About the group
Psychological Studies in Education and Social Work encompasses teaching and research in educational, social, cognitive, cultural, developmental and organisational psychology.
Affiliated staff are from multiple schools in the Faculty. They employ psychological theory and research to increase understanding of all aspects of the human condition as it relates to learning, teaching, human development and social welfare.
Much of our wide ranging research is conducted in conjunction with international collaborators, and with schools and local communities. Members of the group also lead and contribute to significant research units: The University of Auckland Centre for Educational Leadership, the Woolf Fisher Research Centre, and the Faculty’s Quantitative Data Analysis and Research (Quant-DARE) Unit. Beyond the University, staff have made significant contributions to government policy.
Psychological Studies in Education and Social Work offers a comprehensive range of courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, taught by research active staff making ground-breaking contributions to their fields nationally and internationally.
Undergraduate courses are taught in the social work and human services programmes, the liberal arts programme, the Faculty’s initial teacher education programmes, including Māori-medium pathways, and the University’s general education programme.
Postgraduate courses are taught in the Diploma, Honours, Masters and Doctoral programmes. Topics include achievement, literacy, educational leadership, counselling, developmental psychology, gifted education, identity development, social psychology, indigenous psychology, and research methods.
The goal of our programmes is to prepare students for careers in research and teaching by developing their knowledge of psychological theory and research for the improvement of education and social welfare.
