Debating a Research Agenda for Children for the Next Five Years

Rachel Smithies, Sue Bidrose

The recent “Seminar on Children’s Policy ” had the central objective of launching the development of a New Zealand children ’s policy and research agenda. This paper outlines some of the ideas and issues that have been raised as relevant to the development of a children’s research agenda and discusses some points of debate. It draws on one of the papers presented to the Seminar, as well as on comments by Seminar participants.

The paper presents a stocktake of contemporary, policy-focused, children’s research in New Zealand; discusses the main aspects of the dialogue to date on future directions for children’s research; and identifies key gaps in children’s research in specific areas. It is intended as a resource in the ongoing debate on the future direction of children’s research in New Zealand.