Tom Porta

Dr Tom Porta

Lecturer

School of Education

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

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


Hey there, I’m Tom. I am an academic, educator, researcher, and author - I used to write these biographies in the third person, to serve the reader as being an observer of my life, however, I have abandoned this form in my bio.

So, to that end, I will keep it brief.

My world revolves around shaping inclusive education and differentiated instruction. Completing my PhD in Inclusive Education in 2023 was a milestone, and now, I'm weaving my expertise as a Lecturer and educator, into helping schools achieve inclusive education.

With over a decade spent teaching in both primary and secondary settings, and another four years in tertiary education, I've dived deep into inclusive education, numeracy, learning difficulties, disabilities, and crafting programs for high support needs. I served as the Director of Inclusive Education, steering a local school toward a genuine culture of inclusion. It was a journey I'm incredibly proud of. I worked as a curriculum lead and project officer for the South Australian Government, supporting schools in curriculum implementation. Previously, I worked at Seymour College, teaching a range of subjects, heading the South Australian Certificate for Education, Vocational Education, and Learning Support. Previous to Seymour, I worked as Inclusive Education Coordinator for Mary Mackillop College in Kensington.

My research delves into senior-secondary schooling, focusing on how teachers approach differentiated instruction and their attitudes towards it. Exploring curriculum frameworks across Australian states is another passion of mine, seeking ways to enhance instruction efficiency and effectiveness. I'm all about empowering educators through robust professional development, nurturing their skills and confidence in embracing diverse teaching approaches.

I am the author of the book "The dance of differentiation", published by Amba Press in 2024. This book is a culmination of my learnings of a decade of teaching, in how to implement differentiation in the classroom.

Beyond my academic pursuits, I'm a board member of the Australian Association of Special Education committee (SA Chapter), driven by the collective goal of enhancing educational practices for students with diverse needs. I am an avid golfer and love spending time with my partner and our fur baby, Flora.

My research focuses on inclusive education, specifically inclusive teaching pedagogies and philosophies. I have a deep love of differentiation and differentiated instruction, investigating teachers self-efficacy in implementing differentiation. Similarly, I enjoy researching the impact of inclusive curriculum in the senior-secondary education space (Years 10-12). 

I am available to discuss doctoral supervision with prospective students.

I am the author of "The Dance of Differentiation", published by Amba Press in 2024. This book details in the teaching philosophy of differentiation, serving as a guide for teachers to implement differentiation in their classrooms. Furthermore, I am the author of the SpringerBriefs book "Strengthening teacher self-efficacy for differentiated instruction: A framework for inclusive pedagogy" due for publication in 2025. I am the 2024 recipient of the School of Education Early Career Researcher Award for excellence in research. 

 

The Dance of Differentiation

You can learn more about me through the following podcasts: 

Kolber's Corner:

The Art of Teaching with Mathew Green: 

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2024 - ongoing Program Director, Master of Education University of Adelaide
    2024 - ongoing Lecturer in Education University of Adelaide
    2023 - 2024 Lecturer in Initial and Continuing Teacher Education Flinders University
    2023 - 2023 Director of Inclusive Education Woodcroft College
    2022 - 2022 Curriculum Lead Department for Education
    2021 - 2023 Sessional Academic Charles Sturt University
    2020 - 2023 Sessional Academic University of Southern Queensland
    2018 - 2021 Head of SACE Seymour College
    2016 - 2017 Inclusive Education Coordinator Mary Mackillop College
    2015 - 2015 Teacher Westminster School
  • Awards and Achievements

    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2024 Research Award Commendation for Grant Excellence The University of Adelaide Australia -
    2024 Research Award School of Education Early Career Researcher Award The University of Adelaide Australia -
  • Language Competencies

    Language Competency
    Italian Can read, write, speak and understand spoken
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    2023 University of New England Australia Diploma of Modern Languages (Italian)
    2019 - 2023 University of Southern Queensland Australia Doctor of Philosophy
    2015 - 2019 Flinders University Australia Master of Special Education
    2011 - 2014 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Education(MSS)/Bachelor of the Arts
  • Certifications

    Date Title Institution name Country
    2019 Highly Accomplished Teacher AITSL -
  • Research Interests

  • Journals

    Year Citation
    2025 Porta, T., & Hudson, C. (2025). ‘I don’t know how to properly deal with challenging and complex behaviour’: initial teacher education for pre-service teachers on behaviour management. Cogent Education.
    DOI
    2024 Porta, T., Todd, N., & Gaunt, L. (2024). Australian senior-secondary teachers’ perceptions of leadership and policy for differentiated instruction. British Educational Research Journal, 50(3), 1022-1042.
    DOI
    2024 Porta, T., & Todd, N. (2024). The impact of labelling students with learning difficulties on teacher self-efficacy in differentiated instruction. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 24(1), 108-122.
    DOI Scopus2
    2022 Todd, N., Gaunt, L., & Porta, T. (2022). Terminology and Provision for Students with Learning Difficulties: An Examination of Australian State Government Education Department Websites. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 47(7), 21-37.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2022 Porta, T., Todd, N., & Gaunt, L. (2022). ‘I do not think I actually do it well’: a discourse analysis of Australian senior secondary teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards implementation of differentiated instruction. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 22(3), 297-305.
    DOI Scopus6 WoS2
    2022 Porta, T., & Todd, N. (2022). Differentiated instruction within senior secondary curriculum frameworks: A small-scale study of teacher views from an independent South Australian school. Curriculum Journal, 33(4), 570-586.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS4
    - Scarparolo, G., & Porta, T. (n.d.). Examining the Australian educational landscape of differentiation through document analysis. The Australian Educational Researcher.
    DOI
  • Books

    Year Citation
    2025 Porta, T. (2025). Backwards planning for inclusive classrooms: Inclusion by Design (IbD).
    2025 Porta, T. (2025). Wellbeing and Inclusion in Education: A Critical Review of Unresolved International Challenges and Opportunities.
    2025 Porta, T. (2025). Strengthening teacher self-efficacy for differentiated instruction: A framework for inclusive pedagogy. Springer Singapore.
    2020 SACE 2 Business and Innovation Workbook 1st Edition (2020). .
  • Conference Papers

    Year Citation
    2024 Porta, T., Quane, K., Thompson, M., Attard, C., Holmes, K., Gaunt, L., . . . Neill, B. (2024). Attending to Student Diversity in Mathematics Education in Inclusive Settings. In Surfing the waves of mathematics education. Gold Coast.
    2023 Quane, K., Gaunt, L., Trewartha, B., & Porta, T. (2023). Inclusive Mathematics Education: Supporting Students who are Hard of Hearing or Deaf/deaf. In Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia: Weaving Mathematics Education From All Perspectives. Newcastle.
  • Conference Items

    Year Citation
    2024 Porta, T., & Scarparolo, G. (2024). Examining the Australian educational landscape of differentiation through document analysis. Poster session presented at the meeting of Abstracts of the Australian Teacher Education Association Conference (ATEA, 2023) : Myth-Busting: Confronting Debates and Creative Design in and for Initial Teacher Education. Newcastle, NSW: Australian Teacher Education Association.
    2024 Anderson, J., Porta, T., & Boyle, C. (2024). Including into what? Reigniting the ‘good’ education debate in an age of diversity. Poster session presented at the meeting of Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA).
    2022 Porta, T., & Todd, N. (2022). Australian senior-secondary teachers’ perceptions of differentiated instruction: implications for leadership and policy. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian Association for Research in Education. Adelaide.
  • Original Creative Works

    Year Citation
    2024 Authors: Porta T. Title: The Dance of Differentiation: Choreographing Inclusive Learning in Schools. Description: N/A. Extent: 200 pages.
  • Theses

    Year Citation
    2023 Porta, T. (2023). Differentiated instruction for students with learning difficulties in senior-secondary Australian schools: an inquiry of teacher attitudes and self-efficacy. (PhD Thesis, University of Southern Queensland).

 

Date Project/ No. Investigators Funding Body Amount
Jan 2024 Reading and differentiated instruction Dr Tom Porta & Dr Mellie Green ABLE ECR Grant $4800
July 2024 Inclusive education and wellbeing Dr Tom Porta, Professor Chris Boyle, Associate Professor Mathew White & Associate Professor Jo Anderson School of Education  $5000
January 2024 ITE and Autism Project Dr Tom Porta & Professor Susan Relly State Government SA $42000
May 2024 Australia Awards PNG Graduate Certificate in Education Professor Chris Boyle, Associate Professor Jo Anderson and Dr Tom Porta Australia Awards 1.5 Million

EDUC3006 Critical Pedagogies in the Secondary Years - Course Coordinator

EDUC7558 Critical Pedagogies in the Secondary Years (Postgraduate) - Course Coordinator 

 

  • Other Supervision Activities

    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 - 2024 Principal Supervisor Crisis and Education: Voices from Myanmar Higher Education Teachers Flinders University Master of Education Master - Kay Thwe Phyo
    2023 - 2024 Principal Supervisor Maldivian School Teachers’ Perceived Understanding and Planned use of Differentiated Instruction Flinders University Master of Education Master - Muna Adam
  • Board Memberships

    Date Role Board name Institution name Country
    2023 - ongoing Vice-President Australian Association of Special Education (SA Chapter) Australian Association of Special Education Australia
  • Committee Memberships

    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2024 - ongoing Board Member HREC Committee (High Risk) The University of Adelaide Australia
    2024 - ongoing Board Member ABLE Low Risk HREC Committee The University of Adelaide Australia
  • Memberships

    Date Role Membership Country
    2024 - ongoing Member Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia Australia
    2024 - ongoing Member ATEA Australia
    2022 - ongoing Member AARE Australia
  • Consulting/Advisories

    Date Institution Department Organisation Type Country
    2025 - 2025 Prince Alfred College Preparatory School School or college Australia
    2025 - 2025 Scotch College Oakburn Whole School School or college Australia
  • Editorial Boards

    Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
    2024 - ongoing Board Member Humanities & Social Sciences Communications Nature United Kingdom
    2024 - ongoing Board Member The Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs National Association of Special educational Needs United Kingdom
  • Industry Partnerships

    Date Engagement Type Partner Name
    2024 - ongoing Collaboration ITE University Project
  • Presentation

    Date Topic Presented at Institution Country
    2024 - 2025 Diving into differentiation with Dr Tom Porta - Pulteney Grammar School Australia
    2024 - 2024 Differentiation and the Australian professional Standards for Teacher SA HALT Network writing workshop SA HALT Network Australia
    2024 - 2024 Examining the Australian educational landscape of differentiation through document analysis. ATEA University of Newcastle Australia
    2024 - 2024 The Dance of Differentiation School Inclusion Network School Inclusion Network Australia
    2024 - 2024 Differentiation PYP Network Meeting South Australia PYP Coordinators -
    2022 - 2022 AARE Conference: Australian senior-secondary teachers’ perceptions of differentiated instruction: implications for leadership and policy AARE UniSA City West Campus -
  • Position: Lecturer
  • Phone: 83130846
  • Email: tom.porta@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: 10 Pulteney Street - Nexus 10 Tower, floor Eighth Floor
  • Org Unit: School of Education

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