Dr Jamie Sisson is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI) in Education Futures at the University of South Australia. She has research expertise in the professional identity and agency of early childhood teachers, inclusive early childhood curriculum and pedagogy; and collaborative learning communities – investigating how children and adults come together with multiple perspectives to collaborate and co-construct knowledge. Dr Sisson’s recent research has explored how early childhood education in South Australia is re-imagined in terms of the rights extended to children within the early years, and on developing culturally responsive approaches to curriculum and pedagogy in ... Read more
About me
Dr Jamie Sisson is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion (CRESI) in Education Futures at the University of South Australia. She has research expertise in the professional identity and agency of early childhood teachers, inclusive early childhood curriculum and pedagogy; and collaborative learning communities – investigating how children and adults come together with multiple perspectives to collaborate and co-construct knowledge. Dr Sisson’s recent research has explored how early childhood education in South Australia is re-imagined in terms of the rights extended to children within the early years, and on developing culturally responsive approaches to curriculum and pedagogy in diverse early childhood settings.
Since 2014, Dr Sisson has successfully attracted considerable external research funding. She was a Chief Investigator for the Children Learning to Live Together in Diverse Community project, funded by the Department of Education SA. She was also a Chief Investigator for the pilot project Reconceptualising Early Childhood Education in South Australia: Engaging Multiple Perspectives, funded by the Department for Education and Child Development and Catholic Education South Australia.
Dr Sisson received the highly coveted 2017 Early Career Researcher of the Year award from the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences at UniSA in recognition of her lead roles on multiple research projects. She has previously received nominations for the Early Career Researcher Award and Dissertation of the year award from the American Education Research Association’s Early Education and Child Development Special Interest Group.
In 2017 Dr Sisson co-authored the book Pedagogical documentation: A South Australian perspective. She has published a number of high impact journal articles including Communing to Re-imagine Figured Worlds, published in Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood and Teaching culture through culture: A case study of culturally responsive pedagogies in an Australian early childhood/primary context, published in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education. Her research publications have contributed to a growing international presence with invited presentations in China and the United States. Dr Sisson has been invited to present on topics concerning children’s learning through play, educator action research, early childhood policy and practice in Australia, and culturally responsive pedagogies in the early years.
In addition to her significant research contributions, Dr Sisson has supervised several higher degree by research students and has also developed materials for and taught a range of courses in teacher education programs within the United States and Australia. She has over ten years of experience working in a variety of early childhood care and education contexts with children from birth to age ten. Dr Sisson has served on the South Australian Early Childhood Australia Executive Board (2012-2015) and was elected the Vice President of Cleveland branch of the Association for the Education of Young Children (2006-2007).
About me
About me
Doctor of Philosophy Kent State University
Masters of Educational Studies The University of Queensland
Bachelor of Science in Human and Consumer Sciences The Ohio University
My research program focuses on collaborating with teams to generate new knowledge in the areas of early childhood education and teacher education through the following lines of inquiry:
Early childhood curriculum and pedagogy- Through this line of inquiry I am interested in exploring pedagogies that engage children as active protagonists in their learning such as democratic based, emergent inquiry based, culturally responsive pedagogy, and Reggio Emilia inspired pedagogies. I am also interested in how cultural models of education come together to inform policy and practice.
Connecting theory, research and practice in teacher education- I am interested in understanding the experiences of pre-service teachers and... Read more
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Early Childhood Pedagogies, NSW Department of Education, 01/06/2023 - 30/06/2025
Children learning to live together in a diverse community: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Reggio Emilia inspired Early Learning Settings, Department for Education, 04/06/2018 - 20/02/2020
Investigating the Reconceptualising of Early Childhood Education in South Australia, SA Dept for Education and Children's Services, 01/10/2017 - 14/12/2018
Providing Development and Support to Non-Government Preschools in partnership with Lady Gowrie Child Care Centre, Lady Gowrie Child Care Centre, 28/04/2014 - 31/03/2015
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, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
Year | Output |
---|---|
2018 |
Open access
4
4
|
2017 |
Open access
|
2017 |
Open access
4
4
|
2016 |
28
21
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2017 |
Open access
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2023 |
Open access
32
|
2023 |
Open access
|
2022 |
Open access
4
3
|
2022 |
Open access
2
3
2
|
2021 |
Open access
3
1
|
2020 |
Open access
3
|
2020 |
Open access
6
2
5
|
2018 |
Open access
4
4
|
2017 |
Open access
|
2017 |
Open access
4
4
|
2017 |
|
2016 |
28
21
|
2014 |
Open access
15
|
2009 |
8
8
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2020 |
Open access
|
2018 |
Open access
|
Sisson, J.H. (2015, April) Undercover: Teaching privately in a public preschool. Paper presented in the Lives of Teachers Sig at the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Il.
Sisson, J. H. (2013, December) Building a classroom community: A space for agency and recovery. Paper presented in the symposium, shaping research that strengthens and understands voice and identities in early childhood at the Australian Association for Research in Education, Adelaide, AU.
Sisson, J. H. (2012, April) Professional identity: A narrative inquiry of one public preschool teacher. Paper presented in the Lives of Teachers Sig at the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, CA.
Iverson, S. & Sisson, J. H. (2011, November) Disciplining professionals: A feminist Foucauldian analysis of public preschool teachers. Paper presented at the National Women’s Studies Association, Atlanta, GA.
Sisson, J. H. (2011, June) Professional identity and play: A narrative inquiry of five public preschool teachers. Paper presented at the Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference, Canton, OH.
James, J. H & Sisson, J. H. (2008) The loud, active girl: Disrupting and implicating binary constructs of gender in education. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Sisson, J. H. (2008, April) Complicating the parent/teacher relationship: A comparative case study of two Reggio-inspired schools. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Research
My research program focuses on collaborating with teams to generate new knowledge in the areas of early childhood education and teacher education through the following lines of inquiry:
Early childhood curriculum and pedagogy- Through this line of inquiry I am interested in exploring pedagogies that engage children as active protagonists in their learning such as democratic based, emergent inquiry based, culturally responsive pedagogy, and Reggio Emilia inspired pedagogies. I am also interested in how cultural models of education come together to inform policy and practice.
Connecting theory, research and practice in teacher education- I am interested in understanding the experiences of pre-service teachers and exploring innovative practices for engaging in collaborative models with pre-service teachers, mentor teachers and academics as an alternative to current approaches.
Teacher identity- within this line of inquiry I am interested in exploring the significance of identity and agency in the lives of teachers and the connection to their professional practices.
External engagement & recognition
Organisation | Country |
---|---|
Gowrie SA | AUSTRALIA |
Kent State University | UNITED STATES |
University of Georgia | UNITED STATES |
University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
University of Wyoming | UNITED STATES |
External engagement & recognition
Engagement/recognition | Year |
---|---|
Board memberLillian de Lissa Trust |
2023 |
Co-Founder and ConvenerCulturally Inclusive Early Childhood Pedagogies International Network |
2023 |
Early Childhood Advisory Committee MemberLincoln Institute of Higher Education Sydney |
2023 |
Board memberLillian de Lissa Trust |
2022 |
Co-Founder and ConvenerCulturally Inclusive Early Childhood Pedagogies International Network |
2022 |
Expert panel member, Early Childhood Teaching Performance Assessment Working GroupAustralian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership |
2022 |
Co-Founder and ConvenerCulturally Inclusive Early Childhood Pedagogies International Network |
2021 |
Convenor of International Symposium at Australian Association for Research in Education ConferenceUniversity of Maynooth, Ireland |
2021 |
Chair of Nominations and ElectionsAmerican Education Research Association, Lives of Teachers SIG |
2020 |
Co-ConvenerKey early childhood organisations in South Australia |
2020 |
Co-Founder and ConvenerCulturally Inclusive Early Childhood Pedagogies International Network |
2020 |
Co-Founder and ConvenerCulturally Inclusive Early Childhood Pedagogies International Network |
2019 |
Founder and ConvenerInternational Collaboration for Culturally Inclusive Early Childhood Pedagogies |
2019 |
Invited Keynote PresentationEducation Department Centre, SA |
2019 |
Invited PresentationMaple Leaf Education System, Dalian, China |
2019 |
MemberAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) |
2019 |
MemberEarly Childhood Organisation (EChO) |
2019 |
MemberNational Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) |
2019 |
MemberAssociation for Childhood Education International (ACEI) |
2019 |
MemberEarly Childhood Australia (ECA) |
2019 |
MemberAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) |
2018 |
MemberAustralian Association for Research in Education (AARE) |
2018 |
MemberEarly Childhood Australia (ECA) |
2018 |
MemberAmerican Educational Research Association (AERA) |
2017 |
MemberEarly Childhood Australia (ECA) |
2017 |
MemberAustralian Association for Research in Education (AARE) |
2017 |
Committee Memberde Lissa and Denton Trust |
2015 |
Executive Board MemberEarly Childhood Australia |
2015 |
Invited PresentationKent State University Early Childhood Program and laboratory school, Ohio, USA |
2015 |
Committee Memberde Lissa and Denton Trust |
2014 |
Executive Board MemberEarly Childhood Australia |
2014 |
Invited Keynote PresentationEarly Childhood Organisation Annual General Meeting |
2014 |
Nominated Early Career Researcher AwardEarly Education and Child Development SIG |
2014 |
Advisory Board MemberForum on Workforce Strategies- Professor Carla Rinaldi Thinker-in-Residence |
2013 |
Committee Memberde Lissa and Denton Trust |
2013 |
Executive Board MemberEarly Childhood Australia |
2013 |
Executive Board MemberEarly Childhood Australia |
2012 |
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
Thesis title | Student status |
---|---|
An Investigation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Early Childhood Teacher Retention | Current |
Creativity in the curriculum: investigating teacher agency in developing arts based pedagogy to support children's agency and meaning making in early childhood. | Current |
Early childhood educators perceptions of social and emotional learning for toddlers: A narrative inquiry | Current |
Effective teachers documentation behaviors in a Reggio-Emilia program | Current |
Investigating partnerships between early childhood educators and Chinese immigrant families in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in an Australian context | Current |
Early childhood students and international transitions | Completed |
Exploring Filipino teachers' identity and community engagements | Completed |
Teacher self-efficacy and practice: a case study of eight South Australian reception teachers | Completed |
Value Guided Practice: the ethics of care and justice in early childhood education and care | Completed |