Rate My Professor Michael Gaffney

Dr Michael Gaffney is a Senior Lecturer (Pūkenga Matua) in the Early Childhood Education Programme at the University of Otago College of Education, where he also serves as a member of the Kaiāwhina Māori student support team. He holds qualifications including a PhD, MA, MEd, BA, and Dip Tchg. His career at the University of Otago began in 1995 at the Children’s Issues Centre, serving as a researcher and lecturer until 2010. During that time, he was involved in the development and teaching of the Postgraduate Diploma of Child Advocacy and supervised students in the Masters of Childhood and Youth Studies programme.

Dr Gaffney's research interests are broad, stemming from his extensive experience at the Children’s Issues Centre. They include childhood studies with a focus on children and young people's views of their experiences; disability studies and inclusion; socio-cultural theory and communities of practice; social and educational evaluation; and evaluation studies of social and education service providers. He examines how people learn to become parents and how communities, including early childhood settings, can support them. Additional interests cover children’s experiences of early childhood education and schooling, infants and toddlers, supporting whānau, utilising Te Whāriki, and addressing rights to education for different groups of children. He participates in Ministry of Social Development activities such as Strengthening Families and Community Response Forums. Key publications include Gaches, S., Gunn, A. C., Gaffney, M., & Carvalho, R. (2024). Refocusing care as central to teaching within ECE. Early Childhood Folio, 28(1), 13-17; McAnelly, K., & Gaffney, M. (2025). Ahakoa he aha te rākau he hua rei roto: Reviewing the Teaching Council's draft Inclusive Teaching Practice Guidance through a children's rights oriented lens. Proceedings of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Conference; Gunn, A. C., Carvalho, R., Gaches, S., & Gaffney, M. (2025). Preservice teachers learning about mentors' care(full) teaching. NZARE Conference Proceedings; and Waterworth, K., Gaffney, M., Taylor, N., & Gibson, B. E. (2021). The civil rights of disabled children in physiotherapy practices. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.