Awards > Herbison Lecture

Herbison Lecture

The Herbison Lecture honours Dame Jean Herbison, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to education. A leading New Zealand researcher is chosen each year to present the Herbison Lecture. The first Herbison Lecture was presented in 1990.

Previous presenters of the Herbison Lecture:

1990: Anne Meade
1991: Anne Smith
1992: Noeline Alcorn
1993: Geraldine McDonald
1994: Warwick Elley
1995: Ivan Snook
1996: Arapera Royal Tangaere
1997: Marie Clay
1998: Linda Smith
1999: Professor William Tunmer, Massey University
2000: Professor Margaret Maaka, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
2001: Professor Graham Nuthall, University of Canterbury (download lecture, PDF, 152K)
2002: Professor Arohia Durie, Massey University
2003: Associate Professor Margaret Carr, University of Waikato
2004: Associate Professor Alison Jones, University of Auckland
2005: Professor Noeline Alcorn, University of Waikato
2006: Dr Geraldine McDonald (download lecture, PDF, 80K, and slides, PDF, 1.8 MB.) See also
           webpage about the origins of NZARE.
2007: Emeritus Professor Keith Ballard, University of Otago (download lecture, PDF, 620K)

2007 NZARE Herbison Lecture

Emeritus Prof Keith Ballard
The University of Otago

Keith Ballard is Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Otago. He has a background as a primary teacher and educational psychologist. His publications include work with Lous Heshusius of York University, Toronto, on paradigm shift in education and social science research (From positivism to interpretivism and beyond, Teachers College Press, New York); classroom studies of academic and social learning; work with parents and with Te Roopu Manaaki i te Hunga Haua on disability advocacy (Disability, family, whanau and society, Dunmore Press); studies with teachers on inclusive education; and analysis of the role of ideology in issues of poverty, racism and social justice. Some of his work on inclusive practice has been used by UNESCO in teacher education programmes in developing countries. Keith has served on the Board of NZCER (1999-2003) and has worked on disability research with Director of the Donald Beasley Institute, Dr Anne Bray and her colleagues. This has included a four year (1988-1992) action study with parents and professionals that established the Family Network, an ongoing parent support and advocacy organisation. As a member of the International Research Colloquium on Inclusive Education, Keith chaired the group's research programme in 1996-1997 and edited the publication of their studies (Inclusive education: International voices on disability and justice, Falmer Press, London).
"Education and imagination: Strategies for social justice."

Abstract:

In his letters to those who "dare to teach", Paulo Freire says that the teaching task is meaningless unless we have a commitment to freedom and justice. In this paper I suggest that as educators and researchers we apply Freire's tools of imagination and intellectual rigour to create more just alternatives to the belief systems and social practices that shape four areas of present day life in schools and communities. These are areas in which some hold positions of power and are able to design a world primarily for their way of living. Others experience harm and loss. For teachers this suggests the need for an ongoing analysis of context as central to the cultural politics of teaching. For teacher education this means that we should greatly enhance our attention to theory, research and scholarship so that we create the intellectual rigour needed for such analysis and for understanding classroom practice as social justice practice.

Compilation of Herbison Lectures 1999-2004

Each year, those attending the conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) are inspired by the Jean Herbison lecture, which is presented by a leading researcher. In recognition of the quality and significance of the work of these researchers, the NZARE Council decided to make these lectures available to a wider audience through this publication. This volume was compiled by Bev Webber in 2005 and is available from NZCER Press.

» About Dame Jean Herbison