Linda Westphalen

Dr Linda Westphalen

Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Curriculum

School of Education

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.


Working in a School of Education has meant that teaching is not only Linda's professional role, it is also her subject matter. A teacher for 35 years, Linda is a national Office of Learning and Teaching Citation winner in 2012, and a 2008 Winner of the Dean of Professions' Prize for Excellence in Postgraduate Teaching at the University of Adelaide. Linda's current teaching is in the areas of culture, diversity and inclusion, pedagogy and engagement, and student safety and well-being. From 2009 to the end of 2015, she coordinated the Fourth year of the School of Education’s Teacher Education Programs. From 2018 until June 2020, she was the Associate Dead of Learning and Teaching for the School of Education, and then Deputy Dean, Learning and Teaching for the Faculty of Arts until the Faculty merger with Professions in March 2022. In July 2022, Linda accepted the role of Associate Dean, Curriculum for the new Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics (F-ABLE).

Linda has also served on the Executive Committee of the Adelaide Education Academy (2018 - 2021), and joined the Adelaide College of Reviewers in 2021. She looks forward to the challenge of new pathways in her teaching areas, such as innovation and online learning in the School of Education. She has also had a key role in conceiving and establishing the School's Masters of Teaching. After reading Paulo Freire's Teachers as Cultural Workers (2005) on a plane in 2018, Linda was intrigued by the idea of how the increasing focus on teacher accreditation is impacting on the profession, and how this might be at odds with teachers' Relational Agency and the demands of 21st century learning for futures that are largely undefined. She is now actively researching this area.

Teaching, Linda contends, is (still) the best, most interesting and rewarding job there is.

Latest Research: Westphalen, L. (2020). Transforming Higher Education Teaching for 21st-Century Skills. In M. White & F. McCallum (Eds.), Critical Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Leadership: Enhancing Educational Outcomes (pp. 45 - 60).  Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands.

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2022 - ongoing Associate Dean, Curriculum University of Adelaide
    2021 - 2022 Deputy Dean, Learning and Teaching University of Adelaide
    2021 - 2021 Student Support Academic Mentor University of Adelaide
    2018 - 2020 Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching University of Adelaide
    2017 - ongoing Adelaide Education Specialist University of Adelaide
    2013 - ongoing Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide
    2006 - 2013 Lecturer University of Adelaide
  • Awards and Achievements

    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2012 Award Office of Learning and Teaching National Citation Office for Learnign and Teaching Australia $10, 000
    2008 Teaching Award 2008 Excutive Dean of the Professions Prize for Excellence in Teaching University of Adelaide Australia $2000
  • Language Competencies

    Language Competency
    English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    2009 - 2010 University of Adelaide Australia Graduate Certificate Online Learning (Higher Education)
    1998 - 2002 Flinders University Australia PhD
    1991 - 1994 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Arts Honours (English)
    1985 - 1986 University of Adelaide Australia Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary)
    1981 - 1985 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Arts
  • Research Interests

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2018 - 2020 Principal Supervisor ‘Music is my Oxygen’: an Exploration of Bioecological Influences on Pathways to University Music Study in Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Garry Robert Jones
    2016 - 2019 Principal Supervisor The Mechanics of Grammar: Theme and Rheme in Engineering Education (MOG TREE) Solution Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Alison-Jane Hunter
    2011 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Attitudes towards Indonesian Teachers of English and Implications for Their Professional Identity Doctor of Education Doctorate Full Time Mr Ardian Wahyu Setiawan
    2009 - 2010 Co-Supervisor IB or SACE? An Investigation into Student Course Choice at the Senior Secondary Level in an Adelaide School Doctor of Education Doctorate Part Time Dr Meredith Coleman
    2008 - 2011 Co-Supervisor Adelaide Secondary School Students Participation in Sport and their Cultural Identity: A Humanistic Sociological Study Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Vegnes Maniam
    2007 - 2010 Co-Supervisor International Parents in Tokyo and the Education of their Transnational Children Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Donna Velliaris
    2006 - 2011 Co-Supervisor Aims, Expectations and Caring in Australian Year 12 ESL: A Case Study of Curriculum and Classroom Practice Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mrs Aramesh Zoghi
  • Mentoring

    Date Topic Location Name
    2012 - ongoing ICT Integration Pulteney Grammar School Jarrod Johnson
  • Industry Partnerships

    Date Engagement Type Partner Name
    2012 - ongoing Consultant Professionals @ Pulteney (Research Hub)
  • Position: Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Curriculum
  • Phone: 83133784
  • Email: linda.westphalen@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83133604
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Nexus 10, floor 8,10 Pulteney Street - Nexus 10 Tower, floor Eighth Floor
  • Org Unit: School of Education, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

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