Elizabeth Rata


Elizabeth Rata is a New Zealand academic who is a professor of 'Critical Studies in Education' at the University of Auckland and is noted for her positions on biculturalism and Māori language immersion education in New Zealand.

Career

Rata gained both her MSc and PhD from the University of Auckland. After a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Georgetown University, Washington, DC in 2003, she returned to Auckland and rose to professor in 2017.
Both her Master's thesis, 'Maori survival and structural separateness: the history of Te Runanga o nga Kura Kaupapa Maori o Tamaki Makaurau 1987–1989,' and her doctoral thesis, 'Global capitalism and the revival of ethnic traditionalism in New Zealand : the emergence of tribal-capitalism,' are related to biculturalism in New Zealand.
In 2003 Rata published an opinion piece on the New Zealand school secondary curriculum decrying the lack of explicit knowledge and a 'focus on skills and the process of learning.' The piece was directly criticised by authors such as Steve Maharey and Jane Gilbert
For the past 10 years she has been Director of the Knowledge in Education Research Unit at the University of Auckland and has published widely about knowledge in education.
Commenting on Rata's stance on Māori language immersion education, Leonie Pihama said: The recent attack by Elizabeth Rata on Kaupapa Maori developments highlights a disturbing trend of racism being disguised as public debate.
Rata is a member of, and wrote a position paper for, the 'Independent Constitutional Review' a think tank which has been opposed to placing biculturalism in the New Zealand constitution. Morgan Godfery wrote a rebuttal of her position paper.

Selected works