Dr Carol Mutch

Carol Mutch takes up a Visiting Fellow position in the School of Social Psychology, while on leave from her role as Head of School and Associate Professor in the School of Critical Studies in Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand. She researches, teaches and writes on educational policy, curriculum development, research and evaluation methods. Most recently, due to the devastating earthquakes in her city of Christchurch, she is researching the role of schools in disaster settings and strategies for supporting children and young people’s psychosocial recovery. She is author of several books on educational research and numerous book chapters and journal articles on her research topics. She has received awards for her teaching, research and academic service.

Dr Hutch began her career as a primary school teacher, teaching in New Zealand, Canada and the UK. From school leadership positions she moved into teacher education in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her masters and doctoral theses focused on the political nature of curriculum decision making, especially in social studies. After a range of roles in undergraduate and postgraduate teacher education, academic management and policy advice in New Zealand, Samoa and Japan, she moved to her present position at the University of Auckland, where she is also Director of Te Whakatere Au Papori (Navigating social currents) Research Unit.

Research interests

• Researching in disaster contexts
• Education policy and curriculum development
• Research and evaluation methods
• Social studies and citizenship education 

Current research projects

• Children’s psychosocial and educational recovery in disaster settings (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Japan) July-November 2014
• Evaluation of Salvation Army Canterbury Earthquake response July 2014 (funded by the Salvation Army)
• Christchurch schools tell their earthquake stories (funded by UNESCO & University of Auckland) May 2012-May 2014
• The portrayal of the ANZAC legend in the New Zealand School Journal (funded by the North Shore Teachers Trust) (2012-2015)
• ‘Europe as a curriculum context’ & the ‘EU in the Pacific’ projects (funded by EU Jean Monnet Fund and in collaboration with the National Centre for Research on Europe) (2012-13)

• Dr Mutch has supervised, or is currently supervising, 18 doctoral students and a similar number of masters students.
• Her teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels includes: Politics, philosophy and education; Curriculum issues, policy, practice; and Critical research methodologies.

Journal articles

Mutch, C. (In press). The role of schools in disaster settings: Learning from the 2010-2011 New Zealand earthquakes. International Journal of Educational Development.

Mutch, C. (2014). The role of schools in disaster preparation, response and recovery: Lessons from the literature. Pastoral Care in Education 32 (1) 5-22.

Mutch, C., & Gawith, L. (2014).The role of schools in engaging children in emotional processing of disaster experiences. Pastoral Care in Education 32 (1) 54-67.

Mutch, C. (2013). Citizenship in action: Young people’s responses to the Canterbury earthquakes. Sisyphus: Journal of Education 1 (2) 76-99.

Mutch, C. (2013).“Sailing through a river of emotions”: Capturing children’s earthquake stories. Disaster Prevention and Management 22 (5) 445-455.

Mutch, C. & Marlowe, J. (2013). Lessons from disaster: The power and place of story. Disaster Prevention and Management 22 (5) 385-394.

Mutch, C. (2013). A decade of research in citizenship education in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies 48 (2).

Gibbs, L., Mutch, C., O’Connor, P., & MacDougall, C. (2013). Research with, by, for, and about children: Lessons from disaster contexts. Global Studies of Childhood. Special issue: Actualisation of children’s participation rights.

Mutch, C. (2012). Complementary evaluation: The development of a conceptual framework to integrate external and internal evaluation. Policy Futures in Education 10 (5) 569-586.

Mutch, C. (2012). Assessment for learning. Developing a sustainable assessment culture in New Zealand. Policy Futures in Education 10 (4) 374-385.

Mutch, C. & Collins, S. (2012). Partners in Learning: Schools’ engagement with parents, whānau and communities. The School Community Journal.

Mutch, C. (2011). Citizenship education in New Zealand: We know ‘what works’ but to what extent is it working? Citizenship, Social and Economics Education 10 (2&3) 182-198.

Mutch, C., Rarere, V., & Stratford, R. (2011). “When you looked at me, you didn’t judge me”: Supporting transient students and their families in New Zealand primary schools. Pastoral Care in Education 29 (4) 231-245.

Mutch, C. (2009). Peer review: Developing a responsive, rigorous and educative process. New Zealand Journal of Educational Research 44 (1).

Mutch, C. (2009). Mixed method research: Methodological eclecticism or muddled thinking? Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice 24 (2) 18-30.

Ninomiya, A. & Mutch, C. (2008). Visioning scenarios for schooling for tomorrow. Journal of International Cooperation in Education 11 (1) 7-22. [2]

Mutch, C. & Wong, M. (2008). Towards true partnership: A case study of researching in cross-cultural contexts. Journal of Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education 2 (3) 217-232.

Mutch, C. (2006). The art and craft of rigorous analysis and (re)presentation. Qualitative Research Journal 6 (1) 51-68. [1]

Kim, M., & Mutch, C. (2006). Schooling for the Future Survey: An Overview. International Journal of Educational Research 41 (7-8) 512-522.

Mutch, C. (2006). Educational policy for dynamic change. International Journal of Educational Research, 41 (7-8) 553-563.

Books

Mutch, C. (2013). Doing educational research. A practitioner’s guide to getting started (2^nd ed.).Wellington: NZCER Press.

Rath, J. & Mutch, C. (Eds.). (2014). Navigating the doctoral journey: Emerging critical scholarship. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Mutch, C. (Ed.) (2006). Challenging the notion of “other”: Reframing research in the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Wellington: NZCER Press.

Book chapters

Mutch, C. (In press). Progressive education in New Zealand: a revered past, a contested present and an uncertain future. Handbook of Progressive Education.

Mutch, C. (2014). Adapting Bourdieu’s field theory to explain decision-making processes in educational policy. In V. Anfara & N. Mertz, (Eds.), Theoretical frameworks in qualitative research, 2nd ed. (pp.155-173). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Mutch, C. (2013). Developing a conceptual framework for school review. In M. Lei & S. Kushner (Eds.) A developmental and negotiated approach to school and curriculum evaluation. Advances in program evaluation, Vol. 14 (pp. 91-107). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

Mutch, C. (2013). Research and evaluation: similarities and differences. In M. East and S. May (Eds.) Making a Difference in Education and Social Policy (pp.139-160). Auckland: Pearson.

Mutch, C. & Trim. B. (2013). Improvement, accountability and sustainability: A comparison of developments in early childhood and schooling sectors. In J. Nuttall, (Ed.), Weaving Te Whariki (2^nd ed.). Wellington: NZCER Press.

Mutch, C. (2012). ‘New Zealand’. In C.L. Glenn, (Ed.), Balancing Freedom, Autonomy and Accountability in Education, Volume 4. Oisterwijk, Netherlands: Wolf Legal Publishers.

Mutch, C. (2010). Embedding education for citizenship into pedagogical practices: The case of New Zealand. In D. Grossman, W.O. Lee, & K. Kennedy. Pedagogy for citizenship in the Asia-Pacific. Hong Kong: CERC/Springer.

Mutch, C. (2008). ‘Creative and innovative citizenry’: Exploring the past, present and future of citizenship education in New Zealand. In D. Grossman, W.O. Lee, & K. Kennedy. Citizenship curriculum in the Asia-Pacific. Hong Kong: CERC/Springer.