policy Reforms in Three Secondary Schools in Tanzania
• 2016 - Derek Morrison - Doctor of Education
  Exploring New Zealand's Rural Education Activities Programmes (REAPs): Social Capital in a Lifelong Learning and Community Development Context
• 2016 - Carmen Denekamp - Doctor of Education
  The Development of L2 Arab Writers' Proficiency: Autonomy, Online Self-Access Centres, and Advisement
• 2013 - Judith Donaldson - Doctor of Philosophy
  Between Two Worlds: Tensions of Practice Encountered by Secondary School Music Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
• view more...
• 2010 - Zoe Brooks - Doctor of Education
  Assessing creativity: Teachers' perceptions of the effect of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) on teaching and learning in the secondary drama classroom in New Zealand
• 2010 - Kama Weir - Doctor of Philosophy
  Teaching health education in New Zealand secondary schools: Policy into practice
• 2009 - Rowena Taylor - Doctor of Education
  Teachers' Conflicting Responses to Change: An Evaluation of the Implementation of Senior Social Studies for the NCEA, 2002-2006
• 2009 - Mandia Mentis - Doctor of Philosophy
  A teacher's research journey into e-learning: Aligning technology, pedagogy and context
• 2008 - Brian Finch - Doctor of Education
  Children's film viewing practices: A qualitative investigation into engagement with a feature film
• view less...

Co-supervisor of:

• 2014 - Marilyn Innes - Doctor of Philosophy
  Tomorrows School : Todays Industry. Economic agendas and competitive forces in global education: New Zealand and South Korea
• 2013 - Ahmad Zabidi Abdul Razak - Doctor of Philosophy
  Learning about teachers' resilience: Perceptions, challenges and strategies of policy implementation in two secondary schools in Malaysia
• 2012 - Jennifer Boyack - Doctor of Philosophy
  Singing A Joyful Song: An Exploratory Study of Primary School Music Leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand
• 2011 - Anne-Grete Elliot - Doctor of Education
  From preservice teacher education to the primary classroom: An investigation into beginning teachers' experiences with information and communication technology.
• 2008 - Patricia Stringer - Doctor of Education
  Capacity Building for School Improvement: A Case Study of a New Zealand Primary School
• view more...
• 2007 - Judie Alison - Doctor of Philosophy
  Mind the Gap! Policy Change in Practice. School Qualifications Reform in New Zealand, 1970-2002
• 2005 - David Chapman - Doctor of Philosophy
  Education for the Environment: Towards Teacher Empowerment.

Media

• 11 Aug 2013 - Newspaper
  Top tips on how to pick a school
  Feature in Sunday Star Times p. A11 Advice to parents selecting secondary schools for their children

Other Links

• New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work
• Educational Management, Administration and Leadership
• Irish Educational Studies
• New Zealand Association for Research in Education