The Wellington College Research Centre
Research Invested.
Linking Action to Impact.
Te Whare Rangahau o Te Kāreti Tamatāne – The Wellington College Research Centre contributes to a flourishing learning community by bringing together the rich intellectual, cultural, and relational resources of Wellington College. We support and lead research that deepens understanding, strengthens teaching and learning, and enables both ākonga and kaiako to grow in ways that benefit the wider educational community.
Wellington College is at the forefront of a growing movement toward school-based research in Aotearoa. As the lead school in establishing the Research Invested Schools Network in NZ (RISNZ), inspired by the research mahi of our Australian counterparts, its primary purpose is to engage in educational research that sparks thought and action, generates new knowledge, informs policy, improves practice, and includes students, educators, and academics alike. We acknowledge the connections and collaborations with the The Crowther Centre (Brighton Grammar School, Melbourne), Barker Institute (Barker College, Sydney), The Caledonian Institute (The Scots College, Sydney), and Churchie Research Centre (Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane).
The Wellington College Research Centre creates opportunities for members of our community to participate in wider, ongoing conversations about teaching and learning and collaborate with other schools. It serves as a hub for professional growth, offering support and development for staff who seek to deepen their practice through inquiry, reflection, and research based learning.
Research that is close to practice.
The importance of research in the setting in which it impacts cannot be underestimated. Teachers are the experts in the classroom, and their insight, analysis, and professional curiosity are vital to understanding what works, for whom, and why. When teachers engage in research, they not only deepen their own practice but also contribute to a collective knowledge base that drives meaningful, context-specific improvement. This is why the work of the Research Centre is so important – it enables teachers to engage with research at multiple levels, offering support across a range of inquiries, from classroom-based reflection to more formal, school-wide investigation.
WC Teacher Research Publication 2023
WC Teacher Research Publication 2024
WC Action Research Publication 2023 - 2024
At the CollFace Blog
Knowledge is for sharing.
Explore our research domains.
Flagship Project:
The WC Journey – Character Education Study
Positive learning and social behaviours are essential to students’ journey toward thriving, both in school and beyond. At Wellington College, we are committed to developing not only knowledge and skills, but also strong character. To achieve this, we teach our values explicitly and acknowledge them when we see them in action.
If we want to see our values genuinely embodied within and beyond our kura, we must continually model, teach, and recognise what they look like in practice. And if we are to truly understand the impact we are having as a learning community, we need robust ways to measure and refine what we do.
Our flagship project – a longitudinal study tracking a cohort of students from Year 9 to Year 13 – exists to do just that. The evidence from this research will support us in understanding what key activities support the growth of character and how it develops over time. The insights we gain will inform and strengthen our educational philosophy, support continuous improvement in character education, and help equip our students to thrive, not only as learners, but as contributors to society.
