Associate Professor Karen Sinclair is a Ngarridjeri educator, with lived experiences on place and accepted by community, immersed in stories from a bloodline connection with and nurtured by her Ngarrindjeri Elders, she is the Program Director for the Postgraduate suite of Aboriginal Studies Programs at UniSA. Karen has an extensive teaching background and was formerly a Junior Primary teacher, and later an Early Years Curriculum Officer working in the States Department of Education contributing to the inclusion of Indigenous Perspectives in the National Early Years Curriculum Framework. She teaches several Postgraduate courses including Aboriginal Research Methodologies and Ethics, Aboriginal Nation Building and Governance and... Read more
About me
Associate Professor Karen Sinclair is a Ngarridjeri educator, with lived experiences on place and accepted by community, immersed in stories from a bloodline connection with and nurtured by her Ngarrindjeri Elders, she is the Program Director for the Postgraduate suite of Aboriginal Studies Programs at UniSA. Karen has an extensive teaching background and was formerly a Junior Primary teacher, and later an Early Years Curriculum Officer working in the States Department of Education contributing to the inclusion of Indigenous Perspectives in the National Early Years Curriculum Framework. She teaches several Postgraduate courses including Aboriginal Research Methodologies and Ethics, Aboriginal Nation Building and Governance and Aboriginal Education, Culture, Curriculum and Change. Through her teaching, and based on her life experiences as a Ngarrindjeri person, Karen works to ensure that Aboriginal voices, perspectives, and aspirations are centred.
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia
Master of Arts ( Aboriginal Studies) University of South Australia
Masters of Education University of South Australia
Bachelor of Arts (Aboriginal Studies) University of South Australia
Bachelor of Arts (Aboriginal Affairs Administration) University of South Australia
Bachelor of Early Childhood Education University of South Australia
Junior Primary Teacher
Early Years Curriculum Policy Officer
Aboriginal Education Consultant
Current (2022-2024) - Australians Together Lived Experience Research Project No. 2202-065, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Dr Sara Wueffen, Assoc. Prof. John Guenther, Dr Robyn Ober, Dr Sam Osborne, Assoc. Prof. Sandra Wooltorton, Dr Melanie Baak, Dr Aleryk Fricker, Dr Samantha Schulz, Dr Karen Sinclair, Ms Anna Dwyer, Ms Delean Holtze
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Constable Development Program (CDP) Redesign SAPOL, South Australian Police, 16/05/2024 - 15/02/2025
Research
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 or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
|
| 2024 |
|
| 2021 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2021 |
Open access
10
8
4
|
| 2020 |
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Open access
3
7
|
| 2019 |
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2018 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2020 |
Open access
|
| 2014 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2025 |
|
| 2023 |
|
| 2020 |
Open access
|
Research
Current (2022-2024) - Australians Together Lived Experience Research Project No. 2202-065, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Dr Sara Wueffen, Assoc. Prof. John Guenther, Dr Robyn Ober, Dr Sam Osborne, Assoc. Prof. Sandra Wooltorton, Dr Melanie Baak, Dr Aleryk Fricker, Dr Samantha Schulz, Dr Karen Sinclair, Ms Anna Dwyer, Ms Delean Holtze
Presiding Member of the S.A. Aboriginal Lands Trust
Board Director, Australian Indigenous Governance Institute (AIGI)
Panel Member, Aboriginal Education Expert Advisory Panel, Department of Education
South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) Committee
Review Committee, World Indigenous Peoples' Conference on Education 2022
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood (AJEC) Research Symposium Sub-committee Member 2022
UniSA 2019 Aboriginal and Contemporary Australian Studies Fellowship - Kings College, London
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Charles Darwin University | AUSTRALIA |
| Private Individual | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Sydney | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
ChairpersonSouth Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust |
2021 |
Member of Board Appointment CommitteeAboriginal Legal Rights Movement SA |
2021 |
Panel Member, Expert Advisor Panel for Aboriginal Education StrategySouth Australian Department for Education |
2021 |
Board MemberAboriginal Education Strategy Working Party, SACE |
2020 |
Deputy ChairpersonSouth Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust |
2020 |
Panel Member, Expert Advisory Panel for Aboriginal Education StrategySouth Australian Department for Education |
2020 |
Deputy ChairpersonSouth Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust |
2019 |
Distinguished FellowKings College, London, Menzies Australia Institute |
2019 |
Early Childhood Australia Doctoral Thesis Award for ExcellenceEarly Childhood Australia |
2019 |
Panel Member, Expert Advisory Panel for Aboriginal Education StrategySouth Australian Department for Education |
2019 |
Deputy ChairpersonSouth Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust |
2018 |
Deputy ChairpersonSouth Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust |
2017 |
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| Redesigning teaching for a fairer Australia: exploring the role of racial literacy | Current |
| Valuing the social return on investment of Aboriginal-led economic development in remote areas of Australia | Current |
| Unfolding invisible architecture: a case study of a Raukkan Aboriginal community, South Australia | Completed |
