Murray School of Education
Dr Noella Mackenzie
Dip Teach EC RCAE: B Ed LaTrobe; MEd LaTrobe; Ed D LaTrobe.
Position: Lecturer
Phone: (02) 6051 9405
Fax: (02) 60519424
Campus: Thurgoona
Room: 104
Email: nmackenzie@csu.edu.au
Biography
Prior to moving to the university Dr Mackenzie acquired valuable experience and knowledge of early literacy development and catering for the diverse literacy needs of young learners through her work as Classroom Teacher, Special Education Coordinator and Reading Recovery Tutor. Noella’s experience in the application, interpretation and analysis of early literacy assessment and intervention at a district, region and state level stretches over 15 years of working as a Reading Recovery Tutor for the NSW Department of Education and Training. The Reading Recovery Tutor role saw her work intensively and extensively with hundreds of teachers between 1990 and 2004 in both Australia and the USA.
Research
Major area of research: Writing acquisition and early writing development with a particular focus on the relationship between talking, drawing and writing.
Becoming a writer: the first 6 months of formal schooling. This project began with a pilot study in 2007 and was followed by phase 2 in late 2007 and 2008, phase 3 in late 2008 and phases 4 and 5 in 2009. This project addresses an important concern for Australia in current times given that ‘literacy under-achievement has high social and economic costs’ (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005, p. 7). The literacy debates to date have focused almost completely on reading and ignored the important role of writing in literacy development.The project: challenged participants (teachers) to examine their approach to the teaching of writing in the first year of school; measure the impact of different approaches to teaching writing in kindergarten and investigate the role of children’s drawing in early writing instruction. In 2010 the project will move into exploring writing in the six months prior to school enrolment.
New Projects: In 2010 two new projects will be launched. These projects will focus on writing in Grade 1.
Membership of research centre: The Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and education (RIPPLE http://www.csu.edu.au/research/ripple/) is a multi-disciplinary research centre that conducts high-quality applied research and consultation in the field of professional practice andimplications for professional learning and education. I was invited to join RIPPLE in 2007 and am a member of the Teacher Education and Professional Learning and Curriculum Groups within RIPPLE.
Teaching
Noella’s teaching is focused on Literacy in the Primary Classroom. In particular Noella is interested in promoting undergraduate students’ understandings of literacy development and assisting them to devise appropriate instruction to facilitate children’s learning in both individual and group contexts
Membership
Membership of professional associations:
- Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA)
- Australian College of Educators (ACE)
- Australia Teacher Educators Association (ATEA)
- Primary English Teachers Association (PETA)
Publications
- Mackenzie, N.M. & Ling, L., (2009) The research journey – A “Lonely Planet” approach. Issues in Educational Research, Vol 19, No. 1.
- Mackenzie, N.M (2008) Becoming a writer: Can we predict how children will engage with the writing process at school entry? Journal of Reading, Writing and Literacy, Vol 3, No.1.
- Mackenzie, N.M. (2007) Teacher morale: More complex that we think? Australian Educational Researcher, Vol 34, No 1.
- Mackenzie, N.M (2007) Teaching excellence awards: An apple for the teacher? Australian Journal of Education, Vol 51, No.2
- Green, W., Pennell, B & Mackenzie, N. (2007) Literacy, adolescence and schooling: A literacy challenge for the middle years, In S. Knipe (Ed), Teaching Middle Schools: Reframing Adolescence Pearson Education: Australia
Professional Engagement
- 2009 Presented the Keynote address at the Riverina STLA Conference - “Engagement: bringing learners and learning together”.
- 2008 -2009 Academic Partner Australian Government Quality Teaching Action Learning Project at Edward PS. Title: Raising expectations through action learning with a focus on improving Quality Teaching Practices.
- 2008-2009 Invited judge for the Elyne Mitchell Rural Women’s Writing Awards.
- 2005 Presented 3 sessions at theBromley Teacher Conference (London, October). Topic: Actively teaching for reciprocity between reading and writing in the early years of schooling.
- 2005 Visiting academic for one week. Bromley School District, London (Oct)
- 2004-2005 Academic Partner Australian Government Quality Teaching Action Learning Project at Deniliquin Sth PS. Title: Quality Assessment Supporting Quality Teaching