Professor Anna Sullivan

Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.

Other projects

School Exclusions Study: Exclusionary policies and practices in Australian schools and the impact they have on vulnerable children 2019-2020

This study aims to investigate:The extent to which suspensions and exclusions are used by schools across Australia to discipline students and manage diverse student populations;The reasons why students are suspended and excluded; The profile of students who are suspended and excluded; The impact on the health, welfare and academic achievement of children who are suspended and excluded from Australian schools.

How schools foster refugee student resilience - ARC Linkage Grant 2018-2021

This research aims to investigate how schools transcend refugee students' past life experiences by creating the social and educational conditions that enhance their resilience. It will focus on the policies, practices, relationships, and events that shape the schooling experiences of refugee students and promote their resilience. The study will provide education sectors, schools, and refugee service providers with crucial new knowledge about how school-based policies and practices can foster refugee student resilience. Outcomes of this project will include the development of research-based guides to good policy and practice in refugee education, and improved educational and social outcomes for refugee students.

Keeping the best: how school leaders engage and retain high quality early career teachers - ARC Linkage Grant 2013-2018

Attracting and retaining high quality teachers to the profession is of international concern as it has far reaching economic and social implications for all nations. In Australia, teacher workforce development has focused predominantly on attracting and recruiting quality teachers, with less attention given to the broader retention process. This study will investigate how school leaders influence new teachers and foster their professional commitment. Furthermore, it will identify micro political strategies and activities that can be employed by leaders to promote the effective engagement and retention of quality early career teachers.

Punish them or engage them? Identifying and addressing productive and unproductive student behaviours in South Australian schools - ARC Linkage Grant 2011-2016

The management of unproductive student behaviour is one of the greatest challenges faced by schools across Australia. Yet there is little empirical evidence to guide teachers, schools and systems in their attempts to promote productive student engagement. This study sets out to provide a contemporary profile of the existing state of student behaviour and its management in South Australian schools. Furthermore, it will investigate how schools develop and enact policies to support an integrated approach to behaviour, learning and teaching. The study will provide a platform for the design of policies and practices that focus on the development of environments where students are productively engaged in their learning.

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Books

Chapters

Journal Articles

Conferences

Reports

Other outputs

Dawson, S., Sullivan, A., Dalgarno, B., Pendergast, D. (8 September 2022). Yes, some students are dropping out of teaching degrees, but not at the rate you think. The Conversation 

Sullivan, A., Down, B., Johnson, B., Manolev, J., Robinson, J. Tippett, N. (4 August 2022). If Australian schools want to improve student discipline, they need to address these 5 issues. The Conversation. 

Te Riele, K., Sullivan, A., Higgins, D., King, J., McDowall, J., Guerzoni, M., Coopes, R., Bessell, S. (May 11 2022). Attending school every day counts – but kids in out-of-home care are missing out. The Conversation. 

Sullivan, A. (31 March 2022). How the ARC could destroy our amazing education research. EduResearch Matters. 

Sullivan, A. (22 March 2022). Why is the acting minister trying to damage Australian education? EduResearch Matters. 

Sullivan, A., Reupert, A., Simons, M., Tippett, N., White, S. & Woodcock, S. (2 Sept 2021). A good induction is important for all new jobs. So why are teachers being left behind. The Conversation.

Schools are unfairly targeting vulnerable children with their exclusionary policies (2 November, 2020). EduResearch Matters.

NSW wants to change rules on suspending and expelling students. How does it compare to other states? (21 October, 2020). The Conversation.

Fewer casual positions and less out-of-hours work could help retain early career teachers (9 September, 2019). The Conversation.

Vast amounts of data about our children are being harvested via apps used by schools: This is what is being collected and stored. (18 February, 2019). EduResearch Matters. 

Digitally tracking student behaviour in the classroom encourages compliance, not learning. (31 January, 2019). The Conversation.

Teachers shouldn’t have to manage behaviour issues by themselves – schools need to support them (5 May, 2017). The Conversation.

Sullivan, A. M., Johnson, B., & Lucas, B. (Eds.). (2016). Challenging Dominant Views on Student Behaviour at School: Answering Back Singapore: Springer.

Schools' tough approach to bad behaviour isn’t working – and may escalate problems (27 May, 2016). The Conversation.

How teachers are taught to discipline a classroom might not be the best way (16 Feb, 2015). The Conversation.

Key to the classroom ... make it interesting (15 July, 2014). The Daily Telegraph.

Persistent misbehaviour challenges teachers more than student violence and aggression (30 June, 2014). EduResearch Matters.

Current research projects include:

Improving teacher induction: Supporting precariously employed early career teachers to manage student behaviour - ARC Discovery Grant 2023-2025

Team members: Professor Anna Sullivan, Associate Professor Stuart Woodcock, Dr Neil Tippett, Professor Andrea Reupert, Professor Simone White, Professor Michele Simons

This project aims to investigate the ways in which Australian induction policies support precariously employed early career teachers to effectively manage student classroom behaviour. This project expects to generate new knowledge of workforce development and induction experiences of early career teachers employed on casual and short-term contracts. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommendations to support the transition of insecure replacement teachers within the profession. The benefits of this research include, improving teachers’ classroom management practices; the retention of new teachers; improving teacher workforce development; and building a healthier education system.

Fostering school attendance for students in Out-of-Home Care - ARC Linkage Project, 2023-2026

Team members: Professor Kitty Te Riele, Professor Sharon Bessell, Professor Anna Sullivan, Professor Daryl Higgins, Dr Michael Guerzoni, Mr Dale Murray, Dr Thomas Brunzell

This project aims to investigate why children and young people in Out-Of-Home-Care in Australia are absent from school far more than their peers. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the reasons for their absences and to develop solutions to improve attendance through: children’s own voices; detailed absence data; policy audit; and case studies of promising practice. Expected outcomes include a comprehensive conceptualisation of absences including those triggered by schools or the care context; and an evidence informed, child-centred framework to enable attendance and, thereby, improved educational outcomes. This should provide significant social and economic benefits both for children in care and for the community.

School Exclusionary Policies and Practices and their Impact - ARC Discovery Grant 2021-2024

Team members: Associate Professor Anna Sullivan, Emeritus Professor Bruce Johnson, Professor Barry Down, Dr Neil Tippett

This project aims to investigate how and why Australian schools use exclusionary practices to manage disorderly students. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of school discipline about the extent and impact of these practices. It will provide a detailed analysis of the political, legislative and policy frameworks that impact on exclusion rates. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommendations for legislatures and education systems. This should provide significant benefits, such as reducing youth alienation from schooling; creating inclusive schools; reducing the financial burden of exclusion on individuals and governments; and improving the health and wellbeing of young people.