Breadcrumbs

Education influencer made Emeritus Professor

10 October 2013

 Emeritus Professor Clive McGee with Vice Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford Education influence: Emeritus Professor Clive McGee with Vice Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford.

An academic who has had a big influence on teacher education and classroom learning has been awarded the title of Emeritus Professor by the University of Waikato.

Professor Clive McGee worked at the university for more than 40 years and in that time has helped design many of the qualifications offered by the Faculty of Education, led numerous research projects and, on a national level, worked on Ministry of Education projects that have helped shape the national curriculum.

Professor McGee was the foundation Director of the Centre for Teacher Education and the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research.

Education research

His research has covered curriculum implementation, impacts of educational policy, administrative reforms in schools, teacher education and education outside the classroom.

Among his many Ministry–appointed roles, Professor McGee has twice sat on the National Curriculum Reference Group to revise the national curriculum and was appointed to a national group to design the aims, scope and operation of the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative. In 2004 he was awarded the McKenzie award for sustained excellence in educational research from the New Zealand Association for Research in Education.

Lifting enrolment of Māori students

As Director of the Centre for Teacher Education, Professor McGee lifted the enrolment of Māori students studying teacher education to the highest in New Zealand, above their ratio in the regional population, and oversaw an off-campus kaupapa Māori immersion programme.

University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford says Professor McGee’s contribution to the Faculty and education in general has been substantial.

Impressive influence on Education

“He led the Wilf Malcolm Institute to become the largest and most productive education research institute in New Zealand, helping to establish its strong reputation through securing external funding, careful management of academic teams and successful completion and submission of contract projects,” says Professor Crawford. “He also influenced research methodology by insisting that teachers had a voice in classroom research and were seen as research partners.”

Professor McGee has authored or co-authored 11 books and more than 100 refereed publications and many research reports. He was co-editor of the influential book The Professional Practice of Teaching, now in its fourth edition, and his book Teachers and Curriculum Decision-making is said to be the most comprehensive New Zealand coverage of curriculum theory and design.

Professor McGee hasn’t quite retired. He’s currently working as a researcher at the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research – the institute he helped found.


Latest stories