Faculty News and Achievements
Welcome - New Heads Of Schools - School of Education and School of Teacher Education
It is with great pleasure that I am able to welcome Professor Lindsay Parry to the position of Head of School of School of Education (Wagga Wagga & Albury/Wodonga), and Professor Tara Brabazon to the position of Head of School of School of Teacher Education (Bathurst & Dubbo).
Lindsay comes to us from James Cook University where he held the position of Head of School of the School of Education. Lindsay has extensive experience in providing strategic leadership and management in teacher education institutions in Australia and New Zealand. He has also held senior positions at Griffith, USQ and the Christchurch College of Education. He enjoys a strong reputation for his work in curriculum theory and development, and social studies education.
Tara is an international expert in online learning, media literacies, the information scaffold and creative industries, having written 14 books and 170 articles. She has worked in New Zealand, Australia, Canada (Ontario) and UK, most recently as Head of Department at the University of Bolton. She is a passionate teacher, winning six teaching awards throughout her career, including the National Teaching Award for the Humanities, and is also active in educational journalism, having been a columnist in the Times Higher Education. She has also been a finalist for Australian of the Year.
Lindsay will be located in Wagga Wagga, whilst Tara will be located in Bathurst.
Professor Toni Downes
Dean, Faculty of Education.
Australian Endeavour Award Winner
Congratulations to Professor Sue Dockett, who has been awarded a 2013 Endeavour Executive Award.
Endeavour Awards is the Australian Government’s internationally competitive, merit-based scholarship program providing opportunities for citizens of the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia. Awards are also available for Australians to undertake study, research and professional development abroad.
Sue will undertake research in policies and practices surrounding transition to school in Sweden, including visiting preschool (and their associated prior-to-school and school) settings. This will extend her knowledge and expertise in inclusive transition to school practices and policies; issues for children with disabilities as they start school; and the ways different policies and curricula impact on practice at the time of transition—all of which will inform her work on transition to school in Australia. Sue will also participate in a meeting of the international collaborative project group, Pedagogies of Educational Transition (POET).
Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Faculty of Education Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
They are as follows:
- Christine Edwards-Groves and Rhonda Hoare of the School of Education for program innovation demonstrating commitment to developing quality teaching practices among Bachelor of Education students through learning about and practising ‘dialogic pedagogies’ in school settings.
- Angela Hennessey of the School of Human Movement Studies for sustained enthusiasm and commitment to developing blended learning opportunities in Primary PDHPE curriculum that engage and inspire student learning on multiple campuses.
- Jacquie Tinkler of the School of Education for sustained commitment to subject development for the engagement and support of distance education students using online technologies.
- Lucie Zundans-Fraser, Sarah McDonagh, Julie Lancaster, Gregory Auhl and Catherine Newell for sustained commitment to capacity building and bringing research to scale through evidence-based approaches to educational design, learning and teaching in Inclusive Education.
ARC Grant Success
We are very pleased to announce that several Faculty of Education researchers were successful in 2012 Australia Research Council Discovery Grant funding announced on November 5, 2012.
Within the Education Fields of Research (FoR Codes 1301, 1302 & 1303) awarded, there were a total of 15 grants awarded, with 3 of them coming to CSU and one of our professors participating on a fourth project. Overall, CSU as an institution received 7 Discovery Grants worth $1.8 million, with 3 of them ($800,000) coming to the Faculty of Education.
The successful projects are:
- Continuity and change in curriculum and pedagogies as children start school Professor Sue Dockett and Professor Bob Perry
$301,610
This project considers the impact of the Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum on transition to school in Australia. Through extensive interviews and surveys, it gathers evidence to influence theoretical, policy and practice approaches to transition to school and, hence, the future schooling of all Australian children. - Processing mathematics tasks: the nature and role of visual and non-visual reasoning in digital and non-digital environments
Professor Tom Lowrie
$256,000
Within the next four years, it is likely that the National Assessment Plan for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be administered in a digital mode. This project identifies differences between the delivery of mathematics assessment in pencil-and-paper and computer-based modes. Primary students' mathematics reasoning is compared across these modes and to cohorts from Singapore. - A sound start: innovative technology to promote speech and pre-literacy skills in at-risk preschoolers
Sharynne McLeod, Elise Baker, Jane McCormack, Yvonne Wren and Sue Roulstone
$284,551
One in five Australian preschoolers have speech impairment and without specialist services face an increased risk of reading difficulties and life-long consequences. Given that demand for services exceeds supply, this project will determine if a preschool computer-based service can promote speech development and reduce risk of reading difficulty. - Education meets play: a sociological study of how the new compulsory national learning framework for children zero to five years influences educators' practice
Professor Jennifer Sumsion as part of a team from Queensland University of Technology - Sue Grieshaber, Felicity McArdle and Paul Shield
$299,122.00
New theorising about play and education in early childhood settings has challenged traditional notions of play. This project investigates how educators respond to the requirement for play-based learning by identifying characteristics of successful educators and professional leaders, and strategies and practices that merge education and play