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                                                   2018

NB. Included due to limted reach of Scopus citations

Introduction:

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and committed education professional specialising in early childhood and primary curriculum and pedagogy, leadership, and management. My current position is as Senior Lecturer: Teaching and Research in the Master of Education Program at the University of Dundee Scotland where I teach Research Methods and researchers in the Dissertation module. I have 5 completed PhDs, two MPhils completions and currently have a further seven PhD candidates whom I supervise.

I am the Research Lead for the Division of Education and Society, supporting academic colleagues in development of their research trajectories, development of REF outputs and public professional profiles.

Prior to joining UoD, I was Director of Academic Program: Early Childhood at Western Sydney University: School of Education. My key remit was to oversee development, implementation, assessment and reporting of the Master of Education (Birth-5/Birth–12 Years), education components of the Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Birth-5/Birth-12 Years), and the development of a new online Bachelor of Education (Birth – 5 Years) course. 

I am a fervent believer in developing education programs that support students to engage in theoretically informed practice, work effectively with children and families in their communities and have the discernment to choose relevant, excellent, and ongoing quality professional development to support them in their careers as they unfold.

I am a Senior Fellow with the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and Senior Lecturer: Teaching and Research in the Master of Education Program at the University of Dundee. My teaching and learning philosophy has critical realist orientation, incorporating sociocultural, critical and post-structuralist theoretical perspectives. From a practical perspective, my experience as an early years and primary teacher, an academic, and in national policy development and implementation, means that I have insight into problems in both practice and policy and can apply these understandings in the development of teaching and learning programs.

The scope of learning experiences in which I engage my students enhances local and global knowledge of the environment, includes social context, which is relevant to students’ life experience, and includes multiple modes of learning. My award winning learning materials for flipped and face to face classrooms (Vice Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning 2016) include ‘Explain Everything’, ‘Voice Thread’, ‘Captivate’, ‘YouTube’ videos, podcasts and self-authored ‘iBooks’. I have created two interactive iBook’s one of which is bilingual, and a professional website. The bilingual iBook won bronze medals in two categories in the 2017 International eLit awards. The website and class iBook are additional resources for students that provide multiple access points for engaging with content, catering to divergent learning dispositions.

My research program concentrates on education for sustainability and the significance of the human/nature connection. Whilst pursuing a number of strands, it investigates ways in which we can support children and young people to live in conscious connection with the natural world so they can think and act innovatively in finding new ways of living sustainably in, and in a state of contented regeneration on, the earth. The strands include: sensing ecologically with young children and the pedagogical implications of this practice for educators in providing ecologically healthy, engaging learning environments; curriculum integration in early childhood/primary education between the arts and sustainability education for exploring and interpreting the natural world; psychological flexibility and outdoor education approaches for youth and young people at risk to support ecopsychological health; and community greening/gardening approaches to support wellbeing for all ages but in particular for those in community housing. 
My research has, individually and collaboratively, been supported by a total of AU$400,000 in grant funding. Please see information in my profile: Activity, Funding Grants and Income, for detailed information about my research activity.