What's this site all about?
This site is still under construction. We'll have some family photos and also some photos of our trip to China and Europe in April/May 2008. This site also serves as a guide to Pip's education consultancy services and is the repository of her PhD thesis, which is accessed by other academics from time to time. There are also links to our wider collection of photos on flickr.com and our trip blog.
Pip Bruce Ferguson: Educational Consultant
Pip has worked in education for most of her paid and unpaid working life, initially as a primary school teacher, then simultaneously as mother, student, adult educator and researcher. She might be best described as a ‘compulsive student’ and a ‘compulsive collaborator’! Pip’s various degrees are in education and social sciences, and she has certificates in adult education and Te Reo Maori (the Maori language).
Initially trained in research as a regional co-ordinator for the Heylen Research Centre, a commercial organisation that ran surveys New Zealand-wide, Pip has since worked to develop research skills with tertiary institution staff, and conducted research in collaboration with colleagues, within early childhood, primary and secondary settings. A particular interest has been work with a focus on success for Maori and Pasifika students in these settings, which has seen Pip working on a range of evaluative studies. Another recent project (2007-2008) involved success case study work on the induction of Provisionally Registered Teachers (recent graduates) in primary, intermediate and secondary schools.
Pip has been involved in supervision of student research, including a PhD thesis, and has examined both Masters and PhD theses for local and international universities. Pip enjoyed her work on the Performance-Based Research Fund (similar to the U.K. RAE) Sector Reference Group, which saw the group reviewing the first operation of this fund and redesigning aspects of it for the future (2003 – 2005). She is often a referee for academic conference papers, and is on the editorial panel of Action Research International and a peer reviewer for the Educational Journal of Living Theories, both electronic journals with international editorial and review panels.
Additionally, Pip was a member of the Human Rights Commission’s voluntary networking group for fourteen years; has been an accredited Industrial Chaplain and is currently a member of the New Zealand Press Council, a body that considers complaints against newspapers and other publications.
Pip enjoys being a mother and grandmother; reading, listening to and occasionally performing music (on harp and guitar), and is developing an interest in backyard vegetable gardening. She is a committed Christian and is on her church’s liaison group with Korean members of the congregation.