About The Cognition Institute

The Cognition Institute’s vision is to be a thought leader in education. It fosters, encourages and facilitates quality education research and policy dedicated to improving teaching and learning in New Zealand schooling.

The Institute’s mission is to inform and influence discussion, discourse and policy in education, based on high quality research and evidence. It also strives to connect educational practice, policy and research to improve educational outcomes in New Zealand and internationally.

The Cognition Institute was established by the Cognition Education Trust and developed out of the Cognition Education Research Trust. The Institute is funded by Cognition Education Trust through the proceeds of Cognition Education Limited, New Zealand’s leading independent education services and consultancy provider.

The Cognition Institute works interdependently with researchers, policy makers, practitioners and the wider community to identify and explore opportunities, as well as address issues related to teaching and learning.

Schooling challenges related to teaching and learning include:

• the achievement gaps between New Zealanders from different backgrounds
• the disconnect that often exists between the scholarship of change and those that work in schools
• applied research capacity and capability.

The Institute supports the tremendous work already underway in New Zealand to address the above issues. It aims to provide much needed additional resource to advance schooling opportunities and hasten the resolution of key challenges.

It brings together education insight and New Zealand expertise and innovation to foster high quality research and policy to influence practice with an emphasis on dissemination and use.Text

As a thought leader in education, the Cognition Institute commissions research as well as providing various grants for education research. In addition to awarding research grants to practitioners who are initiating or completing PhD studies, the Institute funds partnerships of researchers, practitioners and policy makers. Together with Fullbright NZ, the Institute also awards the Fulbright-Cognition Scholar Award in Education Research each year.

The grant application process may be completed online. Successful applicants will be able to use the website to get feedback on their progress and input from some of the leaders in the education sector.

A purpose of the Institute is to promote the use of quality research and policy in educational institutions to improve and further develop the quality of teaching and learning. This means that we will strive to make completed policy and research easily accessible and facilitate discussion and debate on the findings.

The Cognition Institute website allows us to communicate research findings easily to all interested parties. Full research papers are available on the website, as well as summaries which identify the key findings of the research and how they are applicable to practitioners.

Forums on the website are hubs of discussion, enabling people from all parts of the education sector to come together and debate relevant topics. The Institute also facilitates events such as symposia and think tanks to encourage further discussion and debate in the sector. Findings of research and the outcomes of such events are published throughout the year.