Dr Rachel Buchanan

Biography

Rachel Anne Buchanan is a Lecturer in Educational foundations at the University of Newcastle. Rachel initially began her studies in the area of psychology, switching to Education to complete her undergraduate studies with Honours. Her PhD thesis was submitted and awarded in 2010. Rachel has taught for several years in the School of Education across the areas of educational foundations, philosophy and sociology of education, professional ethics and practice, educating in the knowledge economy, and Australian education policy and politics. She teaches in a variety of contexts from large first year foundation courses, to small postgraduate Masters level classes; from face-to-face contexts, to blended and online learning environments. Rachel researches in the areas of educational philosophy, politics of education and educational sociology. She is currently researching digital knowledge and 21st century learning and their impact upon teacher education. Both her teaching and research are infused by her belief in social justice and equity and influenced by a critical social theory perspective.

Qualifications

• PhD (Education), University of Newcastle, 2010
• Bachelor of Social Science (Honours), University of Newcastle, 2001
• Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), University of Newcastle, 1999

Research

Research keywords

• Digital Identity
• Digital Knowledge
• Education Policy
• Educational Philosophy
• Educational Technology
• Politics of Education
• Teacher Education

Research expertise

Rachel is an early career researcher who applies critical social theory to research in education. She is particularly interested in the intersection of educational philosophy and educational policy around the use of technology and how this impacts upon the practice, education and identities of teachers.

Her previous research projects include an examination of the digital identities of education students; and an investigation into the academic literacy skills of first year students; and an exploration of the impact of policy upon the deployment of educational technologies. She is currently involved in projects that critically examine the impact of digital knowledge and twenty first century learning upon teacher education.

Collaboration

Rachel welcomes research collaboration, particularly in the areas teacher education, educational technology, and educational policy and has been involved in a number of collaborative projects.

She is currently working with Dr Amy Chapman from the Australian Catholic University to investigate digital youth cultures and their place in the education.

Rachel is a founding member of the NuLearn Group, a collaborative research group who are researching and promoting innovative approaches to learning in the 21st Century.

Rachel is the current chair of the Teacher Education Research Network, a University of Newcastle based collective working in the field of teacher education.

Fields of Research

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia
• Member - Australian Teacher education Association

Administrative

Administrative expertise

Rachel been course coordinator on a variety of courses, from first year through to Masters level. She is one of the course coordinators for one of largest foundational first year courses at the University of Newcastle and she co-coordinates a large teaching team on this course, as well as designing and managing the course's Learning Management System.

She is the current Chair of TERN (Teacher Education Research Network), a role that involves developing a collaborative research community with the goal of building capacity in the area of teacher education.

Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Educating in the Knowledge Economy
• Education politics and policy
• Educational Philosophy
• Ethics and Professional Practice
• Foundations of Education
• Globalisation of education
• Sociology of Education

Teaching expertise

Rachel's teaching is in the areas of sociology of education, philosophy of education, educational foundations, ethics and professional studies. She teaches into the primary and secondary undergraduate and Masters of Teaching courses. Rachel's teaching experience covers a variety of levels and contexts from face-to-face teaching with large (800+ students) and small cohorts (10 students) through to blended and online delivery. She is one of two course coordinators of one of the largest foundational first year courses on campus and has developed and delivered post-graduate masters level courses that examine the globalisation of education and Australian education policy.