Karen Nairn is based in Ōtepoti/Dunedin in the south of Aotearoa. As a former high school geography teacher with a passion for environmental issues, her research path has evolved from working with high school students to her current project with activists in their 20s/early 30s, documenting their visions for change in Aotearoa. She has been employed at the University of Otago for the past 22 years, currently based at the University of Otago College of Education where she is a Professor.
Karen's research is youth-focused. The book Fierce Hope. Youth Activism in Aotearoa (Bridget Williams Books) reports her recent Marsden-funded research about what inspires young people to join others to create social change. The book is about six youth-led groups working on a range of fronts: honouring indigenous land rights, progressing policies for a zero carbon future, challenging sexual violence and gender-based harassment, rethinking gender and sexuality and what counts as 'justice', and addressing social inequalities in Aotearoa. Watch video describing Fierce Hope
An earlier Marsden-funded project culminated in the book Children of Rogernomics: A neoliberal generation leaves school. That book was about young people coming to adulthood in the wake of New Zealand's neoliberal reforms, connecting their accounts with the wider social and economic story. Find out more about Children of Rogernomics
Karen introduced a Young women in leadership programme for year 12 and is currently researching the programme's influence on young women.
Research interests include:
Youth-led activism
Post-school transitions and young people's identities
Neoliberal policies and their impacts on young people
Academic writing for publication
Gender, sexuality, 'race' and youth cultures
The politics of voice
Feminist issues in education
Critical theories
Qualitative research methods, including visual methods
Secondary and tertiary education practices
Young Activists Research Project
What inspires young people (aged 18–29+) to join others to create social change?
Karen is Principal Investigator with this project.
Showden, C. R., & Nairn, K. (2023). Family, friends, and climate change: What drives young New Zealanders into activism. Proceedings of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (SAANZ) Conference: Global Challenges, Local Responses. Retrieved from https://www.saanz.net/saanz2023
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Matata-Sipu, Q. & Nairn, K. (2023, October). Fierce hope: The Ihumātao Chapter. Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Public Discussion].
Other Research Output
Blake, V., O'Brien, R., McLaren, L., & Nairn, K. (2023, June). Opportunities. Panel discussion at the Science-based Policy School for Climate Change, [Hybrid].
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Showden, C. R., Barker-Clarke, E., Sligo, J., & Nairn, K. (2023). The connective is communal: Hybrid activism in online and offline spaces. Social Movement Studies. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/14742837.2023.2171387
Journal - Research Article
Sligo, J., Besley, T., Ker, A., & Nairn, K. (2023). Creating a culture of care to support rainbow activists’ well-being: An exemplar from Aotearoa/New Zealand. Journal of LGBT Youth, 20(3), 502-523. doi: 10.1080/19361653.2022.2077274
Journal - Research Article
Showden, C., & Nairn, K. (2022). Activist hope: Rejecting naivete, refusing despair. Proceedings of the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (SAANZ) Conference: Now what? Reimagining hope, 'truth' and equality. Retrieved from https://www.saanz.net/saanz2022
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nairn, K., Sligo, J., Showden, C. R., Matthews, K. R., & Kidman, J. (2022). Fierce hope: Youth activism in Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Bridget Williams Books, 300p. doi: 10.7810/9781990046681
Authored Book - Research
Nairn, K. (2022, September). Fierce hope and research with young people. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Inaugural Professorial Lecture].
Other Research Output
Graham, K., Nairn, K., & Treharne, G. J. (2022). Teaching gender and sexual diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand: How hierarchies and surveillance shape what is possible. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 57(2), 351-365. doi: 10.1007/s40841-022-00259-y
Journal - Research Article
Showden, C. R., Nairn, K., & Matthews, K. R. (2022). ‘So people wake up, what are we gonna do?': From paralysis to action in decolonizing activism. Ethnicities, 22(5), 663-684. doi: 10.1177/14687968211062916
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2021, November). The emotional work of youth-led activism in Aotearoa. Verbal presentation at the Performing Childhoods Conference, [Online].
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K., & Kidman, J. (2021). Living in and out of time: Youth-led activism in Aotearoa New Zealand. Proceedings of The Material Life of Time: The Second International Temporal Belongings Conference. Retrieved from https://www.temporalbelongings.org/programme1.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nairn, K., Kidman, J., Matthews, K. R., Showden, C. R., & Parker, A. (2021). Living in and out of time: Youth-led activism in Aotearoa New Zealand. Time & Society, 30(2), 247-269. doi: 10.1177/0961463X21989858
Journal - Research Article
Rogers, T. L., & Nairn, K. (2021). Cambodian schoolgirls’ negotiation of discursive constraints within and beyond the school context. Gender & Education, 33(6), 737-756. doi: 10.1080/09540253.2020.1849571
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Showden, C. R., Sligo, J., Matthews, K. R., & Kidman, J. (2020). Consent requires a relationship: Rethinking group consent and its timing in ethnographic research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 23(6), 719-731. doi: 10.1080/13645579.2020.1760562
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2020). Learning through doing: The potential of a collective editing pedagogy. Teaching in Higher Education, 25(7), 888-901. doi: 10.1080/13562517.2019.1632827
Journal - Research Article
Matthews, K., Nairn, K., & Bond, S. (2019, August). Youth activism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Militant ethnography and the ethical boundaries of the field. Verbal presentation at the School of Geography Postgraduate Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K. (2019). Learning from young people engaged in climate activism: The potential of collectivizing despair and hope. YOUNG, 27(5), 435-450. doi: 10.1177/1103308818817603
Journal - Research Article
Sandretto, S., & Nairn, K. (2019). Do parenting advice books help or harm? Critiquing ‘common-sense’ advice for mothers raising boys. Gender & Education, 31(3), 327-343. doi: 10.1080/09540253.2018.1533919
Journal - Research Article
Costa Camoes Rabello, R., Nairn, K., & Anderson, V. (2019). Working within/against institutional expectations: Exploring recommendations for social investment in the oil and gas sector. Extractive Industries & Society, 6(1), 103-109. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2018.06.007
Journal - Research Article
Costa Camoes Rabello, R., Anderson, V., & Nairn, K. (2018). An exploration of social investment discourses in the oil and gas sector. In D. Crowther, S. Seifi & A. Moyeen (Eds.), The goals of sustainable development: Responsibility and governance. (pp. 139-154). Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-5047-3_9
Chapter in Book - Research
Costa Camoes Rabello, R., Nairn, K., & Anderson, V. (2018). Rethinking corporate social responsibility in capitalist neoliberal times. In D. Crowther & S. Seifi (Eds.), Redefining corporate social responsibility. (pp. 27-41). Bingley, UK: Emerald. doi: 10.1108/S2043-052320180000013005
Chapter in Book - Research
Bäckström, A., & Nairn, K. (2018). Skateboarding beyond the limits of gender? Strategic interventions in Sweden. Leisure Studies, 37(4), 424-439. doi: 10.1080/02614367.2018.1462397
Journal - Research Article
Sligo, J. L., Nairn, K. M., & McGee, R. O. (2018). Rethinking integration in mixed methods research using data from different eras: Lessons from a project about teenage vocational behaviour. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 21(1), 63-75. doi: 10.1080/13645579.2017.1321868
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Anderson, V., & Blanch, K. (2018). Future teachers debate charter schools on Facebook: Analysing their political subjectivities. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(1), 41-52. doi: 10.1080/01596306.2016.1228045
Journal - Research Article
Sandretto, S. & Nairn, K. (2018, October). Do parenting advice books help or harm? Critiquing 'common-sense' advice for mothers raising boys. College of Education Research Seminar Series, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar].
Other Research Output
Graham, K., Treharne, G., & Nairn, K. (2017, July). Student educators' understandings of gender: A qualitative exploration of secondary and tertiary education settings in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Verbal presentation at the British Psychology Society (BPS) Psychology of Women Section 30th Anniversary Annual Conference, Windsor, UK.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Graham, K., Treharne, G., & Nairn, K. (2017, July). Using discourse analysis to explore secondary and tertiary educators' conceptualisation of their role. Verbal presentation at the Qualitative Methods in Psychology Conference, Aberystwyth, UK.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Graham, K., Treharne, G. J., & Nairn, K. (2017). Using Foucault's theory of disciplinary power to critically examine the construction of gender in secondary schools. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 11(2), e12302. doi: 10.1111/spc3.12302
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2016, September). Sustaining academic writing: How did a new postgraduate course "Writing for publication in the social sciences" work?. College of Education, Research Seminar Series, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. [Department Seminar].
Other Research Output
Nairn, K., & Kraftl, P. (2016). Introduction to children and young people, space, place, and environment. In K. Nairn, P. Kraftl & T. Skelton (Eds.), Space, place, and environment. (pp. 1-24). Singapore: Springer.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K., Kraftl, P., & Skelton, T. (Eds.). (2016). Space, place, and environment. Singapore: Springer, 566p.
Edited Book - Research
Freeman, C., Gollop, M., & Nairn, K. (2016). Disasters, displacement, and disruption: Children and young people's experience of spatial change following disasters. In N. Ansell, N. Klocker & T. Skelton (Eds.), Geographies of global issues: Change and threat. (Living ed.) Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-4585-95-8_11-1
Chapter in Book - Research
Smith, L., Nairn, K., & Sandretto, S. (2016). Complicating hetero-normative spaces at school formals in New Zealand. Gender, Place & Culture, 23(5), 589-606. doi: 10.1080/0966369X.2015.1034245
Journal - Research Article
Freeman, C., Nairn, K., & Gollop, M. (2015). Disaster impact and recovery: What children and young people can tell us. Kōtuitui, 10(2), 103-115. doi: 10.1080/1177083X.2015.1066400
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2015, November). 'Out of sight, out of mind' Education provision for learners disengaged from school. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Conference: Emancipation Through Education, Whakatāne, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K. (2015, November). Creatively researching with young adults who are encountering uncertain futures. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Conference: Emancipation Through Education, Whakatāne, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K., & Wyn, J. (2015). New girlhood and lost boys: Analysing the cultural politics of gender and education through film. Discourse, 36(6), 821-832. doi: 10.1080/01596306.2014.973372
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Cameron, J., Anakin, M., Juntrasook, A., Wass, R., Sligo, J., & Morrison, C. (2015). Negotiating the challenge of collaborative writing: Learning from one writing group's mutiny. Higher Education Research & Development, 34(3), 596-608. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2014.973383
Journal - Research Article
Higgins, J., & Nairn, K. (2014). "Out of sight, out of mind?" Education provision for learners disengaged from school. In V. M. Carpenter & S. Osborne (Eds.), Twelve thousand hours: Education and poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 145-164). Auckland, New Zealand: Dunmore.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K. (2014, October). Experimenting with our academic writing. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) Student Caucus Workshops, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2014). Stay or go? Reading identity through young people’s lives in rural places. In J. Wyn & H. Cahill (Eds.), Handbook of children and youth studies. (pp. 1-11). Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-4451-96-3_9-1
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K. (2014). [Review of the book Henri Lefebvre and education. space, history, theory]. New Zealand Geographer, 70(3), 211-212. doi: 10.1111/nzg.12065
Journal - Research Other
Fielding, K., Smith, L. F., & Nairn, K. M. (2014). What can secondary initial education students learn from observing in a primary classroom? Proceedings of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference. Retrieved from http://www.aera.net
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Brown, K., Nairn, K., & Sandretto, S. (2014). Learners' experiences in negotiating excellence. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 49(1), 87-100.
Journal - Research Article
Spowart, L., & Nairn, K. (2014). (Re)performing emotions in diary-interviews. Qualitative Research, 14(3), 327-340. doi: 10.1177/1468794112473498
Journal - Research Article
Brown, K., Nairn, K., van der Meer, J., & Scott, C. (2014). "We were told we’re not teachers ... It gets difficult to draw the line": Negotiating roles in Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS). Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 22(2), 146-161. doi: 10.1080/13611267.2014.902559
Journal - Research Article
Blanch, K., Nairn, K., & Sandretto, S. (2014). Facebook in the classroom: Blended audiences and multiple front-stages. International Journal of Social Media & Interactive Learning Environments, 2(1), 70-84. doi: 10.1504/IJSMILE.2014.059693
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2013). Children of Rogernomics: How does this neoliberal "do" gender? In E. C. M. Grant, A. Alfaro & H. Radner (Eds.), At a Crossroads: Reconsidering Gender and Identity Research Colloquium: Refereed Abstracts. (pp. 12-13). Dunedin, New Zealand: Department of History and Art History, University of Otago. [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Anderson, V., Nairn, K., & Blanch, K. (2013, November). 'I'm trying to understand opposition to partnership schools': Facebook as a forum for examining pre-service teachers' views on educational issues. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE) National Conference: Creativity in Research: Generative Inquiries for Educational Futures, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Sligo, J., & Nairn, K. (2013). Children's understandings of success. In N. Higgins & C. Freeman (Eds.), Childhoods: Growing up in Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 235-248). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Adam, L., Casey, B., Cross, D., Nairn, K., & Stein, S. (2013, August). What do we do about unintentional plagiarism? Panel discussion at the Spotlight on Teaching and Learning Colloquium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Juntrasook, A., Nairn, K., Bond, C., & Spronken-Smith, R. (2013). Unpacking the narrative of non-positional leadership in academia: Hero and/or victim? Higher Education Research & Development, 32(2), 201-213. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2011.643858
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Higgins, J., & Sligo, J. (2012). Children of Rogernomics: A neoliberal generation leaves school. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 198p.
Authored Book - Research
Cameron, J., Juntrasook, A., Morrison, C., Nairn, K., Renner, S., Sligo, J., Tilson, J., Trevethan, H., Wass, R., & Anakin, M. (2012). Negotiating and sustaining academic writing groups. Proceedings of the Joint International Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) and the Asia Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA). Retrieved from http://aare-apera2012.com.au/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Freeman, C., Gollop, M., Taylor, N., & Nairn, K. (2012). Children and young people's voices in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake. Proceedings of the 6th Australasian Natural Hazards Management Conference. (pp. 10). Retrieved from http://www.hazardseducation.org/conference/
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nairn, K. (2011, September). Education and employment interrupted: Young motherhood in neoliberal times. Verbal presentation at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Annual Conference, London, UK.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Anakin, M., Morrison, C., Nairn, K., Tilson, J., Trevethan, H., Cameron, J., Juntrasook, A., Wass, R., & Sligo, J. (2011). Collaborative academic writing group [Panel discussion]. In K. Shephard, T. Harland & A. Cohen (Eds.), Proceedings of the Spotlight on Teaching and Learning Colloquium. (pp. 18). Dunedin, New Zealand: HEDC, University of Otago. [Abstract]
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2011). The emotional geographies of neoliberal school reforms: Spaces of refuge and containment. Emotion, Space & Society, 4(3), 180-186. doi: 10.1016/j.emospa.2010.10.001
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2010). In transition: How the children of the economic reforms articulate identities at the child-adult border. In L. B. Claiborne & W. Drewery (Eds.), Human development: Family, place, culture. (pp. 253-255). Sydney, Australia: McGraw-Hill.
Chapter in Book - Research
Higgins, J., & Nairn, K. (2010). In transition: From school to work in the twenty-first century. In G. McLennan, McManus & P. Spoonley (Eds.), Exploring society: Sociology for New Zealand students. (3rd ed.) (pp. 160-161). Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson.
Chapter in Book - Research
Juntrasook, A., Bond, C., Spronken-Smith, R., & Nairn, K. (2010). Unpacking the complexities of leadership in academic life through the multiple lenses of narrative analysis. Proceedings of the Contemporary Ethnography Across the Disciplines (CEAD) Hui. (pp. 99-100). Retrieved from http://cead.org.nz/Site/Ethnography_conference/Programme.aspx
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Juntrasook, A., & Nairn, K. (2010, November). Becoming vulnerable in academia: Re-considering vulnerabilities in a research interview with a 'marginalised' academic. Verbal presentation at the University of Otago Postcolonial Studies Research Network Symposium: Vulnerability, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Higgins, J., Nairn, K., & Sligo, J. (2010). Vocational imagination and labour market literacy: Young New Zealanders making education-employment linkages. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 62(1), 13-25. doi: 10.1080/13636820903491716
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., & Wyn, J. (2009, November). Coming of age stories in film: Divergent subjectivities of hope and marginalisation. Verbal presentation at the Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (SAA(NZ)) Conference, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2009). 'In transition': How the children of the economic reforms articulate identities at the child/adult border. Childrenz Issues, 13(1), 30-34.
Journal - Research Article
Higgins, J., Nairn, K., & Sligo, J. (2009). Alternative ways of expressing and reading identity. Ethnography & Education, 4(1), 83-99. doi: 10.1080/17457820802703549
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., & Panelli, R. (2009). Using fiction to make meaning in research with young people in rural New Zealand. Qualitative Inquiry, 15(1), 96-112. doi: 10.1177/1077800408318314
Journal - Research Article
Cameron, J., Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2009). Demystifying academic writing: Reflections on emotions, know-how and academic identity. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 33(2), 269-284.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2008). Understanding alienation from school: Reading spaces, reading emotions. Proceedings of the Emotional Geographies of Education Symposium. Retrieved from http://www.education.monash.edu/research/conferences/emotional-ed/index.html
Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract
Nairn, K., Higgins, J., & Sligo, J. (2008, November). Buying into the promise of the knowledge economy in NZ: Young people's decision-making as they leave school. Verbal presentation at the International Sociology of Education Conference, London, UK.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Higgins, J., Nairn, K., & Sligo, J. (2008). Peer research with youth: Negotiating (sub)cultural capital, place and participation in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In S. Kindon, R. Pain & M. Kesby (Eds.), Participatory action research approaches and methods: Connecting people, participation and place (Reprinted). (pp. 104-111). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Other
Higgins, J., Nairn, K., & Sligo, J. (2007). Peer research with youth: Negotiating (sub)cultural capital, place and participation in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In S. Kindon, R. Pain & M. Kesby (Eds.), Participatory action research approaches and methods: Connecting people, participation and place. (pp. 104-111). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K., Higgins, J., & Ormond, A. (2007). Post-school horizons: New Zealand's neo-liberal generation in transition. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 17(4), 349-366.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., & Higgins, J. (2007). New Zealand's neoliberal generation: Tracing discourses of economic (ir)rationality. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 20(3), 261-281.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Higgins, J., & Sligo, J. (2007). Youth researching youth: ″Trading on″ subcultural capital in peer research methodologies. Teachers College Record, 14515. Retrieved from http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=14515
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2006, December). Perceptions of how safe lesbian, gay and bisexual students are in NZ high schools. Verbal presentation at the Sexual Health Research Network Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K., Higgins, J., Thompson, B., Anderson, M., & Fu, N. (2006). 'It's just like the teenage stereotype, you go out and drink and stuff': Hearing from young people who don't drink. Journal of Youth Studies, 9(3), 287-304.
Journal - Research Article
Higgins, J., & Nairn, K. (2006). 'In transition': Choice and the children of New Zealand's economic reforms. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(2), 207-220.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Sligo, J., & Freeman, C. (2006). Polarizing participation in local government: Which young people are included and excluded? Children, Youth & Environments, 16(2), 248-271.
Journal - Research Article
Anderson, V., & Nairn, K. (2005). Commentary: Teaching and mothering: Reflections on the dual role. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 40(1 & 2), 211-220.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2005). The problems of utilizing 'Direct experience' in geography education. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 29(2), 293-309.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Munro, J., & Smith, A. B. (2005). A counter-narrative of a 'failed' interview. Qualitative Research, 5(2), 221-244.
Journal - Research Article
Ashcroft, C., & Nairn, K. (2004). Critiquing the Tertiary Education Commission's role in New Zealand's tertiary education system: Policy, practice and panopticism. ACCESS, 23(2), 43-54.
Journal - Research Article
Smith, A. B., Gaffney, M., & Nairn, K. (2004). Health rights in secondary schools: Student and staff perspectives. Health Education Research, 19(1), 85-97. Oxford University Press.
Journal - Research Article
Smith, A. B., Nairn, K., & Gaffney, M. (2004). Secondary students' involvement in recreational activities at school. Childrenz Issues, 8(1), 29-34.
Journal - Research Article
Smith, A. B., Gaffney, J. M. D., Nairn, K., & Sligo, J. L. (2003). Case studies of young people's participation in public life. [Public Seminar].
Other Research Output
Sligo, J. L., Munro, J. A., Nairn, K., Higgins, J., & Tuhiwai Smith, L. (2003, December). 'In transition': How the children of the economic reforms articulate identities at the child/adult border. Reporting from the pilot study. Verbal presentation at the Combined Annual Conference of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education and the Australian Association for Research in Education 2003 : Educational research, risks and dilemmas, Auckland, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Freeman, C., Sligo, J. L., & Nairn, K. (2003, April). Young people's participation in community life. Verbal presentation at the Social Policy Research and Evaluation Conference 2003: Connecting policy, research and practice, Wellington, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Smith, A. B., Nairn, K., Sligo, J. L., Gaffney, J. M. D., & McCormack, J. (2003, June). Case studies of young people's participation in public life: Local government, boards of trustees and the youth parliament. Verbal presentation at the Fifth Child and Family Policy Conference: Joined up services: Linking together for children and families, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K., & Smith, A. B. (2003, April). Young people as researchers in schools: The possibilities of peer research. Verbal presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association 2003: Accountability for educational quality, Chicago, IL.
Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Nairn, K. (2003). Young people's participation: What does it mean for libraries and librarians? In M. Nimon (Ed.), Connecting challenges: Issues for teacher and children's librarians. (pp. 120-126). Adelaide: Auslib Press.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K. (2003). What has the geography of sleeping arrangements got to do with the geography of our teaching spaces? Gender, Place & Culture, 10(1), 67-81.
Journal - Research Article
Smith, A. B., Nairn, K., Sligo, J. L., Gaffney, J. M. D., & McCormack, J. (2003). Case studies of young people's participation in public life: Local government, boards of trustees and the youth parliament. University of Otago. 82p.
Working Paper; Discussion Paper; Technical Report
Nairn, K., & Smith, A. B. (2003). Taking students seriously: Their rights to be safe at school. Gender & Education, 15(2), 133-149.
Journal - Research Article
Smith, A. B., Nairn, K., Taylor, N. J., & Gaffney, J. M. D. (2003). Staff and student perspectives on children's rights in New Zealand secondary schools. Childrenz Issues, 7(1), 9-16.
Journal - Research Article
Freeman, C., Nairn, K., & Sligo, J. L. (2003). 'Professionalising' participation: From rhetoric to practice. Children's Geographies, 1(1), 53-70.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., Panelli, R., & McCormack, J. (2003). Destabilizing dualisms: Young people's experiences of rural and urban environments. Childhood, 10(1), 9-42. doi: 10.1177/0907568203010001002
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K., & Gollop, M. (Eds.). (2002). Childrenz issues: Exploring Youth Issues, 6(1). [Journal Editor].
Other - Edited Journal
Nairn, K. (2002). [Review of the book Line dancing: an atlas of geography curriculum and poetic possibilites]. Gender, Place & Culture, 9. [Book Review].
Journal - Research Other
Nairn, K., & Smith, A. B. (2002). Secondary school students' experiences of bullying at school and their suggestions for dealing with it. Childrenz Issues, 6(1), 16-22.
Journal - Research Article
Panelli, R., Nairn, K., Atwool, N. R., & McCormack, J. (2002). 'Hanging out': Print media constructions of young people in 'public space'. Childrenz Issues, 6(1), 23-30.
Journal - Research Article
Panelli, R., Nairn, K., & McCormack, J. (2002). ''We make our own fun'': Reading the politics of youth with(in) community. Sociologia Ruralis, 42(2), 106-130. doi: 10.1111/1467-9523.00205
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (2002). Doing feminist fieldwork about geography fieldwork. In P. Moss (Ed.), Geography and Gender: A Guide to its Methodology. (pp. 146-159). Oxford: Blackwell.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K. (2001). Young people's participation - What does it mean for libraries and librarians? Australian Public Libraries, 14(1), 25-31.
Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles
Taylor, N. J., Smith, A. B., & Nairn, K. (2001). Rights important to young people: Secondary student and staff perspectives. International Journal of Children's Rights, 9, 137-156.
Journal - Research Article
Freeman, C., & Nairn, K. (2000). Children, young people and their environments: Changing themes. Childrenz Issues, 4(2), 7-13.
Journal - Research Article
Smith, A. B., Gollop, M. M., Marshall, K., & Nairn, K. (Eds.). (2000). Advocating for Children: International Perspectives on Children's Rights. Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 223p.
Edited Book - Research
Nairn, K., Higgitt, D., & Vanneste, D. (2000). International perspectives on fieldcourses. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24(2), 246-254.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (1999). Embodied fieldwork. Journal of Geography, 98, 272-282.
Journal - Research Article
Nairn, K. (1997). Hearing from quiet students: The politics of silence and of voice in geography classrooms. In S. Roberts, H. Nast & J. P. Jones (Eds.), Thresholds in Feminist Geography. (III ed.) (pp. 93-115). Lanham (USA): Rowman and Littlefield.
Chapter in Book - Research
Nairn, K. (1996). Parties on geography fieldtrips: Embodied fieldwork? Women's Studies Journal, 12(2), 86-97.
Journal - Research Article
Professor MA(Cant) PhD(Waik) DipTchg 