RIPPLE Visiting Scholars

Rachel Jakhelln is from Norway and will be a visiting scholar from October 19th to February 27th, 2010. She will be working on her doctoral thesis and participating in research and writing activities associated with the "Pedagogy, Education and Praxis" group in RIPPLE.

Dr Hannu Heikkinen is currently Senior Researcher and lecturer at the University of Jyvaskyla and Adjunct Professor at the University of Tampere (Finland). His research centres around teacher education, especially action research, narrative research, teachers' professional development  and mentoring programs for newly qualified teachers. Hannu has supervised many doctoral students, coordinated a number of developmental projects such as mentoring and teacher education for immigrant teachers in Finland, as well as developing methods of teacher education through action research. At CSU, he is especially interested in discussing the 'Verme' project which he directs, a program that has developed collaborative mentoring projects for new teachers, being conducted at many centres throughout Finland. During his visit, he will meet NSW DET staff responsible for mentoring in the Riverina Region.

Petri Salo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petri_Salo) is Professor in Adult Education at the ??bo Akademi University, Vaasa (Finland). Petri's studies have concentrated on the tradition and trends in Finnish and Nordic popular adult education, especially Swedish-speaking Finns' cultural and educational activities. He has also published in the fields of teacher education, action research and organisational sociology. He is particularly interested in the Nordic folkenlightenment movement and study circles in civic life and social research.

Petri has visited as a guest lecturer in various universities in Finland (University of Helsinki, University of Joensuu), Sweden (University of Gothenburg) , Norway (Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, and University of Troms'), Estonia (University of Tarto), the U.S. (University of Minnesota) and Australia (Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga). He gave a keynote address on the micropolitics of school leadership at the RIPPLE Conference 'Action Research and Professional Practice' in education.

There is a Memorandum of Understanding for research cooperation between Abo Akademi University and CSU, and Petri is at the heart of this cooperation. He will work on a project related to the ARC 'Leading and Learning: Developing ecologies of practice (with Stephen Kemmis, Christine Edwards Groves, Ian Hardy and Jane Wilkinson).

Benjamin Zufiaurre (http://morpheo.unavarra.es/zufiaurre) is Professor of Education at the Public University of Navarra, Spain and former Head of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogics (1996-2008). Benjamin began his career as a teacher of modern languages at both primary and secondary schools, then moved into academic life where he has worked for the past 25 years. Benjamin has published widely in both national and international publications, and has managed a variety of research projects and groups. Benjamin obtained his doctorate (in Pedagogics) from the University of Barcelona in 1988, and completed his Masters of Inclusive Education at the University of Sheffield, UK in 1990. His main academic interests are in curriculum studies, teacher professionalism, educational evaluation, and gender and multicultural perspectives in education.  


RIPPLE Adjunct Appointments

Adjunct Professor Alison Lee, University of Technology, Sydney
Professor Lee is Director of the Centre for Research in Learning and Change (L&C) at UTS. She researches and teaches in higher education with a particular focus on doctoral education. She has been coordinator of doctoral programs in Education for the past 10 years and has published widely on doctoral supervision, research writing, practice-based research and the changing nature of the doctorate. She has been awarded a national citation by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) in 2008 for her contribution to development of a rich learning environment for doctoral research at UTS.

Adjunct Professor, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences
Congratulations to Stephen Kemmis, who has been appointed Adjunct Professor of the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences from February 2009 until January 2011. The appointment is in recognition of Stephen's involvement and leadership in the Pedagogy, Education and Praxis research collaboration.

Investigating Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care adjunct appointments
Anne Stonehouse and Anne Kennedy have joined the IQECEC group as adjunct appointments. Both researchers were core writers for the Early Years Learning Framework, and we are pleased that they are continuing their involvement with RIPPLE.

Anne Stonehouse is known for her writing about babies and toddlers, the New South Wales Curriculum Framework, and her pioneering work on the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics. Anne has an ongoing role in the Australian Research Council project 'What is life like for babies and toddlers in childcare?' as a critical friend and advisor. She will also be involved in the EYLF research network being established with the recent Australian Research Alliance for Children and Young People (ARACY) funding.

Anne Kennedy is a highly respected leader in the early childhood field. She is currently Chairperson of Community Child Care and is in regular consultation with the Victorian government. She has a continuing research interest in ethics. Anne will also be part of the EYLF research network.

RIPPLE Research Fellows

Dr Tuija Turunen has been appointed to the position of postdoctoral research fellow with RIPPLE, to commence on 19 January 2010, for a three-year period. Dr Turunen is currently living in Finland, but will relocate to Albury for the period of the fellowship. She has research experience in both transition to school, and educational policy, and consequently, her work is closely aligned to the Educational Transitions and Change (ETC) group. The position is being funded as part of the RIPPLE/Faculty of Education strategic initiative to employ four postdoctoral research fellows to work within designated RIPPLE research groups.

Dr Siew Yin HO has been appointed to the position of postdoctoral research fellow with RIPPLE and has commenced at Wagga Campus. Siew Yin obtained her Ph.D from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in May 2009. Her research topic was: Visualization In Primary School Mathematics: Its Processes and Roles In Mathematical Problem Solving. She has taught curriculum studies modules at the National Institute of Education for the Postgraduate Diploma in Education pre-service teachers programme and the Diploma in Education pre-service teachers programme for a number of years.  Previously, she had extensive experience in primary schools in Singapore. She has presented papers at international mathematics education conferences in more than 10 countries.