As a Teaching Academic at UNISA Education Futures my University experiences are in Teaching Children with Disabilities, Inclusive Education and Educating for Diversity and Inclusion. I bring to university teaching many years of social inclusion policy development and teaching from Birth -Post schooling in the Education Department of South Australia. Collaboration has always been critical for enabling me to promote culturally inclusive pedagogy across years of schooling, especially within low SES schools, regional communities and for students in the High NAPLAN bands.
My educational experiences have included being the Cross Sector Manger for the Commonwealth National Partnerships and Closing the Gap Literacy and Numeracy initiatives and... Read more
About me
As a Teaching Academic at UNISA Education Futures my University experiences are in Teaching Children with Disabilities, Inclusive Education and Educating for Diversity and Inclusion. I bring to university teaching many years of social inclusion policy development and teaching from Birth -Post schooling in the Education Department of South Australia. Collaboration has always been critical for enabling me to promote culturally inclusive pedagogy across years of schooling, especially within low SES schools, regional communities and for students in the High NAPLAN bands.
My educational experiences have included being the Cross Sector Manger for the Commonwealth National Partnerships and Closing the Gap Literacy and Numeracy initiatives and Aboriginal Education Policy development for the Department-Catholic Education-Independent Schools; State-wide Manager of Aboriginal Literacy & Achievement for the Department; Disability and Programs leader in Early Intervention and Learning Disabilities Years 5-12, a member of the Disability Advisory Board, inaugural Australian Manager Notschool.net Australia; State-wide Manager Flexible Learning & Literacy for students learning in community; team design member for the development of COMPASS Online Assessment with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) https://www.acer.org/compass and member of the South Australian Consultation Committee for the National Disability Standards in the development of the Australian Curriculum. A highlight of my career has been to work in consultation with the Kaurna Aboriginal community for the reimaging of the Starting Out Right Project for improving the health, learning and well-being of Aboriginal Children and their families in South Australia.
The PhD degree conferred to me in 2016, titled Teacher Pedagogy to Develop Students’ Writing, provides an interpretative analysis of how technology as an instructional tool is adopted and used for the development of student writing. The research shows how this innovative approach to the application of technology in education enables all educators to support the development of students’ writing in online and face-to-face learning environments.
The findings of my research provides a window into the complexities of teaching through technology and how teachers and students can think differently about the application of curriculum, learning design, pedagogy and management of a learning environment. More importantly, from my significant leadership, research and teaching experiences the research also provides insight into how philosophical and cultural beliefs can be challenged and understood when faced with innovative ways of thinking within contemporary practices.
On a personal level, I have many years of experience in horticultural farming, community life and international relationships. I am a recipient of the SA-Country-Arts-First- Prize-Music-on-the-Murray-Award, a Rotary Exchange Student to Brazil and former Mayoress of Waikerie
About me
Doctor of Philosophy Flinders University
Master of Education (Educational Computing) University of South Australia
Bachelor of Special Education Flinders University
Teaching & student supervision