Dr Bindi MacGill

Dr Belinda MacGill is a Senior Lecturer in Arts education at the University of South Australia Education Futures and is a contemporary artist. Dr MacGill’s research interests draw upon the fields of Contemporary art, Indigenous education, Postcolonial theory, Visual methodologies, Arts pedagogy and Critical race theory. Much of her work is focused on decolonisation through arts based practices and creative methodologies.

Dr MacGill’s research has been supported by national competitive research grants and university funding. Her recent research projects have explored the potential of virtual reality, aesthetics and learning design theory.  In 2017, Dr MacGill was Chief Investigator on the project Creative learning through dance: Exploring effects on mental wealth across generations. She was also recently Chief Investigator on a project to evaluate the WillPOWER Bilingual Program - an interdisciplinary education program, delivered specifically to Aboriginal students to increase student engagement, school attendance, and academic outcomes.

Dr MacGill’s research output includes articles and book chapters but her contribution extends to non-traditional forms such as art exhibits and editorials of art magazines such as Artlink on New Futures in Art Education. She has published a broad range of articles concerned with postcolonial receptivity, teaching in the contact zone, critical pedagogy and feminist art theory. She has also authored several book chapters including recently, Decolonization, Ethics of Care and Visual Arts Education in the book Reimagining Just Education, and the chapter Dialogue across difference: Global conversations on teacher identity and the ethics of care published in the book Drama for Schools in 2020.

In 2019, Dr MacGill was a Research fellow at King's College London, School of Global Affairs where she contributed towards teaching, research and related public engagement activities on Visual arts and decolonisation. She has been a board member of Developing Effective Arts Learners (DEAL) at Carclew, endorsed by the Department for Education; and is also on the board of the Songroom - a national not-for-profit organisation that supports disadvantaged children with tailored, high quality arts programs.

Dr MacGill offers expert advice to external stakeholders and has recently advised the Associate Director of Education on the Ancestral Modern exhibition at the Blanton Museum. She is also a sought after presenter and key keynote speaker.  While at King’s College London, she presented the keynote speech Decolonising research: Standpoint theory, intersectionality and deep listening. She also presented the seminar Embodied and creative strategies as a mode of engagement with a focus on social justice, at the Open University London.  

Dr MacGill has earned several academic distinctions including the 2020 Academic Excellence Award from the Division of Education, Arts & Social Sciences for High Achievement in student evaluation, postgraduate teaching. She also won UniSA’s Student Choice Excellent Teacher Award in 2014, the nationally awarded Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Teaching in 2012, and an Excellence in Teaching Award at Flinders University in 2011. Dr MacGill is a highly sought after HDR supervisor and has supervised six PhD students.

• Visual Arts Educators South Australia (VAESA)
• Developing Effective Arts Learning (DEAL)
• The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Training Network
• Public Pedagogies Institute
• HERDSA (Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia)
• HERGA Higher Education Research Group (Adelaide)
• Pedagogies for Justice Research Group
• Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (CACSA)

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy Flinders University

• Master of Visual Arts University of South Australia