Dr Sonja Kuzich (President)
Curtin University

Dr Sonja Kuzich is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education, Curtin University. Sonja is a passionate educator who advocates strongly for teachers, teacher education, and the promotion of educational research through service as a (former) VP of the Professional Teaching Council of Western Australia (PTCWA); AITSL Teacher Accreditation panelist; co-convenor of the United Nations (WA) Education Committee; and, President of WAIER. Sonja was recipient of the 2021 WAIER Early Career Award. My research interests include social justice and equity, literacy practices in schools, educational policy development and implementation particularly through a sustainability agenda, and the impact of nature on children’s affective and cognitive outcomes. My Ph.D. is in education for sustainability and I have published articles in the fields of teaching and learning, educational policy, literacy, and sustainability.

“I have been commissioned by UNESCO to investigate Global Citizenship Education (GCED) within schools and in teacher education across Australia. Of particular interest is the ways GCED may be interpreted in Australia – for example, as sustainability education, peace education, and human rights education This project will result in a practical handbook for teachers across the Asia Pacific region to embed the principles of GCED into their classroom practice.”

“For the last three years, I have been working on the Centre of Excellence in the Explicit Teaching of Literacy project with the Department of Education. This project has drawn on the knowledge and expertise of exemplary schools to create a bespoke literacy professional learning (PL) program for teachers and school leaders. This unique model of PL provided classroom teachers and school leaders with role models and mentors for the explicit teaching of literacy and to be able to see the practices in situ. The project has resulted in a positive and sustained impact on whole school literacy teaching practices in 65 schools across Western Australia.”

In teacher education, I have three current research projects: 1) Teachers as writers/writers as teachers – investigating the writer identity and confidence of pre-service teachers and the impact it may have on their work as teachers. 2) First-year student engagement, support, and retention- investigating the needs of first-year education students to thrive in a higher education environment. 3) Storybuilders – examining the use of interactive, collaborative story creation on the development of oral and written narrative knowledge of primary children.

“I was invited to join the WAIER Committee by a colleague as an introduction to the educational research community. As I progressed through my PhD and started writing papers, I found the collegiality and support of the WAIER community were invaluable in developing my ideas and skills in educational research. I would like to be able to offer those same opportunities to others.”

Dr Sian Chapman (Vice President)
Murdoch University

Dr Sian Chapman is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. With a background in dance, Sian teaches arts education across the undergraduate and graduate initial teacher education programs at Murdoch. Published research to date examines arts curriculum implementation practices in primary schools, teacher wellbeing, and inclusive education perspectives of pre-service health and physical education teachers. Current research projects include A/R/Tography and multimodal frameworks as methodologies.

“My research interests lie in arts and movement, inclusive education, curriculum theory, and education policy practices with a focus on improving educational outcomes for all students. I have a particular interest in complexity theory and how the nature of complex systems interact across school contexts”.

“I joined WAIER as a way to connect to other educational researchers across Western Australia. I joined the WAIER committee as a way to support and promote educational research more broadly.”

Associate Professor Gregory Hine (Treasurer)
University of Notre Dame Australia
WAIER Fellow

Greg’s teaching career spans 22 years, and he commenced his tertiary teaching role in 2011. As Associate Professor, Greg teaches classes in general pedagogy, education research methods, and secondary mathematics content and pedagogy. He is currently the Program Coordinator for the Bachelor of Secondary Education.

My main research area and teaching interests lie within secondary mathematics education. The purpose of one recent study was to examine and monitor changes over time in pre-service, secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSMTs) views about their approaches to teaching mathematics in secondary schools, before and after undertaking mathematics teaching methods courses (including practicum teaching). These views included their perceived readiness to teach secondary mathematics, as well as an indication of their likelihood to use particular teaching approaches for mathematics. PSMTs at two Australian universities were surveyed before and after they undertook their respective teaching methods courses, and interviewed upon course completion. Overall, survey data did not indicate a significant change in PSMTs’ views of readiness to teach mathematics from either university (N = 61 pre-survey, N = 34 post-survey). An analysis of interview data revealed that PSMTs were not ready to teach secondary mathematics, with their emphasis focused on their mathematical content knowledge and mathematical pedagogical knowledge as areas of requiring improvement. Nearly half of the interviewees reported feeling confident to teach mathematics to lower secondary classes (Years 7-10). Despite these concessions, all interviewed PSMTs outlined at least one area where they had experienced professional growth since commencing a teacher education degree.

“My reason and motivation in joining the WAIER committee is to work with highly committed people to promote high quality educational research in Western Australia.”

Dr Clare McBeath
WAIER Life Member

PhD (Curtin), MA(Ed) (Southampton UK), BA (Adelaide), Diploma in Teaching (Adelaide CAE), Diploma in Training & Assessment Systems (Curtin), Diploma in Applied Language (Central TAFE, WA), Advanced Cert in Media Production (Kilkenny Tech, SA). 

WAIER Life Member; WAIER Fellow; PCTWA Outstanding Professional service Award.

“As a trained secondary school teacher I taught in Sarawak and Brunei for 15 years before undertaking a Master of Arts in Education in the UK. On return to Australia I worked with Adult Aboriginal Education in SA, Deakin University and the Gordon Technical College in Victoria, and the TAFE National Centre for R&D in Adelaide. I was appointed to Curtin University where I coordinated the Training and Development Program, offering degree and graduate diploma courses in further education. I believe it was the most diverse and interesting program in the School of Education!”

For list of publications see http://www.clare-mcbeath.id.au/

“Since retirement in 2003 I have continued my involvement with WAIER, undertaking programming and publishing for the annual Forum, and editorial and publishing responsibility for Issues in Educational Research.”

Roger Atkinson
WAIER Life Member

Dr Paul Gardner
Curtin University

Associate Professor Wendy Cumming-Potvin
Murdoch University

Wendy Cumming-Potvin (PhD) is an Associate Professor and the Research Director in the School of Education at Murdoch University, Western Australia. For over two decades, Wendy’s research has highlighted diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a focus on culture, language, gender, and sexuality. Wendy has a background in second language teaching, multiliteracies and language immersion education. Her qualitative and participatory research highlights translational knowledge, generated through community collaboration and supportive relationships.

Dr Cindy Smith
Curtin University

Dr. Cindy Ann Smith serves as a Lecturer and Researcher in the School of Education Curtin University supporting the active engagement and learning of pre-service educators.  Cindy believes strongly in providing students with authentic learning experiences to be prepared to support a diverse range of students, consulting regularly with schools and industry regarding effective and inclusive learning and work environments for neurodiverse persons.  Dr. Smith has extensive classroom experience teaching children with severe emotional/behavioral disorders, particularly those whose behaviors manifest as a result of childhood trauma, or neurological differences such as Autism or ADHD.

Before joining Curtin, Cindy taught at universities in the U.S. and the Middle East and has a passion for high quality, equitable education for all students.  Cindy has extensive experience in classroom management, online and classroom learning for students with diverse learning and behavioral needs and collaborates with colleagues from around the world to provide rich inter- cultural experiences for pre-service teachers.   Cindy also serves as  the educational consultant for the non profit organization: Furthering Autistic Children’s Education and Schooling (FACES), which has a goal to develop increased educational options for Western Australian children with Autism.

Dr Xuyen Lee
University of Western Australia

Since 2013, Xuyen has been a lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (the Academy) in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Academy is the national centre for training mid-level and high-ranking leaders of the political system in Vietnam. Xuyen’s job engages in researching and teaching on making and implementing development policies in culture and education fields for Vietnam. I hold a master’s degree from Beijing Normal University in China and wrote my thesis in the Chinese language.

I have been working in education fields for the last 15 years which involves many fields: Education for Sustainable Development, Education for International Understanding, Education Reforms Policy, and Early Childhood Education and Care. My current key research interests are mental health and emotional well-being in education. I want to apply mindfulness, meditation, and ‘emotion education’ in schools at all levels, teacher education and child-rearing at home to enhance mindfulness meditation skills, mental health, and emotional well-being in both children and adults surrounding the child (school leaders, teachers, parents and other caregivers.)

In my PhD research in Early childhood education in UWA, I interviewed expert teachers from different early years approaches Montessori, Steiner, Shichida, STEM, Multiple Intelligence, international schools, happiness-based schools, Happy School project-based settings, and public schools. 9 out of the 12 teachers that I interviewed have been practising mindfulness for many years with different practising approaches to mindfulness and 8 of them come from mindful schools, where school leaders are also the practitioners of mindfulness, experience the benefits of mindfulness, and apply the mindfulness-based social-emotional learning as a whole school approach and they engaged parents as a critical partner. Drew from ‘collective wisdom’ from teachers on how to bring mindfulness to themselves, parents and children and bring mindfulness to a class level and school level, I built a happy school model which emphasised the importance of ‘an awakened learning environment’ in nurturing emotional and social well-being and moving towards inner happiness for all stakeholders.

I have been supported so much when I presented my research at WAIER Forum 2022, I enjoyed the beautiful collegiality of the WAIER Committee members. Thus, I am motivated to join the team, learn from seniors, and resonate my work with other WAIER Committee members who are real experts in their educational expertise to contribute to the common mission of WAIER.

Michelle Murphy
Department of Education WA
WAIER Fellow

Michelle Murphy is a passionate educator of many years with extensive experience in English Literature, Media and Communication Studies. She is currently an educator–trainer and actively involved in many professional communities. She is the current Vice President of the Level Three Classroom Teacher Association. She is has been a member of WAIER since 2010 and enjoys the opportunity to examine how contemporary research impacts her daily work practice.

Dr Jian Zhao
University of Western Australia

Dr. Jian Zhao is an early-career researcher at the Graduate School of Education, University of Western Australia. With a background in mental health measurement and expertise in mixed-methods research, she has been working on various research projects, covering topics such as the mental health of Chinese international students in Australia and self-harm and suicidal behaviours of young people in Western Australia. She has developed and published various tests for the assessment of coping strategies and mental health changes, which have been used by other researchers. Jian has published extensively in international peer-reviewed journals such as Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers in Education, Behavioural Science, International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, and Education Research & Perspectives. Her research interests include mental health measurement, mental health of international students, coping strategies, resilience and suicide prediction.She was a recipient of the UWA Grand Challenge ‘Making a Difference’ Grant (2022) and the recipient of the Western Australia Institute for Educational Research (WAIER) Early Career Award in 2023.

Tamara Reads
Associate Lecturer, HDR Curtin University

Tamara is an Associate Lecturer and PhD candidate at Curtin University, with over 20 years’ experience in education. She previously worked as both Secondary English teacher and Teacher Librarian in NSW, and before commencing her PhD studies at Curtin in 2022, worked for the NSW Department of Education for 5 years, running statewide literacy and reading engagement programs (NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, and NSW Premier’s Spelling Bee). Tamara is passionate about literacy and literature, particularly contemporary children’s and young adult literature, and is a strong advocate for reading engagement and reading for pleasure. Tamara joined the committee in 2024, after presenting at the WAIER Forum in 2023 and being awarded the 2023 WAIER/ Fogarty Foundation Postgraduate Student Prize.
“I was so impressed with my experiences at the WAIER 2023 Forum – it was my first foray into presenting at an academic conference, so I was quite nervous! The Forum was so welcoming and supportive, and I received wonderful feedback. I also quickly developed a really strong sense of the collegiality of WAIER, and decided it was definitely an organisation I wanted to be a part of.”

Cleo Jenkins
Department of Education / HDR Curtin University

Cleo Jenkins is a highly motivated educator who leads with strong moral purpose. She is a vibrant educational leader who focuses on exemplary teaching practice, collaboration, and building mutual trust between students and educators. Cleo strives to provide an engaging and supportive environment with high expectations that enables each student to achieve their potential. She maximises educational outcomes for students by developing a positive school culture with strong performance and development, and where trust and staff wellbeing are paramount.
Cleo actively models a lifelong commitment to learning and is highly professional. She is a Level Three Classroom Teacher, obtained a Masters of Education through Curtin University, and is currently undertaking a Doctorate Research Degree focusing on supporting the wellbeing of school leaders in primary schools. In her current role as Deputy Principal for the Department of Education, she has worked significantly in the last 10 years to advise and support staff in leadership development, school improvement planning, data analysis and curriculum delivery.
‘I look forward to working with WAIER to connect with educational researchers across Western Australia, support others by promoting educational research, and benefit from the collegial support as a Doctor of Education candidate.’

Richard Gordon
HDR Murdoch University

Richard Gordon BA (Curtin University), Graduate Diploma of Education (Tertiary and Workplace) (Murdoch University), Master of Educational Technology (Murdoch University).
I returned to Higher Education after a long career in broadcast television, mainly as a network director with the BBC. As a lifelong learner and early career researcher, my interests include educational philosophy, critical media literacy, and how higher education and technology interact. My recent Master’s was a tremendously rewarding introduction to education research at this level. The study employed a sociocultural perspective on secondary English teachers’ experiences with technology-enhanced learning and it inspired additional respect for practitioners in this time of great change. I am currently in my first year of a PhD at Murdoch University, and my research will explore undergraduate critical media literacy skills in higher education. Alongside my doctoral studies, I am assisting on a research project conducted by Murdoch University and the WA Maritime Museum that explores First Nations’ representation in museum spaces.
In 2021 and 2022, I attended the WAIER Forum and discovered how stimulating and supportive this network for education research is, especially for early career researchers. The yearly forum is one example of the valuable role WAIER plays in promoting education research in Western Australia. This year, I was invited to join the WAIER General Committee. I now sit on the WAIER Strategic Planning Committee and the WAIER Research Grant Panel and look forward to contributing to a successful 2024 for the education research community.

Associate Professor Craig Whitsed
Curtin University

Dr Anisah Dickson
University of Notre Dame Australia

Dr Maria Outtrim
Curtin University

Jen Featch
Murdoch University

Simon Daniele
HDR Curtin University