Professor Pauline Harris

Professor Pauline Harris is the Lillian de Lissa Chair, Early Childhood (Research) at the University of South Australia, in partnership with  South Australia Department for Education and Childhood Development.

She has an outstanding international record with  expertise in children's language, literacy and literature; children's citizenship and voice; and the nexus of early childhood research, policy and practice.

She has authored six books, including  Children as Citizens: Engaging with the Child’s Voice in Educational Settings (Harris and Manatakis, 2013, Routledge). Her forthcoming book is Children’s multilingual literacy - Fostering childhood literacy in home and community settings (Harris, Brock, Camaitoga, Carter, Diamond, McInnes, Krishna, Neill, 2018, Springer)

As lead researcher of collaborative teams, Professor Harris has led development of new knowledge and methods for:

• Engaging with young children as citizens to enhance their participation

• Operationalising socio-culturally inclusive and educationally, sociologically and linguistically informed models of language/literacy development and education

• Strengthening relationships among research, policy and practice in early childhood and language/literacy education

Professor Harris was Lead Chief Investigator of an ARC Discovery Grant, The National English Curriculum: Understanding the development, interpretation and implementation of disciplinary knowledge, one of seven ARC Grants (three Discovery/Large and four ARC Small/Strategic) she has been awarded as Lead CI during her career. She also leads an AusAID Category 1 ADRAS-funded research project, Developing a Community Approach to Supporting Literacy for Preschoolers in Fiji. In total,

 Professor Harris completed her Doctoral studies at the  University of California Berkeley, where she won  two scholarships and a fellowship. She had previously completed her undergraduate studies at The University of Sydney, where her studies were supported by a teacher education Scholarship and where she won two Education Society prizes during the course of her studies and graduated Dux of her graduating year.

She worked as an early years’ teacher for the  New South Wales Department of Education  for several years She then took up an academic appointment at the University of Wollongong, where she worked for 20 years prior to commencing her current appointment.

In her role as de Lissa Chair and with a focus on early childhood (birth to eight years), Professor Harris:

• Leads the development and implementation of research projects and their application to policy and practice • Encourages and conducts research that is of strategic importance

• Facilitates collaborative and cross-disciplinary research with academics, policymakers, educators and other early childhood professionals, government agencies, and non-government and civic organisations

• Advises on implications of research findings for policy and practice

• Leads the formulation of professional development programs, postgraduate studies and postgraduate research.

Professor Harris is the Director of the de Lissa Early Childhood and Family Studies Research Group; and among other roles is adviser and researcher in child friendly and children’s voices initiatives and early years literacy initiatives.

Among other roles, Professor Harris was a foundation Board Member for the Australian Children's Early Childhood Quality Authority (ACECQA), and served on ACECQA’s Policy Advisory and Research Advisory Committees. She also sits on a number of international advisory boards and editorial boards, and co-edits the international Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. She engages with educators and other professionals in the field on an ongoing basis, and gives regular keynote addresses and professional development workshops that include topics on children’s rights, voices and participation; early years language and literacy learning, pedagogy and practice; and strengthening relationships between early childhood research, policy and practice.

Professor Harris' research awards include the international Alan C. Purves Award; and the Distinguished Achievement Award for research leadership, influence and impact, including community engagement, University of South Australia.

The position of de Lissa Research Chair is named in honour of  Lillian de Lissa and developed with support from the Lillian de Lissa Trust Fund. The position is a shared partnership between the University of South Australia and SA Department for Education and Child Development.

Early Childhood Australia

American Educational Research Association

Australian Association for Research in Education

Qualifications

• Doctorate in Education University of California

• Master of Arts in Education The University of Sydney

• Bachelor of Education with Honours The University of Sydney

Work history

Present:

The Lillian de Lissa Chair, Early Childhood (Research),  School of Education, University of South Australia, in partnership with  South Australia Department for Education & Child Development

Previous:

Associate Professor, University of Wollongong