I am a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of South Australia where I have been teaching in Initial Teacher Education across early childhood and primary programs for over 17 years. Before becoming a university teacher educator, I taught in junior primary schools and preschools across Adelaide's North and North-East suburbs.
My honours research was centred on the areas of moral reasoning and values education in Early Childhood settings and my PhD doctoral thesis was titled 'Fostering Children’s Capacity for Empathic Reasoning: The Role of Community of Inquiry in an Empathic Pedagogy'. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and support a range of early career academic colleagues through UniSA’s Teaching Academic Group (TAG) in the Education Futures Unit.
My research interests are in Social Emotional Learning, neurodiversity in education, supporting international student teachers, and the benefits of esports in schools and communities.
I am AuDHD and have a passion for supporting neurodiverse learners through universal design principles and approaches across all areas of teaching and learning. I am a co-leader of the newly founded Neurodiversity@UniSA Special Interest Group.
I am also an enthusiastic advocate for a gender diverse Early Years Workforce, and I promote and support a push for more men in ECEC through UniSA's innovative MENtor Program for Males in ECE and my involvement with the Minderoo Foundation Dad's Alliance.
I have delivered a wide range of conference presentations and invited lectures across Australia and internationally, including recent international keynotes for the 2024 Family Education and Social Support Academic Symposium at Sichuan Normal University in China, and the 2024 NZ Office of Early Childhood Education National Summit in Wellington, New Zealand.
I am a current member of The Front Project's Apiary Fellowship which is a network of diverse leaders in the early childhood field who work together to enact change in the systems and structures of the ECEC sector and beyond.
I regularly engage with media around topics related to the early years workforce, gender diversity in ECEC, and the social emotional needs of children. I am available for expert comment in these areas, or any related aspect of Early Childhood Education.
Where are all the male teachers?
The Conversation