Art and craft research
Student’s pots from the kiln at Oruaiti School, 1952
In 2010 I completed a doctoral degree in education. My research tells the story of how the development of art and craft education in the primary school curriculum became a powerful catalyst for educational reform in Aotearoa.
The educational reforms in the 1930s–1960s broke down barriers between the school and the community and led to significant and enduring shifts in the way people in Aotearoa thought about the arbitrary distinctions that are so often made between art and craft, teaching and learning, and education and work.
Some of Aotearoa’s best known potters, painters, and sculptors had their beginnings as itinerant art teachers working in Art and Craft branch of the Department of Education between 1940 and 1970 including Doreen Blumhardt, Ralph Hotere, Marilyn Webb, Katerina Mataira, Sandy Adsett, John Bevan Ford, Cliff Whiting, Jim Allen, and Clive Aldridge.
Over the course of my research, I had the privilege of interviewing New Zealand potters, artists, and teachers—along with their students—whose work revolutionised art education in schools and highlighted the vital role social and cultural activities play in fostering community connection. Their innovative vision, deep insight, and artistic expertise continue to shape my own sense of expression, identity, and place as an artist in Aotearoa today.
My dissertation was awarded the New Zealand Association for Research in Education 2011 Sutton-Smith Doctoral Award for excellence in a doctoral thesis. In 2016, I adapted my dissertation for a book which was published by The New Zealand Council for Educational Research and was a finalist in the New Zealand Education Book Awards ‘Best Resource in Higher Education’ category.
Publications & Reviews
Margaret MacDonald. 'Richardson, Elwyn Stuart - Biography', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2020. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand,
Margaret MacDonald. Elwyn Richardson and the early world of creative education in New Zealand, NZCER Press, 2016.
Margaret MacDonald. Discovering Art Through Science: Elwyn Richardson’s environmental curriculum, Educational Philosophy and Theory journal, 2016.
Deborah Fraser. “Timely and urgent”: Review of Margaret MacDonald (2016), Elwyn Richardson and the Early World of Creative Education in New Zealand, NZCER Press. Journal issue: set 2016: no. 1, start page: 52.