ISSUE 1/2011
The RIPPLE Effect
FROM THE DIRECTOR
CONTENTS
From the Director
1
Opinion Piece:
Continuity in Australian
Early Childhood Curricula? 2
Researcher Profile:
Christina Davidson
3
Research Updates
4
RIPPLE Visiting Scholars:
A/Prof Anne Kinsella
A/Prof Alan Pitman
5
5
RIPPLE Fellowships:
Dr Noella Mackenzie
Dr Brian Hemmings
6
6
RIPPLE PhD Scholars:
Kathleen Clayton
Tina Stratigos
7
7
RIPPLE Student Research:
Brooke Scriven
7
Events
8
Researcher Profile:
Christine Edwards-Groves 9
Photo Gallery
10
New Research Grants
11
Awards and Achievements 11
Publications
12
Contact Details
12
In this issue (photos):
Prof Tom Lowrie, p.1
Dr Noella Mackenzie, p.6
Singapore research, p.4
Dr Christine Edwards-Groves,p.9
Welcome to the first issue of The RIPPLE Effect for 2011.
Our early childhood researchers have been particularly
prolific in the first half of this year obtaining funding,
progressing research, and launching reports—you will
notice their prominence throughout this newsletter.
I am delighted to announce that our University has
received funding to establish an Early Years Education
Collaborative Research Network (CRN). Our research
partners will be the Queensland University of Technology
and Monash University. The CRN scheme is highly
prestigious, and administered by the Department of
Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR). The
project has been awarded $5.4m, will run from mid-2011
to mid-2014, and will facilitate landmark research in the
critical developmental stage of early childhood. More
information can be found on page 11.
Our Research Institute has also fared well in the
Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) process, which
has dominated the Australian university landscape since
its introduction in 2008. The process is designed to assess
research quality within Australian higher education
institutions, across eight disciplines. In January 2011, the
Australian Research Council released the muchanticipated ERA 2010 National Report, which covered
research undertaken between 1 January 2003 and 31
December 2008. This report rated Charles Sturt University
as being at world standard in education, which was
above the national average ranking for this field. The
collective work of RIPPLE researchers was assessed highly,
and considered to be above that of most universities in
Australia. This result is testament to the high quality
research being undertaken by our membership.
Enjoy browsing this issue, which opens with an opinion
piece on the highly-topical issue of how to build national
curriculum continuity between the prior-to-school and
early school years, written by leading international
researchers, Prof Bob Perry and Prof Sue Dockett.
We are pleased to feature the work being undertaken
by a range of our Members, Fellows, Visiting Scholars, and
PhD students, along with our first Student Research
Placement.
Members have once again made their mark on the
international research scene: conducting research,
delivering presentations and seminars, and receiving
global recognition for their publications. Likewise, a
number of projects conducted by RIPPLE researchers
within Australia have recently culminated in the launch of
reports, books, and journal articles.
We look forward to an exciting and productive year of
research, and to beginning and continuing important
collaborations, as we work to better understand
professional practice.
Professor Tom Lowrie
OPINION PIECE
Continuity in Australian Early
Childhood Curricula?
Prof Bob Perry and Prof Sue Dockett
Educational Transitions and Change Research Group
In Australia, as in other parts of the world, there is
unprecedented political focus on early childhood
education and growing awareness of the importance
of high quality early childhood education for children,
their families, and communities. As part of this focus,
two national curriculum documents that will shape the
nature of early childhood education for some time to
come have recently been introduced.
The first document is Belonging, Being and
Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for
Australia (EYLF) (Department of Education,
Employment and Workforce Relations [DEEWR], 2009).
The EYLF advocates play-based learning, supported by
quality teaching, as the basis for promoting children’s
learning and development between the ages of 0 and
5 years. The second is the Australian Curriculum
(Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
Authority, 2010) which has been developed in the
areas of English, Mathematics, Science, and History,
with other areas to follow shortly. This curriculum has a
focus on curriculum content, rather than pedagogy
and is designed, in the first instance, for students in
Years Foundation to 10.
Both documents emphasise the importance of
children’s learning and note some specific outcomes
for learning in the early childhood years. However,
each document reflects a different focus on that
learning. The EYLF reflects a holistic approach to
learning and development, embedded within playbased environments, and includes broad learning
outcomes. The Australian Curriculum is focused much
more on specific learning outcomes, associated with
discrete subject areas and definite years of schooling.
Achievement standards are specified for each year of
study.
It is within this context that early childhood
educators need to strive to bring the EYLF and the
Australian Curriculum together through pedagogies of
transition. Different States and Territories will do this in
different ways. In Victoria, for example, the Early Years
Learning and Development Framework (Department
of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2009)
covers ages 0 to 8 years and is designed to bring
together both the EYLF and the early years of the
Australian Curriculum. In Queensland, the Kindergarten
Learning Guideline (Queensland Studies Authority, 2010)
specifically targets the year before Prep using the EYLF
as a base. In South Australia, the EYLF has been
adopted for the year before Reception and some
attempts have been made, at least in the area of
mathematics, to bring together the EYLF and the
Australian Curriculum. In NSW, the EYLF remains the
curriculum framework relevant for all prior-to-school
services, with the Australian Curriculum embedded
within NSW Board of Studies syllabus documents, to be
implemented in all schools from Kindergarten.
Clearly, the EYLF and the Australian Curriculum
serve different purposes and reflect the different
nature of the educational settings for which they are
designed. However, educators across early childhood
settings and schools are required to work with both
documents, and the associated expectations, in order
to promote continuity of learning and positive
educational outcomes for all children. Both documents
mention the importance of continuity of learning
across the transition from prior-to-school years to
school years. However, neither provides appropriate
information and guidance about how this might be
done, although the Educators’ Guide to the EYLF
(DEEWR, 2010) does provide some assistance
concerning transitions.
Each document acknowledges the other. There is
also an assumption that each document will be used
to promote continuity. However, there is little
consideration of what that continuity might
encompass, or what it might look like. Continuity of
children’s learning may well be the ideal. However, this
will need to be built by educators as they consider
broader issues such as pedagogical continuity,
continuity of expectations and experiences, as well as
continuity in relationships and support across the priorto-school and school sectors. There does seem to be
agreement that promoting continuity does not mean
that contexts should become the same—that is, that
prior-to-school and the early years of school become
the same. Indeed, children consistently tell us that
school and prior-to-school are quite different; they do
not want more of the same as they start school
(Dockett & Perry, 2007).
One of the challenges for educators will be to build
continuity. This will involve a great deal of collaboration,
cooperation, understanding and commitment from all
early childhood educators. Without such efforts, we run
the risk of a push-down curriculum in the prior-to-school
years and curriculum in the early school years that is
disconnected from previous learning. Collaboration
and cooperation across the transition to school is an
ideal opportunity for educators to come together as
early childhood educators to build such continuity.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.
(2010). Australian Curriculum. Retrieved
from: http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
(2009). Victorian Early Years Learning and Development
Framework. Melbourne: Author. Retrieved from:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/earlylearni
ng/eyldf/default.htm
Department of Education, Employment and Workforce
Relations (DEEWR), (2009). Belonging, Being and Becoming:
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra:
Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved
from: http://www.deewr.gov.au/earlychildhood/policy_agen
da/quality/pages/earlyyearslearningframework.aspx
Page 2
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Department of Education, Employment and Workforce
Relations. (2010). Educators’ Guide to the Early Learning
Framework. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2007). Transitions to school:
Perceptions, experiences and expectations. Sydney:
University of New South Wales Press.
Queensland Studies Authority. (2010). Queensland
Kindergarten Learning Guideline. Brisbane: Author.
Retrieved from: http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/10192.html
Christina Davidson
Feature piece by Kate Roberts
In a career spanning 40 years, Dr
Christina Davidson has come full
circle. She studied teaching at
CSU’s predecessor institution, the
Wagga Wagga Teachers
College, and from there
branched out into teaching and
academia across three states.
She now finds herself back in
Wagga where it all began.
Christina can see the poetry in
this perfect circle and says she is
“happy to be back.” She says
she is “thrilled to be working at CSU” and laughs when
explaining how she coincidentally took up her position
here in 2009, almost forty years to the day since
commencing studies as an 18 year old from
Coolamon. Christina was in the first cohort of threeyear trained teachers graduating in 1972.
Now teaching in the area of literacy in the Bachelor
of Education, she is without doubt a perfect role model
for the many country students embarking on a career
in education. Christina is also the Acting Coordinator of
the Honours program for the Wagga campus, teaches
several subjects in the program, and supervises
postgraduate students.
After graduating, Christina taught in Wagga before
moving to Sydney in 1980 in search of new challenges.
“I did a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics and fondly
recall working as an ESL teacher at a small school in
Surry Hills with 150 kids,” she says.
Her jump to academia came with a position in the
University of New South Wales’ School of Professional
Studies. Upon the closure of the school, and with a PhD
underway, she moved to the University of Ballarat in
order to secure a job. “In hindsight, it was that move to
the country that really led me back to Wagga Wagga.
But it was the long way, via Queensland,” she laughs.
Christina completed her PhD in 2005 through the
University of Queensland. “My final thesis was an
ethnomethodological study of the social organisation
of independent writing in an early years' classroom. It
took seven years part time and by then I was working
at Central Queensland University.” Christina spent
three and a half years as a senior lecturer at the
Rockhampton campus where she developed a
number of postgraduate research subjects and
coordinated the design and delivery of literacy
subjects across the five campuses of the university.
Having settled into CSU’s School of Education, last year
Christina joined RIPPLE and found a meeting of minds
with colleagues in the Educational Transitions and
Change group. “My research interests in the social
activity of young children in the home, pre-school and
school contexts fits well,” she says. “I’m very interested
in the knowledge and practices young children bring
to institutional contexts such as school classrooms.”
Christina explains that conversation analysis (or
ethnomethodology) places great importance on the
sense-making of people, including children, and the
research participants' orientations are central to the
work. “For me, this fits well with the goal of respecting
the rights of research participants,” she says.
A recent highlight was an invitation to join a large
ARC project proposal led by Prof Susan Danby from
QUT. The application was successful and Christina is
part of the team that has started work that will span
three years. The project is titled Interacting with
knowledge, interacting with people: Web searching in
Early Childhood. She will work with three senior QUT
researchers: Professors Susan Danby, Amanda Spink,
and Karen Thorpe.
Christina’s main role on the project will be to
analyse recordings of interactions and conversation
between children and adults during use of technology
in the home and pre-school. By her own admission, it is
time consuming and detailed work which uses very
small amounts of data. “It’s an exciting time to be
looking at the development of literacy with young
children because it is an area that is massively underresearched,” she says. “We don’t know enough about
children and their digital literacy practices in homes.
Technology is changing so fast that it makes research
challenging, but there is definitely a tension between
print and digital literacy.” Christina believes it is unlikely
books will disappear and kids won’t learn to write.
“Survey research confirms young children’s increasing
use of computers in the home and also their continued
interest in play and more traditional activities.”
The move to CSU inspired Christina to “up the ante in
ways that challenge me and sustain me” as a
researcher. “I hope to make a strong contribution to
the research culture at CSU as well as strengthen my
international collaborations with academics in the
fields of conversation analysis and digital literacies,”
she says. To this end she was recently elected Chair of
the School of Education Research and Professional
Learning committee. “I’m really looking forward to
working with that group of academics within our
school.” In July, she will travel to Europe to present
papers at the International Pragmatics Conference,
and the Conference of the International Institute for
Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis.
Christina is also busily house hunting, with the aim of
making her stay in Wagga permanent. “I feel as if I
have come home,” she says. With an unfulfilled
ambition to publish a book about transcription in
qualitative research, let’s hope she finds a home with a
peaceful space for writing.
Page 3
RESEARCH UPDATES
Mathematics testing in Singapore
In early April 2011,
Professor Tom Lowrie,
Research Fellow Dr Ho
Siew Yin, Tracy Logan,
Jane Greenlees (PhD
student), and Robyn
Lowrie spent a week
in Singapore
conducting research
for the Charles Sturt
University-funded
research project:
Cross cultural studies
in mathematics sense
making. The
researchers
administered a 24item Graphics
RIPPLE Research Fellow, Dr Ho
Processing Instrument
Siew Yin, with students at a
(GPI) to 300
school in Singapore.
Singaporean
students. Later in the year, 300 Australian students will
undertake the same activity. The project will compare
Singaporean students (the highest performing nation
on TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study) data with Australian students, who
perform comparatively better on spatial tasks.
CSU joins Early Years network
The Australian Research Alliance for Children and
Youth (ARACY) has welcomed Charles Sturt University,
headed by ProfJennifer Sumsion and A/Prof Linda
Harrison, as partners in the Early Years Learning and
Development Network. The network encourages
collaboration between researchers, academics,
practitioners, government agencies, and professional
organisations in the field of early childhood
development.
National testing research presented
in New Orleans
RIPPLE Research Fellow, Dr Laurette Bristol, attended
the 2011 conference of the American Educational
Research Association (AERA), in New Orleans during
April, along with about 13,000 other participants. She
presented a paper—National tests and diagnostic
feedback: What say teachers in Trinidad and
Tobago?—with co-authors Dr Launcelot Brown
(Duquesne University, USA), Dr Joyanne De Four- Babb
(University of Trinidad and Tobago), and Dr Dennis
Conrad (Potsdam, The State University of New York,
USA). Laurette was thrilled to attend the conference.
“This was an opportunity for me to re-establish my
AERA connections after many years”, she said. “Of
significance to me was the extended opportunity to
be exposed to international research projects in a
concentrated format.” The research Laurette copresented detailed preliminary findings from an
ongoing project considering potential differences
between teachers in low and higher performing
schools and their use of feedback from national testing
to inform pedagogy and curricula. Initial findings show
that high performing schools are more inclined to use
the feedback to make informed decisions, however
teachers in both groups tend not to use the feedback
to reflect upon their own teaching. “Many principals
and teachers find the feedback reports intimidating
and are not confident in their ability to interpret and
use the reports,” Laurette explained, though pointing
out that teachers in higher performing schools were
often staffed by postgraduate teachers who were
able to use their training to better interpret statistical
data. The research is particularly relevant in an era of
increased accountability. “The results of this study have
implications for professional development with respect
to the interpretation and use of assessment data to
effect pedagogical transformation in primary schools,”
said Laurette.
Professional practice seminars in
Sweden and Norway
During May, Dr Jane Wilkinson presented seminars on
her research into professional practice at the University
of Gothenburg in Sweden, and Tromsø University in
Norway. Her first three seminars were presented at the
University of Gothenburg, including a co-presentation
with RIPPLE Adjunct Professor Karin Rönnerman, and Dr
Anette Olin. Jane’s final presentation on leadership
practice was delivered at Tromsø University, where she
also met with a recently established research group
focused on school development and leadership.
Future Fellowship update
Sharynne
McLeod kicked
off a busy
second year of
her
Commonwealthsponsored Future
Fellowship by
collaborating
with a range of
other researchers
from around the world. Most recently, during May,
Sharynne travelled to Vietnam (pictured) to teach
students in the Speech Therapy Training program at
the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine. Read
more on Sharynne’s blog: Speaking my languages.
Page 4
RESEARCH UPDATES
RIPPLE VISITING SCHOLARS
Public address, lecture in Canada
Associate Professors Allan Pitman
and Anne Kinsella from the
University of Western Ontario
Professor Bill Green visited the
University of Western Ontario in
Canada from 19 to 26 May. He was
welcomed at a reception on the
afternoon of 19 May, where he then
delivered a public address titled On
the knowledge question in
education. During the week, Bill also
presented a graduate seminar,
Emergent methodologies in educational research, and
a public lecture, Practice, learning, subjectivity, at the
Faculty of Nursing in Fanshawe College.
PhD scholar in US and Canada
RIPPLE doctoral student, Steven Gibbs, was the
recipient of the 2010 Mitchell Travel Grant. This funding
allowed him to travel to the US and Canada during
April to present findings from his research into the
spatiality of professional practice. Steven summarised
his time overseas for us.
“My first stop was the University of British Columbia
to give a presentation to the Department of
Educational Studies. The room was filled with many
UBC academics, and the relaxed atmosphere allowed
my presentation to become a discussion on my topic.
One of the great advantages of presenting overseas is
the different perspectives offered by audience
members. Many of the questions and critiques were
not ones that I had necessarily thought much about or
given great attention to. Such commentary on my
work will be of great benefit to my research.
In my second week in North America, I attended
the Association of American Geographers’ Annual
Meeting [the largest geography conference in the
world]. As luck would have it, a prominent geographer
in my field saw my presentation and gave me
excellent feedback. The remaining five days of the
conference were exhausting and exhilarating, and the
experience was highly stimulating, giving me a range
of ideas to consider for furthering my research.
While the workload was extensive, there was time
allocated for seeing parts of Seattle and the Pacific
Northwest. The Space Needle was a favourite,
particularly from a geographical perspective. The
music and science fiction museum was very cool,
displaying memorabilia from Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, and
Battlestar Galactica. Further afield, I visited the small
town of North Bend, the main filming location of the TV
show Twin Peaks. My stay in Vancouver also coincided
with the city’s 125th birthday so I attended an outdoor
festival to celebrate.
Overall, my trip to North America was quite a
success. Obtaining feedback from a range of new
voices can be highly productive in one’s own
research.”
Associate Professors Allan Pitman and Anne Kinsella
were Visiting Scholars at RIPPLE during Summer ,
2010.
2010 saw visits by researchers from the University of
Western Ontario’s (UWO) Interdisciplinary Network for
Scholarship in Professions’ Research and Education
(INSPiRE). In Summer 2010, Associate Professor Allan
Pitman spent five weeks as Visiting Professor in
RIPPLE. During that time, as well as discussing
strengthened links between RIPPLE and INSPiRE, he
worked on the politics of mathematics education with
Bob Perry in investigating the Australian case.
During a twelve-day visit in December, Associate
Professor Elizabeth Anne Kinsella joined Associate
Professor Pitman to hold a series of discussions with
members of RIPPLE and the Centre for Inland Health,
exploring common interests between these centres
and INSPiRE. At the same time, they were active in two
RIPPLE events: Body/practice: A symposium (jointly
sponsored by RIPPLE and INSPiRE), and the Doctoral
Intensive on Researching professional practice.
At the inter-disciplinary symposium on the body in
professional practice, Associate Professor Kinsella
delivered a plenary address entitled Embodied
reflection, embodied knowledges: Possibilities and
problematics in professional practice. She also
participated in an interactive plenary panel session
with Professors Alison Lee (University of Technology
Sydney), Bill Green (CSU) and Dr Nick Hopwood (UTS) in
which the 'invisibility' of the body in the discourses of
professional practice were identified as problematic,
and the timeliness of the topic was underlined.
Page 5
RIPPLE VISITING SCHOLARS
RIPPLE FELLOWSHIPS
Other participants presenting papers from UWO
included Associate Professor Kathy Hibbert and
Associate Professor Pitman, and doctoral candidates
Jodi Hall, Shanon Phelan, Marie-Eve Caty, Farrukh
Chishtie and Xiaoxiao Du.Discussions are currently
underway concerning continued scholarly work and
the development of a proposal for a future book on
The body in professional practice to be edited by
Professor Bill Green and Dr Nick Hopwood.
During the December Doctoral School on
Researching professional practice, Associate Professors
Kinsella and Pitman were accompanied by five
doctoral students from Education and Health Sciences
at UWO who, supported by INSPiRE and The Health
Professional Education Graduate Program, took part in
the week-long educational opportunity. Doctoral
students took an active role in the Doctoral School,
which was founded on a participatory educational
philosophy. Students acted as discussants and
moderators for the sessions, presented their own
research, and responded to one another’s research
proposals.
In addition, over the past two years, Associate
Professors Kinsella and Pitman have collaborated with
a number of scholars from CSU on an edited book
entitled Phronesis as professional knowledge: Practical
wisdom in the professions, forthcoming in Summer 2011.
The idea for the book emerged through a Symposium
on Phronesis as professional knowledge, held at UWO
in 2009. Professors Stephen Kemmis and Bill Green from
RIPPLE were in attendance. The central organising
question of the book is “What would professional
education and practice look like if we took phronesis
seriously?” Contributors associated with RIPPLE include
Professors Stephen Kemmis and Joy Higgs, along with
Adjunct Professor Gail Whiteford, and previous
member, Associate Professor Rob Macklin. Additional
contributors from UWO are Associate Professor Kathy
Hibbert, Professor Fred Ellett, and Dr Farrukh Chishtie.
Over the last two years, INSPiRE has received visits
by Professors Bill Green, Stephen Kemmis, and Jo-Anne
Reid. Professor Kemmis delivered a keynote at the first
international conference on Engaging reflection in
health professional education and practice, held in
2009 and hosted by the Faculty of Health Sciences, the
Faculty of Education, and the Schulich School of
Medicine and Dentistry.
The Presidents of UWO and CSU have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which reflects
the close ties being developed between RIPPLE and
INSPiRE, focused on scholarship in professional
education and practice. An event recognising this
agreement took place at the Wagga Wagga campus
of CSU on 6 December 2010.
Dr Noella Mackenzie
Noella’s program of research is
focused on early writing
acquisition. Her recent RIPPLE
Fellowship allowed her to extend
an existing project—Becoming a
writer—which has been partially
funded by the NSW Department
of Education and Training since
2009. She presented findings from
this research at the Starting school conference in
Albury last August. This paper will become a book
chapter in a book focused on transitions to school.
Noella also collaborated with academics from
Canterbury University, leading to another chapter,
Motivating young writers. During her Fellowship, Noella
began two new projects with colleagues from CSU, the
NSW Department of Education and Communities, and
the University of Melbourne: Year 1 writing and Writing
in Reading Recovery. These projects were supported
by a CSU Faculty Grant. Data were collected from
1,800 Year 1 students from NSW and Victoria. Noella
also submitted an Australian Research Council Linkage
application (Using data to improve literacy and
numeracy outcomes for children in rural and regional
schools), along with colleagues from CSU, the University
of Melbourne, and the Riverina Region of the NSW
DEC. “The ARC Linkage application is an exciting
project,” she explained. “If the application is
successful, this study will begin in the second half of
2011.”
Dr Brian Hemmings
Brian’s recent RIPPLE Fellowship
allowed him to collaborate on,
progress, and submit a number of
manuscripts and conference
papers. His research focused on a
range of topics such as lecturer
self-efficacy and its relationship to
research output, and how
teaching and nursing practicum
experience and performance is affected by a range
of social contingencies, especially personal and
organisational matters. Brian collaborated with
colleagues within and without CSU, including
academics from Monash University, Wollongong
University, and Bishop Grosseteste University College in
the United Kingdom. “I am working mostly with
Professor John Sharp, who is Head of Research at
BGUC,” Brian said of his UK collaboration. “He is
drawing on my expertise with the express aim to build
greater research capacity at BGUC. We are also
providing consultancy support to the Consortium for
Research Excellence, Support and Training based in
London. In fact, we are giving a joint presentation to
CREST members in May about how research selfefficacy, which is closely linked to research output, can
be promoted.”
Page 6
RIPPLE PhD SCHOLARS
RIPPLE STUDENT RESEARCH
Kathleen Clayton
social relationships or focus primarily on the
attachment between infant and mother. Infants in
care, however, are living in very rich social settings in
which they have many opportunities for interaction
with other children. I hope my research will help to
broaden our image of infants as social beings, to
expand our thinking about what infants are capable
of, and can benefit from, as members of groups.
What is the focus of
your PhD?
My PhD is focusing on
praxis and praxis
development within
higher education. In
particular, I am
interested in critical
praxis and
understanding the
conditions which constrain and/or enable (critical)
praxis development (Kemmis and Grootenboer, 2008)
within higher education pedagogy.
What led you to RIPPLE for your doctoral research?
My interest in praxis and praxis development is
essentially what led me here. I was introduced to the
notion of praxis while I was studying and lecturing at
the University of Tasmania. Naturally I wanted to know
more about it, and all (literature-search) roads led to
Stephen Kemmis. I was particularly inspired by the
publication, Enabling praxis: Challenges for education
(2008), edited by Stephen Kemmis and Tracey Smith,
with contributions by many RIPPLE members. So praxis
led me to Stephen Kemmis, who is now my brilliant
supervisor, and Stephen led me to RIPPLE and my other
brilliant supervisor, Laurette Bristol.
How does your research fit with the RIPPLE themes of
professional practice?
Apart from an opportunity to work with passionate,
inspiring people, RIPPLE was attractive because of how
closely some of the ongoing projects and aims aligned
with my own research interests. Key questions that the
Pedagogy, Education and Praxis (PEP) group, in
particular, is trying to address, are questions that I
consider important and are embedded in my own PhD
study to varying degrees: What is 'praxis'? What is
'praxis development'? How is praxis situated in
practice, professional practice traditions and settings?
What research approaches are adequate and
appropriate for researching praxis and praxis
development? My focus will be on particular types of
practice—i.e., within higher education pedagogy, and
particular types of praxis—i.e., critical praxis.
I’m extremely appreciative of the opportunity to
study in this environment with people who are so
interesting and interested. I feel supported and
challenged. I just wish my PhD time wasn’t going by so
quickly—is it really June already?
Tina Stratigos
Tell us about your research focus.
My PhD is part of the larger ARC funded Infants' lives in
childcare project. The focus is to explore what it is like
for infants to be a member of a group and what is their
experience of peer relations in family day care.
Traditional theories of social development either
discount infants as having very limited capacity for
What led you to RIPPLE?
I learnt about RIPPLE through an advertisement for PhD
scholarships. Jennifer Sumsion was the contact point
and I knew Jennifer through my undergraduate studies
at Macquarie University. At the time, I wasn't quite
ready to take on a full time PhD because my children
were still very young, but I was able to join the ILC
project as a Research Assistant which has now led into
full time PhD studies. I'm very grateful to be part of such
a wonderful team and such a worthwhile project, and
also for that gradual transition back into full time study.
How does your research fit with professional practice?
Increasing numbers of infants are placed into
childcare and we know this is an important time in their
development. The more we can try to understand their
experience, the better we are able to identify how we
can improve the quality of their daily lives in care. This
has implications for practice and policy and is
important in the context of the National Quality
Framework in early childhood education and care and
in the implementation of the new Early Years Learning
Framework.
Student research: Brooke Scriven
Brooke was the first student to
take part in the RIPPLE Student
Research Placement scheme.
The scheme offers a third year
undergraduate student enrolled
in Charles Sturt University’s
Bachelor of Education (Primary)
course the opportunity to work in
a research environment, and to
engage in research conducted
by RIPPLE. Brooke undertook her
research from July to December 2010, under the
guidance of A/Prof Ros Brennan Kemmis and within the
Pedagogy, Education and Praxis (PEP) research group.
Here is Brooke’s reflection on her research placement.
Journey to the centre of education research
“It was not until my third year studying a Bachelor of
Education (Primary) that the full significance of
education research, and its importance at Charles
Sturt University, dawned on me. With every research
paper I read during pre-service teacher education, I
realised there was more to teaching and education
than what I could glean from prescribed readings to
cultivate my teaching practice. There was a rock, a
foundation, a corner-stone supporting what I was
learning about teaching: research.
Page 7
RIPPLE STUDENT RESEARCH
EVENTS
Research generated valid findings that lecturers taught
from; and upon which I based my teaching
philosophy. Other than experiencing this influence of
research upon my developing pedagogy, I did not
know what research entailed. Thus began my journey
to the centre of education research: RIPPLE.
I entered RIPPLE as a Research Assistant in April
2010, discovering a world more curious than
Wonderland. A warm welcome sparked a desire to
further explore the world of research by conducting
my own project. I was informed of a new RIPPLE
initiative to engage a third year student in training for
research as a career through a mentoring relationship.
I was successful in applying for this RIPPLE student
research placement that provided a scholarship to
work in the PEP research group from July to December.
A/Prof Ros Brennan Kemmis became a supportive
mentor as I conducted a small research project
investigating Early career teachers’ experiences in
mentoring. I adopted a qualitative case study
methodology to interview three early career teachers
regarding the effectiveness of the Department of
Education and Training mentoring initiative in satisfying
their needs as teachers within diverse school structures.
The process of generating valid, qualitative research
generated as many first-time experiences as it did
data!
During the research placement I spent every
Monday in the RIPPLE building to continue my research
project and meet with A/Prof Brennan Kemmis to
discuss various aspects of the research process as they
arose. These meetings taught me to think and read in
a critical light and convey my opinions, justified by
literature and/or data, in scholarly conversation. After
immersing my mind with the nature of ‘praxis’ in the
book, Enabling praxis (Kemmis & Smith, 2008), I
continued to examine case study methodology and
existing literature regarding early career teachers’
mentoring experiences. I was well assisted by all RIPPLE
members as I completed research ethics forms and
accessed voice recorders to undertake interviews with
early career teachers. The thrill of receiving a letter with
my research project approved was followed by the
thrill of gaining interesting insights about mentoring
whilst conversing with early career teachers.
I was provided further opportunity to experience
research as a career option by attending the PEP
International Collaboration Research Meeting during
December. This valuable experience viewing research
presentations and participating in research group
discussions further expanded my understanding of
research. After such an exciting semester, my
understanding of research became defined by its
close relationship with teaching and learning. The
student research placement equipped me with
practical research skills in a professional research
community, so I can contribute to the continual
improvement and transformation of professional
practice, learning and education.”
RIPPLE Symposium 2011
A Symposium for RIPPLE members was held on the
Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University on
15 and 16 June 2011. The Symposium focused on the
RIPPLE research agenda; included presentations from
group leaders and members, Research Fellows and
Fellowship holders; and considered future directions.
The Symposium concluded with the Ted Schatzki Public
Lecture on 16 June.
RIPPLE professors’ keynote at
practice-based education summit
A Practice-Based
Education (PBE)
Summit was held at the
Centre for Professional
Development, Bathurst,
on 13 to 14 April 2011. It
was the second phase
of a national PBE
Summit, a key event in
the Australian Learning
Prof Joy Higgs and Prof
and Teaching Council
Stephen Kemmis
(ALTC) Fellowship
program of Prof Joy Higgs, a RIPPLE Strategic Research
Professor. This program is examining good practices in
PBE. Joy’s keynote was titled: Making pedagogy
practice.
Prof Stephen Kemmis’ keynote was titled:
Pedagogy, praxis and practice-based higher
education. Numerous RIPPLE members participated in
the Sydney (7 April) and Bathurst phases of the Summit
and joined discussions, panels, and presentations
where the present challenges, benefits, and
problematics of PBE, along with future directions, were
examined.
Strong presence at
AARE conference
The 2010 Australian Association for
Research in Education conference,
Making a difference, was held in
Melbourne from 29 November to 2
December. RIPPLE member and
President of the AARE, Prof Jo-Anne
Reid, delivered the Presidential
Address. Members from all five RIPPLE research groups
participated: presenting papers, and chairing
symposia and Special Interest Groups.
Page 8
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Christine Edwards-Groves
Feature piece by Kate Roberts
One of the strong
influences underpinning
Christine Edwards-Groves’s
long career in education is
her own brief admission
that she “loved learning at
school”. Coupled with a
childhood in a small
country town that still
claims her as a resident,
Christine is a quiet
advocate of both rural
education and excellence
in classroom learning
practices.
Christine came to work at CSU’s School of
Education five and half years ago, having spent more
than two decades at the Catholic Education Office in
the Wagga Wagga Diocese as an education officer
and literacy consultant. “Although I loved the
rewarding work with teachers and students in the
regions classrooms, the move to CSU has opened
doors to further teaching, research and writing
interests,” she says. Christine currently teaches
Language and Literacy in the Bachelor of Education
Primary program.
As with many women living and working in rural
communities, further education is often completed by
distance. “I was particularly interested in pursuing the
discipline area of Language and Literacy, as my own
area of expertise was in the areas of Mathematics and
Science. I felt underprepared for teaching English in a
way that would inspire young students in classrooms to
want to learn to read, write and talk with confidence,”
she explains.
So in 1993 Christine completed a Masters of
Philosophy with Professor Peter Freebody at Griffith
University, who then encouraged her to pursue a
doctorate. “Although it was never in the grand plan of
my career, I was particularly interested in the
specialised field of classroom interaction (the topic of
my Masters thesis) and the role of talk in classroom
learning and in quality professional learning, so I
continued on,” she explains.
Juggling two young children, a baby and a parttime job Christine went on to complete a PhD, also at
Griffith. Entitled Reconceptualising classroom lessons as
interactive events: Documenting and changing
literacy practices in the primary classroom, the thesis
addressed three main areas of concern in the
educational debate: efficacy of classroom interaction,
literacy pedagogy, and professional development.
Finishing the PhD in 1998 led Christine on the path
to national recognition in the field of literacy
pedagogy and explicit teaching—and planted the
seed for a career switch to academia. Now firmly
established as an active member of RIPPLE’s
Pedagogy, Education and Praxis research group led
by Prof Stephen Kemmis, Christine is involved in many
of the group’s international projects. Currently she is
co-Chief Investigator in the ARC Discovery research
project Leading and learning, which is investigating the
nature and dynamics of educational practices across
several Scandinavian countries, Australia and Canada.
During the course of this year Christine is refining
and developing her own application for an ARC
Discovery Grant comparing the literacy practices and
pedagogies found in university primary education
programs with the literacy practices and pedagogies
practised in classrooms, and hopes to submit early next
year.
Whilst on a RIPPLE Research Fellowship last year,
Christine became more involved in a joint international
project Generative leadership through programs of
professional learning with Professor Karin Rönnerman
from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. This project
touches on both Karin and Christine’s strong
commitment to teachers’ professional development
and is one of her central research concerns. In August,
Christine is travelling to Sweden to join Karin at
Gothenburg University to continue to work on their
project. Part of their time together will be spent
preparing a paper for the European Conference for
Research in Education in Berlin (September 2011).
Another area which Christine is passionate about,
and which is receiving much media attention, is the
funding by the Federal Government of the Digital
Revolution strategy and subsequent roll-out of laptops
to selected school students. “There is little systematic
and in-situ support about what this means for
classroom practices. I believe the government is
dragging the chain on this issue and they need to
provide ‘new money’ to education to lead a new
conversation about learning, it is not simply a question
about integrating technologies,” she says.
Christine believes that once the novelty or “’bells
and whistles’ of new technologies” subsides, teachers
will in reality be left in the lurch. “Teachers need a
massive professional development program. Not just of
how to use new technologies but how these connect
up with new pedagogies that are relevant for
teaching in the 21st Century. This is necessary so that
teachers come to understand what these are doing for
our students, how they can use it in their lives to be
literate in how the digital world communicates ideas,
and to question what specifically is happening and
can happen in multimodal literate practices.”
After living in this region all of her life, Christine is an
advocate for preparing teachers who are not only
equipped to teach in rural and regional schools, but
who also demonstrate excellence in primary
education. Through involvement with RIPPLE and her
own personal research, Christine is contributing
enormously to the progress of education, but it is her
drive and long-held beliefs that shine through in her
commitment to the development of teachers and
students.
Page 9
PHOTO GALLERY
One of the Singaporean schools visited during the April 2011 research trip conducted by Professor Tom Lowrie,
Dr Ho Siew Yin, Tracy Logan, and Jane Greenlees (see page 4), had an innovative, student-driven approach to
learning as evidenced by these areas in the school library planned by, and built for, the students.
RIPPLE PhD scholar, Steven Gibbs, with Stephanie
Skourtes, PhD student at the University of British
Columbia in Vancouver. Both researchers are
applying spatial theory in their research, Steven
to professional practice, and Stephanie to youth
culture.
Photos from the 2011 RIPPLE Symposium:
(1) Kathleen Clayton, Dr Laurette Bristol and Prof
Anne Lloyd
(2) Prof Tom Lowrie, Prof Sharynne McLeod, Janet
Wilks, and Jo-Anne Masters
(3) Dr Sandie Wong and Dr Ho Siew Yin
Dr Carol Kit Sum To, from the University of Hong Kong,
visited the CSU Bathurst Campus in late March to
work with Prof Sharynne McLeod. They were able to
progress their research into the speech acquisition of
1,726 typically developing children aged 2 to 11
years who speak Hong Kong Cantonese.
Volunteers needed for Australian speech research
Charles Sturt University speech and language
researchers are looking for participants for the AusTalk
national study of Australian speech and accents. The
researchers—from 14 Australian universities—will compile
a database of recordings of spoken Australian English
from 1,000 people across the country. Participants need
to be over 18 and have undertaken all of their schooling
within Australia. For more information, and to register for
the research, please visit the HAusTalk web siteH
(Hhttps://austalk.edu.auH), or HCSU Latest NewsH.
Page 10
NEW RESEARCH GRANTS
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Funding to create landmark Early
Years Education research network
New patient engagement research
Charles Sturt University, in partnership with the
Queensland University of Technology and Monash
University, have received $5.4m in funding from the
Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and
Research (DIISR), to establish an Early Years Education
Collaborative Research Network (CRN). The
partnership will form one of the largest early childhood
research networks in the world, which will run for a
period of three years from mid-2011 to mid-2014.
The CSU leadership team includes some of our
most prominent RIPPLE researchers: Prof Jennifer
Sumsion will co-lead the network; while Prof Sue
Dockett, Prof Bob Perry and A/Prof Linda Harrison will
co-lead the three research programs within the CRN. In
total, the team will comprise about 20 early childhood
and early years’ academics and 10 doctoral students
from the Faculty of Education.
The funding will consolidate and build on our
research capacity in Early Years Education (EYE), an
area of great importance on the Australian research
agenda. The research will focus on the highly critical
developmental life-stage of early childhood, and will
build knowledge to inform Australian and international
policy and programs, as well as developing the next
generation of international researchers.
Ongoing TAFE research partnership
Dr Sara Murray and A/Prof Jane Mitchell have
received funding from TAFE Western to conduct a
research project focused on student effort and its
relationship to course completion. The project builds on
research that Sara, Jane, and Bob Hill have recently
completed for TAFE Western. The report for this first
project—TAFE classrooms that work: Teaching
practices that encourage student effort—was
published in February 2011. The new project will begin
in the second half of 2011, and will align with current
VET sector policy on increasing course completion
rates. The research will investigate student effort and
retention in three TAFE courses, and will help TAFE
Western identify the factors related to course design
and teaching practice that help to improve course
completion rates for students.
Funding to evaluate training
Congratulations to A/Prof Ros Brennan Kemmis, who
along with Simon Hood, Director of Quantum
Consulting Australia, have been given funding by the
Department of Education, Employment and
Workplace Relations to evaluate the Training Initiatives
for Indigenous adults in regional and remote
communities program. The program is a joint initiative
of the Australian and Queensland governments, aimed
at engaging and providing support to Indigenous
adults in culturally-appropriate training leading to
employment and Certificate II or higher-level
qualifications.
Well done to Dr Anne Lloyd, Prof Ann Bonner
(Queensland University of Technology) and Dr Carol
Dawson Rose (University of California, San Francisco),
who recently received funding from QUT and the
University of California for a new project, Level of
patient engagement with information. Information
practice is a new area of research within the fields of
nursing and information sciences, so this study will be
one of the first to measure patient engagement with
information. The research team hopes the study’s
findings will assist with developing a patient selfmanagement intervention tailored to the way patients
engage with information.
Most outstanding thesis
Congratulations to Dr Jane McCormack who
graduated in April, and was awarded the most
outstanding thesis prize for the Faculty of Education.
Jane’s research highlighted speech difficulties from a
child’s perspective,
revealing that
children with speech
difficulties often think
it is the adult who is
not listening well.
“Children are often
not aware that how
they are talking is any
different to their
peers, and so from their point of view, when
communication breaks down, when people don't
understand them, it's more because their adult
partners are not actually listening to them correctly,”
Jane said in a recent interview with ABC Radio.
Jane is pictured (far left) at the graduation ceremony with (LR) CSU Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ian Goulter, and two of her
supervisors, A/Prof Linda Harrison, and Prof Sharynne McLeod.
Jane was also supervised by A/Prof Lindy McAllister (UQ).
Chancellor’s list
RIPPLE researcher, Dr
Sally Denshire,
recently completed
her doctoral project,
an autoethnographic study
on her life as an
occupational
therapist. She was
supervised by RIPPLE
Adjunct Professor Alison Lee. Sally’s doctorate made
the University of Technology’s Chancellor’s List for 2010.
Sally (pictured, right) was presented with her award by
UTS Chancellor, Professor Vicki Sara (left) at her
graduation ceremony in April.
Sally lectures in occupational therapy at CSU, and recently
received a Faculty of Science Research Excellence Award for
her research.
Page 11
PUBLICATIONS
Recently released books
A group of prominent RIPPLE
early childhood researchers
have collaborated on a new
book, Researching young
children’s perspectives. The
book, released in 2011 by
Routledge, was edited by Prof
Bob Perry, Prof Deborah
Harcourt, and Dr Tim Waller. It
contains chapters authored
by Prof Sue Dockett, Prof
Jennifer Sumsion, A/Prof Linda
Harrison, Dr Fran Press, Prof
Sharynne McLeod, and Prof
Ben Bradley.
A/Prof Michael Gard released
his second book on the topic
of obesity in late 2010. The
end of the obesity epidemic
(published by Routledge)
highlights the exaggerated
media and mainstream
medical opinion on obesity in
Australia. The book received
widespread attention, and
Michael also wrote an opinion
piece for the ABC’s The Drum
web site on 9 December
2010.
Early childhood research gaps
RIPPLE researchers A/Prof Linda Harrison, Prof Jennifer
Sumsion, Dr Fran Press, and Dr Sandie Wong, along with
Dr Loraine Fordham and Dr Joy Goodfellow, submitted
their final report—A shared early childhood
development research agenda: Key research gaps
2010-2015—to the Australian Research Alliance for
Children and Youth (ARACY) in March. The report
mapped current research on early childhood
development in six priority areas, and was funded by
the Australian Government Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
Editor’s Choice
Well done to Dr Anne Lloyd, along with Prof Ann
Bonner (Queensland University of Technology), whose
co-authored paper received the Editor’s Choice in the
Journal of Advanced Nursing. Their research and their
paper, ‘What information counts at the moment of
practice? Information practices of renal nurses’, was
acknowledged for being grounded in, and relevant to,
the daily professional practice of nursing. The paper
draws on research conducted in two satellite renal
nursing units in Australia, and investigates how nursing
knowledge is formed and how it is revealed “at the
moment of practice”.
School readiness report launch
Prof Sue
Dockett, Prof
Bob Perry, and
Emma Kearney
attended the
launch of the
issues paper
they prepared
for the Closing
the Gap
Clearinghouse
(a COAG
initiative funded by all Australian Governments) on 31
May. Their issues paper investigated school readiness
for Indigenous Australian children. “Feedback about
our issues paper is that it has been well received, with
many Indigenous organisations linking it to their
websites,” Prof Dockett advised. Prof Perry, with local
Wiradjuri community member, Leonie McIntosh,
recently presented a keynote address about the
project to the 2010 Dare to lead conference, focusing
on Indigenous perspectives in the national curriculum.
Prof Dockett will also present a workshop at the
Australian College of Educators conference in July.
Top ten most downloaded article
Prof Sue Dockett and Prof Bob Perry from Charles Sturt
University, along with Prof Johanna Einarsdottir from the
University of Iceland, had their journal article Making
meaning: Children’s perspectives expressed through
drawings, published in the journal Early Child
Development and Care in 2009. The paper went on to
become one of the ten most downloaded in the field
of early childhood for all Routledge and Taylor &
Francis journals during 2010.
Recognition for CSU in international
early years debate
The internationally-read Contemporary Issues in Early
Childhood journal released a special issue in early 2011
on the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). CSU’s
leadership of the EYLF project team received a special
and positive mention in the Editorial. The issue featured
a dialogue on the Australian framework (endorsed by
the Council of Australian Governments in July 2009),
and explored international debate on developments
in early childhood curricula.
Locked Bag 588, Boorooma Street
Wagga Wagga NSW 2678
ph +61 2 6933 2966
email [email protected]
www.csu.edu.au/research/ripple
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