Missy Morton

Mary Winston "Missy" Morton is a New Zealand academic, and is Professor of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education at the University of Auckland. Her research interests include inclusive curriculum, assessment and pedagogies.

Academic career
Morton completed Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees at the University of Otago, and then a PhD at Syracuse University. Her 2006 doctoral thesis was titled Silenced in the court: facilitated communication and the meanings of disability and disability research in the legal setting. Morton joined the faculty of the University of Canterbury, rising to full professor and becoming head of the School of Education Studies and Leadership in 2012. Morton was also director of the Inclusive and Special Education Research Group at Canterbury. Morton moved to the University of Auckland in 2017, where she is Professor of Disability Studies and Inclusive Education. Morton serves on the Te Tapeke Fair Futures Panel of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, a multidisciplinary panel "of leading Aotearoa experts to consider the implications of equality, equity and fairness", convened in 2019. She has held senior roles in CCS Disability Action and IHC.

Morton's research covers disability studies and inclusive education. She has researched inclusive assessment for secondary teachers, and the creation of curriculum exemplars. Morton carried out a capacity-building project for inclusive teacher education in the Pacific, which was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She contributed to the first New Zealand Disability Strategy as a member of the writing group, and is a founding member of New Zealand's Inclusive Education Action Group.