Rosemary Hipkins

Kaihautū Rangahau Tāoki | Emeritus Chief Researcher

Rosemary (Rose) began her working life as a science and biology teacher, followed by several years working in teacher education. Rose joined NZCER in 2001 and over the following years she led, and supported, a wide range of research projects. Most of her work has broadly related to curriculum and/or assessment innovation in New Zealand.

Projects Rose has led or co-led include: exploring the implications of decolonising our research practice; adopting a "knowledge systems" approach to bringing mātauranga Māori and science learning together; teaching for complex systems thinking; and co-editing an edition of Assessment Matters, with all papers written by members of NZARE’s Science Education Special Interest Group. She has also supported work on NZCER’s National Surveys of schools; background research to support Refreshing The New Zealand Curriculum; and background research to support equity in NCEA assessment practices.    

Rose has served on the editorial boards of several journals and particularly enjoys helping teacher-researchers shape their experiences and insights for formal publication. She supported a number of TLIF (Teacher Led Innovation Fund) projects over the years of this fund’s existence. In 2019 Rose was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science education. In 2022 she was awarded Life Membership of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE). In 2025, Rose retired from NZCER with the title Emeritus Chief Researcher.

Books by Rose Hipkins:

Lifelong learning large
Teaching for Complex Systems Thinking front cover

Recent journal articles: 

  • Hipkins, R., Cowie, B., Waiti, P. et al. Revisiting and Reimagining Possibilities and Opportunities for Science Curriculum-Making in Aotearoa New Zealand. NZ J Educ Stud (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40841-025-00410-5
  • Tolbert, S., Cowie, B., Hipkins, R. & Waiti, P. (2025). What’s so Wrong with Personification? Toward a Theory of Personhood in Science Education. Research in Science Education, 55:1047–1062 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-025-10268-8
  • Tolbert, S., Hipkins, R., Cowie, B., & Waiti, P. (2025). Epistemic agency, Indigenous knowledge, and the school science curriculum: reflections from Aotearoa New Zealand. International Journal of Science Education, 47(15–16), 1986–2002. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2024.2356229
  • Hipkins, R., Cowie, B., Tolbert, S. & Waiti, P. (2022). Designing for empowering curriculum implementation: The potential of “enduring competencies. New Zealand Annual Review of Education, 28, https://doi.org/10.26686/nzaroe.v28.8273 
Rose Hipkins profile
Email
rose.hipkins@nzcer.org.nz

Publications

The "something more" in key competencies Journal article 2008
Themes from the curriculum implementation case studies. Milestone report for November 2008 Research publication 2008
Competent Learners on the Edge of Adulthood: A summary of key findings from the Competent Learners @ 16 project Research publication 2008
Putting the Nature of Science strand into the water cycle Journal article 2008
Seeing yourself in science Research publication 2008
Longer learning periods for the secondary school day: What does research say? Journal article 2008
Curriculum changes, priorities and issues: findings from the NZCER secondary 2006 and primary 2007 national surveys Research publication 2008
Interplay of context and concepts in primary school children's systems thinking Research publication 2008
School planning and reporting: Is it making a difference to student learning? Research publication 2007
Course innovation in the senior secondary curriculum: A snapshot taken in July 2007 Research publication 2007
Assessing key competencies: Why would we? How could we? Research publication 2007
Thinking about the "big picture": how can school science contribute? Journal article 2007
Engaging teachers in re-imagining curriculum Journal article 2007
If "research" is the answer, what was the question? Journal article 2006
Nature of the key competencies: A background paper Research publication 2006
Shifting balances 2: The impact of the NCEA implementation on the teaching of geography and home economics Research publication 2006
Shifting balances: The impact of level 1 NCEA on teaching of mathematics and science Research publication 2006
Faction or fiction: Using narrative pedagogy in school science education Research publication 2005
Learning to "be" in a new century: reflections on a curriculum in transition Journal article 2005
Students as lifelong learners: Reflections on student data from the evaluation of the Curriculum Innovations Projects Research publication 2005