Elizabeth Rata is a sociologist of education and a professor in the School of Critical Studies in Education at the Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland. She is Director of the Knowledge in Education Research Unit (KERU) where she leads the Knowledge-Rich School Project. This Project is using the Curriculum Design Coherence Model for teachers in their course design, in professional development programmes, and in pre-service teacher education. Her post-PhD research was into the effects of ethnic politics on educational change.

For the last decade her research has been concerned with bringing back academic knowledge into education so that all students, no matter what their background, have the opportunity to succeed at school. Her research criticises the current commitment in New Zealand education to student-led learning, innovative learning environments, and the emphasis on teachers as facilitators.

She was a Senior Fulbright Scholar to Georgetown University, Washington, DC in 2003. Her major books are: A Political Economy of Neotribal Capitalism, 2000, and The Politics of Knowledge in Education, 2012. She publishes in international journals such as Anthropological Theory, The Curriculum Journal, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Critique of Anthropology, Educational Philosophy and Theory, New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, and the British Educational Research Journal with disciplinary connections to sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and political science. She has supervised over 40 Masters and PhD students in a range of areas including Māori education, higher education, curriculum studies, education policy, and the history of education.