Kay Morris Matthews

Kay Morris Matthews
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Born	{{#statements:P569}} {{#statements:P19}}
Died	{{#statements:P570}} {{#statements:P20}}
Resting place	{{#statements:P119}}
Other names	Alison Kay Morris Matthews
Relatives	Joanne Morris (sister)
Awards	{{#statements:P166}}
Academic background
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Thesis	Henry Hill – Frontier Inspector (1984)
Doctoral advisor	{{#statements:P184}}
Other advisor	{{#statements:P1066}}
Academic work
Institutions	{{#statements:P108}}
Doctoral students	Anne Else, Alice Pollard

Alison Kay Morris Matthews JP is a New Zealand academic education researcher, and is emeritus professor at the Eastern Institute of Technology, specialising in community history, education, and women and children's issues.

Academic career

Morris Matthews was born in Hamilton, and was educated at Dannevirke High School and Colenso High School (now William Colenso College) in Napier. Her sister is lawyer Joanne Morris. She earned a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Education at the University of Waikato. Her master's thesis was titled Henry Hill – Frontier Inspector at the University of Waikato. Morris Matthews worked as a secondary school teacher and then lectured in women's studies at the University of Waikato. She then joined the faculty of the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington where she was Professor of Education. Morris Matthews then moved to the Eastern Institute of Technology as Research Professor. She served on the national executive of the New Zealand Council for Research in Education, and has been a justice of the peace since 1985.

Morris Matthews' research focus is on children and women's issues, and she has written more than seven books, covering subjects such as Māori girls' education, and modern education policy in New Zealand. She wrote an exhibition Recovery: Women's Overseas Service for WWI for the commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, which highlighted the stories of East Coast women who served overseas. The exhibition was displayed at Tairawhiti Museum in 2017, and Morris Matthews wrote the accompanying book. Notable doctoral students of Morris Matthews include Anne Else and Alice Pollard.

On her retirement from the Eastern Institute of Technology in 2021, Morris Matthews was appointed emeritus professor. She still continued her research, and when she volunteered at the MTG Hawke's Bay, she was appointed researcher in residence. Morris Matthews wrote the exhibition For Home and Country: Women’s Institutes in Hawke’s Bay, which was shown at MTG Hawke's Bay in 2021, to celebrate the centenary of the founding of Women's Institutes in New Zealand. The exhibition also marked the re-opening of the museum after its closure. Morris Matthew published a biography of WI founder Bessie Spencer

External links

• Heritage with Kay Morris Matthews, Radio New Zealand Nine to Noon, 22 November 2012