Dr Marek Tesar

Biography

Marek is a lecturer in childhood studies and early childhood education, with a focus on the philosophy and sociology of childhood, and the history of education/childhood. His research is concerned with the construction of childhoods, notions of place/space of childhoods, and newly qualified teachers.

Marek is a registered teacher in New Zealand and since the 1990s has taught around the world in diverse settings. Marek's doctoral thesis Governing Childhoods through Stories: A Havelian Analysis of Childhood Subjectivities, received prestigious Australasian and International acclaim and awards. Marek is currently leading a childhood studies research project that investigates childhood subjectivities and relationships with place/space, working with and alongside early childhood settings in Urban Auckland. Marek's research and scholarship is underpinned by notions of a fair and democratic society, in which creative thinking and disciplines shape professional practice, and where the child's voice and participation, particularly in early childhood, are taken seriously.

Research | Current

• Childhood Studies Research Project: Auckland urban childhoods (PI), FRDF funded
• Pedagogy and newly-qualified teachers in early childhood: Extending our understanding through narrative (AI), with Dr Sandy Farquhar (FRDF funded)
• Director/Founder of Early Childhood Seminar Series Research Project (PI), with Maria Cooper (PBRF and North Shore Teachers College Trust funded) 
• LIMS: A  National   Survey   of  Induction   and   Mentoring  in  New   Zealand:   Longitudinal  Studies   of Influences  on Teaching and Learning (AI), with Dr Frances Langdon, Dr Sandy Farquhar, and Melanie Palmer
• Childhood subjectivities
• Children’s literature

Teaching | Current

Undergraduate

• EDPROFST 214 - Assessment for Learning and Teaching
• EDUC 380 - Methods of Research in Education
• EDPROFST 313 - The Professional Teacher

Postgraduate

• EDUC 767 - Childhood Studies
• EDUC 717 - Childhood and Globalisation
• EDPROFST 765 - Development in Early Years

Postgraduate supervision

Masters

• MEd - Moana O'Sullivan: The effects of audio storytelling with young learners of English in Brunei: A case study (with Dr Jannie van Hees)
• MEd - Juliette Pertab:  Early childhood student teachers’ perceptions on empowerment in Aotearoa / New Zealand (with Dr Adrienne Sansom)
• MEd - Lucinda Murch: An investigation of nature play in natural outdoor early childhood settings (with AP Carol Mutch)
• MEd - Sujatha Gomathinayagam: Understanding the perceptions and experiences of the early childhood education student teachers’ integration of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori in their teaching practice
• MEd - Marina Vaha: Niue Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand 

Doctoral

• PhD - Yanming Ren: A Look at the Reproduction of Social Stratifications Strengthened by Cultural Capital in the Field of Schooling in Contemporary China (with Professor Saville Kushner)
• PhD - Xiudi Zhang: The unrecognized understandings of citizenship: Chinese students studying in New Zealand (with Professor Saville Kushner)
• PhD - Rebecca Hopkins: The Learning Stories assessment method and young children’s identity formation: How visual representations contribute to teacher and child understandings of learning and development (with Dr Sandy Farquhar)
• PhD - Ali Formen: In search for a model of post-certified early childhood teacher professional development in Indonesia (with Dr Sandy Farquhar)
• PhD - Oki Dermawan: Implementation of Early Childhood Education in Indonesia (with Dr Sandy Farquhar)
• PhD - Xingzhen Lori Gao:  Metacognitive Instruction in Developing Listening Skills for Students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in the Language Classroom: A Study of University English Learners in China (with Professor Lawrence Zhang)
• PhD - Sapna Sharma: The effect of role conflict and work overload on the occupational efficacy of teachers (with AP Carol Mutch)

Distinctions/Honours

• 2014 Visiting Scholar at the College of Education, University of the Philippines Diliman
• 2013 Vice-Chancellor's Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis (conferred in 2014)
• 2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Outstanding Qualitative Research Dissertation Award (conferred in 2014)
• 2013 New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Sutton-Smith Award for the best doctoral thesis
• 2013 Dean’s list award in recognition of excellence achieved in a PhD thesis
• 2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA) International Travel Award
• 2012 Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia annual doctoral award recipient in recognition of scholarly excellence
• 2011 Doctoral Academic Career Module graduate, University of Auckland
• 2010 University of Auckland Doctoral scholarship recipient
• 2009 New Zealand Tertiary College Tinana award for excellence in teaching recipient
• 2001 International Student Research SVOK Competition (3rd place)
• 2001 National Student Research SVOK Competition (2nd place)

Responsibilities

• Faculty of Education Postgraduate Advisor
• Early Childhood Education Sector TE programmes subcommittee
• LDPP Teaching Learning Committee (Postgraduate portfolio)
• LDPP Research Committee (Grants and scholarships portfolio)
• LDPP Postgraduate Committee

Areas of expertise

• Childhood studies
• Early childhood education
• Children's literature
• Philosophy of education
• History of education

Committees/Professional groups/Services

Journals and Editorial Boards

• Executive Editor, The First Years Ngā Tau Tuatahi with Maria Cooper
• Executive Editor, Journal of Pedagogy
• Special Assistant to the Editor, Educational Philosophy and Theory
• Educational Philosophy and Theory Editorial Development Group
• Global Studies of Childhood journal editorial board
• Knowledge Cultures journal editorial board
• He Kupu journal editorial board
• The First Years journal editorial committee
• Theoros journal scientific committee

Professional Affiliations

• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA)
• New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE)
• Organisation Mondiale pour l’Education Prescholaire (OMEP)
• Narrative and Metaphor Special Interest Network (NMSIN)
• Adjunct advisor of APRU DSN Executive Committee (2011-2014)