Associate Professor Victoria Whitington

Dean of Programs (Education Futures) UniSA Education Futures

Magill Campus (G1-05)
tel +61 8 830 24334

email Victoria.Whitington@unisa.edu.au

Alternative contact

Available for media comment
Research Degree Supervisor

About me

Associate Head of School of Education
Re-imagining Early Childhood
Gowrie SA Chair of Board

Victoria Whitington is Dean of Programs: Education Futures at the University of South Australia, and a senior member of the UniSA Research into Education and Social Inclusion concentration. She has worked for many years teaching and researching in the early childhood field, and has been Lady Gowrie Child Centre Board Chair since 2000. Whitington’s research has three major elements. (1) children’s wellbeing, particularly children who live in low SES circumstances, including Aboriginal, diverse and refugee communities. She has an ongoing partnership with Communities for Children, the Salvation Army and the Schools Ministry Group that has involved a series of funded projects to develop ‘The Wellbeing Classroom’, an... Read more

UniSA Education Futures

Focused on developing education professionals, UniSA Education Futures contributes to innovation in education practice through quality teaching, learning and research excellence.

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Research

Research themes

An age friendly world
Transforming societies

Research focus

Education Systems
Psychology
Specialist Studies in Education
Birth-8 Years
Centre-Based Long Day Childcare

Highlights

Children developing in context intellectually, socially and emotionally, children's development in long day childcare, culture and early childhood education, early childhood education workforce development in VET and Higher Education, learning and teaching in Higher Education.

Research

Outputs

Research since 2008 is shown below. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year	Output
2020	Sisson, JH, Whitington, V & Shin, AM 2020, ''Teaching culture through culture': a case study of culturally responsive pedagogies in an Australian early childhood/primary context', Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 108-126. 1 1 6
2018	Sisson, JH, Whitington, V & Shin, A-M 2018, An investigation on of the re-imagining of early childhood education in South Australia, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2017	Whitington, V & McInnes, E 2017, 'Developing a 'classroom as community' approach to supporting young children's wellbeing', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 22-29. 1
2015	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2015, 'Embedding wellbeing and creating community in classrooms', in K Brettig (ed.), Building stronger communities with children and families, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 7, pp. 104-127.
2009	Whitington, V & Floyd, IE 2009, 'Creating intersubjectivity during socio-dramatic play at an Australian kindergarten', Early Child Development and Care, vol. 179, no. 2, pp. 143-156. 24 15

Chapters

Year	Output
2020	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Diamond, A & Neill, B 2020, 'Embedding wellbeing and creating community in classrooms', in K Brettig (ed.), Building Stronger Communities with Children and Families, 2nd ed., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 7, pp. 123-149.
2016	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Victoria, W 2016, 'Developing trauma-informed pedagogy in a classroom with 6-8 children', in D Schaub & E McInnes (eds), Trauma and meaning making, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK, ch. 10, pp. 209-231.
2015	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2015, 'Embedding wellbeing and creating community in classrooms', in K Brettig (ed.), Building stronger communities with children and families, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, ch. 7, pp. 104-127.
2014	McInnes, EM, Diamond, AK & Whitington, V 2014, 'Developing Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in a Year 2-3 Classroom', in M Callaghan (ed.), How Trauma Resonates: Art, Literature and Theoretical practice, 1, Inter-Disciplinary Press, UK, pp. 127-138.

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2020	Sisson, JH, Whitington, V & Shin, AM 2020, ''Teaching culture through culture': a case study of culturally responsive pedagogies in an Australian early childhood/primary context', Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 108-126. 1 1 6
2020	Sisson, JH, Whitington, V, Shin, A-M, Thiel, JJ & Comber, B 2020, 'Communing to re-imagine figured worlds', Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, unpublished, pp. 1-18. Open access 2
2017	McInnes, E, Whitington, V, Colmer, K, Sisson, J & Scales, M 2017, 'A multi-dimensional approach to pedagogical development in long day care centres', New Zealand-International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 46-58.
2017	Whitington, V & McInnes, E 2017, 'Developing a 'classroom as community' approach to supporting young children's wellbeing', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 22-29. 1
2015	Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2015, 'Studying early brain development: Educators' reports about their learning and its applications to early childhood policies and practices', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 11-19. Open access 3
2015	Scrafton, E & Whitington, V 2015, 'The accessibility of socio-dramatic play to culturally and linguistically diverse Australian preschoolers', European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 213-228. 1
2015	Whitington, V 2015, 'A self-study of listening to student voice in two university early childhood degree programs', Journal of Educational Enquiry, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 65-76. Open access
2014	Roppola, TA & Whitington, V 2014, 'Pedagogies that engage five to eight year old children's imagination and creativity at school', Journal of Educational Enquiry, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 67-81.
2014	Shallow, ND & Whitington, V 2014, 'The wellbeing of refugee children in an early childhood education context: connections and dilemmas', Journal of Educational Enquiry, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 18-34. Open access 3
2014	Whitington, V, Shore, S & Thompson, C 2014, 'Time to ponder: professional learning in early childhood education', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 39 no. 1, pp. 65-72. 5 4
2013	Rutherford, L & Whitington, V 2013, 'A comparison of segregated and integrated infant and toddler programs in one childcare centre', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 41-49.
2009	Whitington, V & Floyd, IE 2009, 'Creating intersubjectivity during socio-dramatic play at an Australian kindergarten', Early Child Development and Care, vol. 179, no. 2, pp. 143-156. 24 15
2009	Whitington, V, Ebbeck, MA, Diamond, AK & Yim, HY 2009, 'A pathway to enhancing professionalism: building a bridge between TAFE and university early childhood qualifications', Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 27-35. 4 4
2008	Whitington, V, Glover, A, Stephenson, EA & Singin, D 2008, 'Tertiary teaching and learning in Papua New Guinea - building effective intercultural learning and teaching relationships', Journal of Educational Enquiry, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 36-49. Open access 1

Conferences

Year	Output
2019	McInnes, E, Whitington, V & Neill, B 2019, 'A 'classroom as community' approach to supporting student well-being and reducing bullying in primary schools', 9th International Conference The Future of Education, Filodiritto, pp. 1-5.
2013	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2013, 'An inclusive classroom-based approach to improving student well-being', in J White (ed.), Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference 2013, Australian Association for Research in Education, pp. 1-13. Open access
2012	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2012, 'Supporting children's well-being in a year 2/3 classroom', 13th International Mental Health Conference POSITIVE CHANGE: Investing in Mental Health, AST Management, pp. 20-25. Open access
2010	Whitington, V & Thompson, C 2010, ''It was all too much' the vulnerability of vocational education entrants in their first year of Bachelor of Early Childhood Education Studies', in J Thomas (ed.), 13th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference 2010, QUT Publications, pp. 1-10. Open access

Reports

Year	Output
2020	Whitington, V, McInnes, E & Neill, B 2020, The wellbeing classroom as a whole school approach: impact evaluation, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2018	Sisson, JH, Whitington, V & Shin, A-M 2018, An investigation on of the re-imagining of early childhood education in South Australia, University of South Australia, Australia. Open access
2017	Sisson, J & Whitington, V 2017, Pedagogical documentation: a South Australian perspective: a resource for early education and care educator teams, Gowrie SA, Australia. Open access
2014	McInnes, E, Diamond, A & Whitington, V 2014, The wellbeing classroom: embedding wellbeing, creating community report, Communities for Children Salisbury, the Salvation Army and the Schools Ministry Group, Australia. Open access
2014	Whitington, V 2014, Agency in the early years, AECA - Australian Early Childhood Association Inc, Australia.
2013	Diamond, A, McInnes, E & Whitington, V 2013, Family services in suburbs; do they make a difference in children's development? What 2009 and 2012 Australian Early Development Index results reveal about the efficacy of Salisbury Communities for children., Salisbury Communities for Children, Australia. Open access

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Charles Darwin University	AUSTRALIA
Flinders University	AUSTRALIA
Gowrie SA	AUSTRALIA
Private Individual	AUSTRALIA
University of Georgia	UNITED STATES
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
Invited panellist Media Centre for Education Research Australia	2019
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2017
High Achievement (PG Teaching) Student Evaluation Attainment Award Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, University of South Australia	2017
Member European Early Childhood Education Research Association	2017
Member Early Childhood Australia	2017
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2016
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2015
Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee Education and Early Childhood Services Registration and Standards Board of SA	2015
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2014
Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee Education and Early Childhood Services Registration and Standards Board of SA	2014
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2013
Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee Education and Early Childhood Services Registration and Standards Board of SA	2013
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2012
Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee Education and Early Childhood Services Registration and Standards Board of SA	2012
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2011
Chair Lady Gowrie Child Centre - Gowrie Board	2010
Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training, Australian Government	2010

Teaching & student supervision

Highlights

Children's cognitive, social and emotional development, learning, early brain development, research with young children,culture and development, professional pathways and learning for early childhood educators,the impact of stress and trauma on children's capacity to learn and participate in group settings.

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
Concepts of social identity and well-being of pasifika students and engagement in the primary school level in New Zealand schools	Current
Effective teachers documentation behaviors in a Reggio-Emilia program	Current
Limitations of current pre-service teacher programs	Current
Fostering children’s capacity for empathic reasoning: the role of community of inquiry in an empathic pedagogy	Completed
It's not just low wages and status : retention issues facing Australian childcare services	Completed

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Associate Professor Victoria Whitington

Alternative contact

Alternative contact details

About me

About me

UniSA Education Futures

About me

Professional Associations

Experience

Qualifications

Research

Research themes

Research focus

Highlights

Projects

Outputs

Highlights

Chapters

Journal Articles

Conferences

Reports

Current research & highlights

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Invited panellist

Chair

High Achievement (PG Teaching) Student Evaluation Attainment Award

Member

Member

Chair

Chair

Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee

Chair

Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee

Chair

Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee

Chair

Member, Approvals, Registration and Regulation Committee

Chair

Chair

Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning

Teaching & student supervision

Highlights

Courses and programs

Research degree supervision

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