Your Instructor
Dr Melinda Webber (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue) is an Associate Professor in the University of Auckland Faculty of Education and Social Work, specialising in Māori identity and the ways in which race, ethnicity and culture impact on young people. She is also the current Director of The Starpath Project for Tertiary Participation and Success, which aims to improve educational achievement of Māori, Pacific and students from low socio-economic communities through research and evidence-based school interventions. After her Bachelor of Education and working as a teacher, Dr Webber returned to the University of Auckland to complete her PhD on the racial-ethnic identity of Māori, Pākehā, Samoan and Chinese secondary school students in Auckland. Her subsequent research and publications combine social psychology, identity development and Māori perspectives on education and methodology. She previously received a Marsden Fast Start grant and a Fulbright Scholarship to expand her research and international collaborations.