This SIG aims to support researchers who have a key interest in educational theory and ideas. The SIG will foster the development, discussion and dissemination of rigorous theoretical work in education via papers and symposia at the annual NZARE conference and other events.

Research in educational foundations often occupies a somewhat marginalised position in contemporary universities and other tertiary institutions. Over the last decade, a number of scholars in this area have directed their attention away from NZARE to other more specialised research associations. There is much that can be gained, however, from bringing a range of theoretical voices to bear in addressing educational questions, and the annual NZARE conference provides a good opportunity for this.

Members are encouraged to organise seminars, symposia, research roundtables, and reading groups at their local institutions, and to draw these to the attention of others in the SIG.

Research undertaken by members of the SIG will also inform debates over the place of educational foundations (or educational studies) in teacher education programmes at individual institutions.
The focus on ‘ideas’ signals a principal interest in educational theory, but the SIG is deliberately multi-disciplinary and inclusive in its orientation. Scholars from a wide range of different theoretical traditions will be welcomed. It is hoped that the SIG will provide an intellectual home for those who work in philosophy of education, theoretical sociology of education, cultural theory and education, and the history of educational ideas, among other areas.