Postgraduate Studies

Ongoing Projects

Lynette Austin lectures at the University of Southern Queensland (Wide Bay) The working title of her project is 'Working with intern volunteers in a community of practice: promoting transformative learning through critical thinking'. With the upsurge in volunteering and the changing role of Church groups and Non-Government Organisations, working with volunteers is fast becoming a key area in formal and non-formal education.

Catherine Brewster is working in the area of self-directed learning in the Tertiary Enabling Program at Charles Darwin University. The working title of her project is 'The use of self-directed learning methods in the teaching of historical and contemporary issues'.

Pauline Bunce is a Humanities teacher with the Hong Kong International School. She is investigating literacy challenges for Chinese-literate Hong Kong students learning English, focussing on developing an awareness of the 'alphabetic principle'.

Freda Forbes works at the Koc School in Turkey and is investigating the teacher as an agent of intercultural change.

Colette Foster works in Brunei and is undertaking a project on 'Beginning teacher mentoring in adult and continuing education'.

Karen Jacobson works as a Principal Education Officer in the area of Performance Management with Education Queensland, promoting the professional development of cluster principals through the building of a community of learners. The working title of her thesis is 'The Teaching Principalship in a Performance Climate'.

Kathryn Mannion has completed her graduate options and is about to begin a project which will look at situated approaches to literacy within a particular community.

Steven Maus also teaches at the Trinity Grammar School, Kew. He is carrying out a detailed investigation into his own practice using a variety of instruments such as The Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire and the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction. The title of his thesis is 'Reflection in the Classroom: one teacher's experience'.

Sharon Reeves is a principal of a Darwin primary school and is undertaking a historical review and case study of 'Devolution in Action' in the Northern Territory which documents the process at work in two Darwin primary schools.

Nicole Traves is documenting the Community Development process at the Irrkerlantje Community Development Centre amongst the Arrernte people living around Alice Springs. The title of her thesis captures the determination of the people she is working with: 'How can you get there? Never, ever give up'.

Michael Turk lectures at the University of Western Sydney and is undertaking a 'single shot, embedded, evaluative case study' on Professional Preparation and Project Management, a course he delivers within the Bachelor of Computing degree.