Dr  Amy McPherson

Dr Amy McPherson

Senior Lecturer

School of Education

Career Summary

Biography

As a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Dr. Amy McPherson leads a research program that explores the intricate effects of societal shifts on children, young people, and their families. Her work examines the impacts of social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental changes, using sociological and cultural frameworks to understand how educational institutions engage with their contexts to combat social inequalities. Dr. McPherson's approach not only illuminates existing challenges but also provides educators with actionable insights to effectively address mounting social inequality and increasingly complex community disadvantage. Committed to practical solutions that create real-world impact, she focuses on implementing strategies that make a tangible difference in the lives of those she serves.

 Addressing teacher shortages

Amy leads an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project investigating the impacts of teacher shortages on educators in hard-to-staff schools. Unlike previous studies focusing solely on the causes of teacher shortages, this project prioritises understanding the experiences of teachers who remain in these challenging environments. By doing so, the project aims to inform policies and strategies that support teacher retention—a crucial endeavour in the face of a declining teaching workforce. By addressing the problem of retention in this unique way, and by developing and implementing an innovative methodological design, we aim to advance a much deeper, nuanced understanding of how educational systems, as well as individual schools, can support those teachers who remain in the profession, and thus facilitate greater teacher retention at a time when maintaining support for a declining teaching workforce is urgent.

 Children and Families

Amy’s long standing research documents and analyse the effects of major social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental change on the everyday lives of children and their families living low socioeconomic communities.  Drawing on sociological, cultural and ethical theory, this work analyses and retheorizes how the complex dynamics between schools and their contexts guide how schools and teachers respond to mounting social inequality and increasingly complex community disadvantage. This research has focused on the intersection of wellbeing, resilience and equity for children and young people in disadvantaged contexts, parent and community engagement with schooling in disadvantaged communities, care-based teacher professional ethics, and equity focused teacher education. One recent highlight of her work was receiving an Editors' Choice award for a paper on ethical concerns in randomized control trials in education.

Teacher education

Amy has also served as the Program Director of the National Exceptional Teaching in Disadvantaged Schools Program (NETDS) Program, where she led an innovative, supporting graduate teachers embarking on careers in disadvantaged schools. Through specialised approaches that integrated coursework with practical experiences, this program equipped preservice teachers with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in marginalized communities.



Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Newcastle
  • Bachelor of Arts, University of Newcastle
  • Bachelor of teaching/Arts, University of Newcastle

Keywords

  • Culture, politics and education
  • Educational Philosophy
  • Equity and Social Justice
  • Social theory
  • Sociology of Education
  • Teacher Education
  • Teacher recruitment and retention
  • Teacher shortages

Languages

  • English (Mother)

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
390203 Sociology of education 30
390307 Teacher education and professional development of educators 20
390201 Education policy 20
390202 History and philosophy of education 30

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title Organisation / Department
Senior Lecturer University of Newcastle
School of Education
Australia

Academic appointment

Dates Title Organisation / Department
1/1/2020 - 29/1/2024 Senior Lecturer Australian Catholic University
School of Education
Australia
29/1/2011 - 31/12/2019 Lecturer Australian Catholic University
Australia

Awards

Member

Year Award
2021 Human Ethics Research Committee
Australian Catholic University

Recipient

Year Award
2023 ARC Discovery: Impacts of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools
University of Newcastle
2017 Faculty Research Fellowship
Australian Catholic University
2014 Visiting Scholar Program
Australian Catholic University
2014 Faculty Research Fellowship
Australian Catholic University

Research Award

Year Award
2022 Faculty of Education and Arts Small Research Project Award
Australian Catholic University
2022 Editors' Choice Paper of the Year - British Educational Research Journal
British Educational Research Association (BERA)

Scholarship

Year Award
2016 National Exceptional Teaching in Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS)
Australian Catholic University

Teaching Award

Year Award
2018 Teaching and Learning Grant
Australian Catholic University
2015 Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
Australian Catholic University

Prestigious works / other achievements

Year Commenced Year Finished Prestigious work / other achievement Role
2022 2024 Editors' Choice paper of the year British Educational Research Journal Author
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Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.


Chapter (6 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2022 Ladwig JG, McPherson A, 'Within school stratification', International Encyclopedia of Education, Elsevier Science and Technology, Amsterdam, Netherlands 76-84 (2022) [B1]
DOI 10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.12015-9
2019 McPherson A, 'Directions in Empirical Studies of Educational Ethics', Encyclopedia of Teacher Education, Springer, Singapore (2019)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6
2015 Chapman A, 'Wellbeing and schools: Exploring the normative dimensions', Rethinking Youth Wellbeing: Critical Perspectives 143-159 (2015)

This chapter develops a critical analysis of wellbeing as an educational aim. While the goals of schooling have become increasingly concerned with the promotion of wellbeing, the ... [more]

This chapter develops a critical analysis of wellbeing as an educational aim. While the goals of schooling have become increasingly concerned with the promotion of wellbeing, the philosophical dimensions of such a move remain largely unexplored. This chapter examines the relationship between wellbeing and schooling, drawing attention to some implicit normative dimensions. It does so through an analysis of educational aims in Australia as well as the normative claims that buttress the contemporary focus on wellbeing. This analysis prompts consideration of whether wellbeing represents an acceptable goal for schooling. Further, it questions how wellbeing might compete or align with a range of other educative and social goals and agendas. These include not only the achievement of academic outcomes, but also a variety of other important educational goals, such as equity, citizenship, economic prosperity and social cohesion. In exploring these issues, the chapter seeks to contribute to both the conceptualization of wellbeing in educational settings and longstanding debates about the purposes of formal schooling.

DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-188-6_9
Citations Scopus - 16
2012 Chapman A, Buchanan RA, 'FYI ...Virtual space has a context: Toward an alternative frame for understanding cyberbullying', Rethinking School Violence: Theory, Gender, Context, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK 56-68 (2012) [B1]
Citations Scopus - 4
Co-authors Rachel Buchanan
2011 Laura RS, Chapman AK, 'Can how we come to know the world disconnect us from the world we come to know?', Religious Tolerance, Education and the Curriculum, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 111-120 (2011) [B1]
DOI 10.1007/978-94-6091-412-6_9
1920 McPherson A, 'Bodies and affect in non-traditional learning spaces', Design, Education and Pedagogy, Routledge, London 110-124 (1920)
Show 3 more chapters

Journal article (21 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2024 Lampert J, McPherson A, Burnett B, 'Still standing: an ecological perspective on teachers remaining in hard-to-staff schools', TEACHERS AND TEACHING, 30 116-130 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/13540602.2023.2294791
2024 McPherson A, Lampert J, Burnett B, 'A summary of initiatives to address teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools in the Anglosphere', Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 1-18
DOI 10.1080/1359866x.2024.2323936
2023 Mcpherson A, Forster D, Kerr K, 'Controversial issues in the Australian educational context: dimension of politics, policy and practice', ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF TEACHER EDUCATION, 51 113-127 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/1359866X.2022.2152310
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 1
Co-authors Daniella Forster
2022 Saltmarsh S, McPherson A, 'Un/satisfactory encounters: communication, conflict and parent-school engagement', CRITICAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION, 63 147-162 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/17508487.2019.1630459
Citations Scopus - 15Web of Science - 9
2020 McPherson A, Saltmarsh S, Tomkins S, 'Reconsidering assent for randomised control trials in education: Ethical and procedural concerns', BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL, 46 728-746 (2020)
DOI 10.1002/berj.3624
Citations Scopus - 4Web of Science - 4
2019 Forster DJ, McPherson A, Douglas S, 'Interview with Professor Meira Levinson: Democracy, dilemmas and educational ethics', GLOBAL STUDIES OF CHILDHOOD, 9 109-119 (2019)
DOI 10.1177/2043610619846080
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 2
Co-authors Daniella Forster
2019 Buchanan R, McPherson A, 'Teachers and learners in a time of big data', Journal of Philosophy in Schools, 6 26-43 (2019) [C1]
DOI 10.21913/JPS.v6i1.1566
Co-authors Rachel Buchanan
2019 Saltmarsh S, Chakrabarty S, Saltmarsh D, McPherson AK, Winn S, 'Anecdotes, experience, and 'learning by osmosis': The role of professional cultures in preparing teachers for parent-school engagement', Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 44 22-37 (2019)

Initial teacher education and experiences of the professional cultures of teaching contribute to teachers' understandings about how to engage with parents. Drawing on qualita... [more]

Initial teacher education and experiences of the professional cultures of teaching contribute to teachers' understandings about how to engage with parents. Drawing on qualitative research data, and informed by Michel de Certeau's theory of culture and everyday life, this paper explores how everyday beliefs and professional practices that shape relationships between teachers and parents can remain relatively stable despite changing expectations of policy-makers and communities. The paper argues that equipping pre-service, beginning and experienced teachers and school leaders with research-based understandings about these cultural dynamics is crucial to informing professional practices that support meaningful and effective parent-school engagement.

DOI 10.14221/ajte.2019v44n12.2
Citations Scopus - 5
2019 McPherson A, Forster D, Buchanan R, 'Situated cases of ethical tensions when working with children and young people in educational contexts', Global Studies of Childhood, 9 103-108 (2019)
DOI 10.1177/2043610619845735
Citations Scopus - 1
Co-authors Rachel Buchanan, Daniella Forster
2017 McPherson A, Saltmarsh S, 'Bodies and affect in non-traditional learning spaces', Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49 832-841 (2017)

This paper considers the ¿knowledge economy¿ as it is used in education rhetoric to establish social and educational consent for significant changes both to the spatial organisati... [more]

This paper considers the ¿knowledge economy¿ as it is used in education rhetoric to establish social and educational consent for significant changes both to the spatial organisation of classrooms and their affective economies. We draw on ethnographic data from a study of ¿non-traditional classroom spaces¿, where the spatial organisation of schooling emerged as a potential fulcrum through which the imaginary of the conventional primary classroom was being reconceptualised. Traditionally configured classroom spaces and the learning that takes place within them were being challenged and replaced by notions of twenty-first century learning in ¿agile¿ learning environments. In the context of this reform agenda, these open-plan spaces were seen as offering new prospects for participation in a globally connected and competitive economic world that requires students to continuously adapt, innovate and respond creatively to a range of different problems. We consider how these everyday moments function as conceptual encounters between affective, embodied experiences and educational reform discourses that rationalise the implementation of non-traditional classroom spaces in ways that have very little to do with children and their futures. This cultural approach takes a step aside from numerous, and necessary, critiques of recent educational policies per se, in order to consider what might be learned from the uncanny spectres of child bodies that haunt them. The paper draws attention to examples of children¿s affect in non-traditional classrooms and what that may tell us about current educational reform when sacrifice forms part of the missing account of educational reorganisation for the knowledge economy.

DOI 10.1080/00131857.2016.1252904
Citations Scopus - 10Web of Science - 7
2017 McPherson A, Roberts P, Downes N, 'Community perspectives and the politics of water in rural Australia: Rural-regional sustainability education in the Murray Darling Basin', Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 27 93-107
DOI 10.47381/aijre.v27i2.121
2017 Ladwig JG, McPherson A, 'The anatomy of ability', Curriculum Inquiry, 47 344-362 (2017) [C1]

¿Ability¿ is one of the most common concepts underpinning education. Generally, ¿ability¿ is central to notions of a meritocratic society. More specifically, schools are allocated... [more]

¿Ability¿ is one of the most common concepts underpinning education. Generally, ¿ability¿ is central to notions of a meritocratic society. More specifically, schools are allocated the right to define, categorise and label students according to their ability. While there has been ample discussion of the role of ability in the creation of curricula, teachers¿ concepts of ¿ability¿ have remained relatively unstudied. Using semi-structured interviews with 236 primary and secondary school teachers, we examined how teachers use concepts of ¿ability¿, identify its conceptual components in their discourses (its anatomy), and show how the internal structure of the concept relates to specific institutional functions. Teachers¿ uses of ¿ability¿ prompted us to recount a too-often forgotten perspective¿the reframing of our understanding of schools as institutions. Recognising the internal anatomy of ability, as it is used in schooling, helps us better understand its capacity to survive within a broader ecology of schooling, and the degree to which schools are designed to limit learning and legitimise consequent social exclusion.

DOI 10.1080/03626784.2017.1368352
Citations Scopus - 10Web of Science - 4
2015 Chapman AK, Mangion A, Buchanan RA, 'Institutional statements of commitment and widening participation policy in Australia', Policy Futures in Education, 13 995-1009 (2015) [C1]
DOI 10.1177/1478210315581462
Citations Scopus - 2Web of Science - 2
Co-authors Rachel Buchanan
2015 Saltmarsh S, Chapman A, Campbell M, Drew C, 'Putting "structure within the space": spatially un/responsive pedagogic practices in open-plan learning environments', EDUCATIONAL REVIEW, 67 315-327 (2015)
DOI 10.1080/00131911.2014.924482
Citations Scopus - 48Web of Science - 35
2015 Saltmarsh S, Barr J, Chapman A, 'Preparing for parents: how Australian teacher education is addressing the question of parent-school engagement', ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, 35 69-84 (2015)
DOI 10.1080/02188791.2014.906385
Citations Scopus - 36Web of Science - 31
2014 Chapman A, Randell-Moon H, Campbell M, Drew C, 'Students in Space: Student Practices in Non-Traditional Classrooms', Global Studies of Childhood, 4 39-48 (2014)
DOI 10.2304/gsch.2014.4.1.39
2013 Chapman A, Forster D, Buchanan R, 'The Moral Imagination in Pre-service Teachers' Ethical Reasoning', Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38 (2013) [C1]
DOI 10.14221/ajte.2013v38n5.8
Citations Scopus - 6Web of Science - 5
Co-authors Daniella Forster, Rachel Buchanan
2013 Campbell M, Saltmarsh S, Chapman A, Drew C, 'Issues of teacher professional learning within 'non-traditional' classroom environments', Improving Schools, 16 209-222 (2013)

In response to the demands of the '21st century learner', classroom environments are increasingly moving away from traditional models of a single-teacher isolated in the... [more]

In response to the demands of the '21st century learner', classroom environments are increasingly moving away from traditional models of a single-teacher isolated in their classroom. There is an advent of 'non-traditional' environments that challenge long-held practices in teaching. To support these changes there is a pressing need to create opportunities for professional learning. This article reports on a study undertaken within three primary schools that had recently adopted 'non-traditional' classroom environments. The study aimed to identify how these new spaces were shaping teaching practices and the challenges that they presented for professional learning. This article presents findings from this study with recommendations for how systems and schools can better manage the opportunities presented by these 'non-traditional' environments. © The Author(s) 2013.

DOI 10.1177/1365480213501057
Citations Scopus - 24
2013 Chapman A, Saltmarsh S, 'The politics of normative childhoods and non-normative parenting: A response to cristyn davies and kerry robinson', Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 14 60-65 (2013)

This article offers a consideration of the ways that the politics of normative childhoods are shaped by discourses of happiness predicated on heteronormativity. Responding to the ... [more]

This article offers a consideration of the ways that the politics of normative childhoods are shaped by discourses of happiness predicated on heteronormativity. Responding to the work of Cristyn Davies and Kerry Robinson (2013, this issue), the authors argue that non-normative families and in particular, non-normative parenting, are obliged to secure, protect and police their s'children perceived entitlements to normative 'happy' childhoods in order to achieve social legitimacy. Such obligations, they contend, locate non-normative parents and families, rather than societies, as responsible for the effects of discriminatory social norms to which they are subjected. Informed by the work of Jonathan Silin, the authors support a politics of childhood that gives discursive legitimacy to children's voice and experience regarding the ways in which normativity is enforced at their and their families' expense.

DOI 10.2304/ciec.2014.14.1.60
Citations Scopus - 8
2013 Chapman A, 'Imagining the posthuman: hybrid bodies for education', AUSTRALIAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER, 40 271-280 (2013)
DOI 10.1007/s13384-013-0092-1
2009 Laura RS, Chapman AK, 'The technologisation of education: Philosophical reflections on being too plugged in', International Journal of Childrens Spirituality, 14 289-298 (2009) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/13644360903086554
Citations Scopus - 12Web of Science - 12
Show 18 more journal articles

Conference (6 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2024 McPherson A, Lampert J, 'And the wheel goes round and round: 20 years of teacher initiatives to recruit, prepare and retain teachers', Adelaide (2024)
2024 McPherson A, Lampert J, 'Australian teacher workforce initiatives in hard to staff schools: What s the problem represented to be?', Philadelphia. (2024)
2023 McPherson A, Lampert J, 'Defining hard-to-staff schools in new times', Melbourne (2023)
2023 McPherson A, Lampert J, 'Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard-to-staff schools', Singapore (2023)
2023 McPherson A, Burnett B, 'Last one standing: The impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools', Glasgow (2023)
2017 McPherson A, 'Toward an intergenerational politics for teacher education', Sydney (2017)
Show 3 more conferences

Media (2 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2023 McPherson A, 'Teacher Shortage. Is teaching family friendly?', (2023)
2019 McPherson A, 'Education shaped by Silicon Valley. Is this what we want?', (2019)

Report (6 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2021 McPherson A, 'Research into initiatives to prepare and supply a workforce for hard-to-staff schools', Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 95 (2021)
2021 McPherson A, 'Education in rural and regional areas: A strategic review of potentials and possibilities for philanthropic engagement', Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, 67 (2021)
2020 McPherson A, 'The growing urgency of attending to the state of education research in Australian higher education', Australian Association of Education Research (2020)
2018 McPherson A, 'A literature review of empirical research on philosophy for children', Primary Ethics Pty Ltd (2018)
2017 McPherson A, 'Pathways and admissions programs for initial teacher education', Australian Catholic University, 112 (2017)
2012 McPherson A, 'Learning and teaching in agile spaces: A pilot study of CEO Parramatta primary schools', Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese, 53 (2012)
Show 3 more reports
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Grants and Funding

Summary

Number of grants 9
Total funding $906,852

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.


20231 grants / $453,300

Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools$453,300

This project aims to investigate the lived experiences of teachers in a time of unprecedented teacher shortages. While previous studies have examined the causes of teacher shortages, the project is significant in its review of the issues of teacher retention focusing instead on those teachers who remain. By addressing the problem of retention this way, the expected outcomes of this project include developing a much deeper understanding of how educational systems, as well as individual schools, can support those teachers remaining in the profession. This will provide significant benefits such as informing policy on how to facilitate greater teacher retention at a time when maintaining support for a declining teaching workforce is urgent.

Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)

Funding body ARC (Australian Research Council)
Project Team

Professor Jo Lampert (Monash University), Dr Amy McPherson (University and Newcastle, Professor Bruce Burnett (Australian Catholic University)

Scheme Discovery Project
Role Lead
Funding Start 2023
Funding Finish 2026
GNo
Type Of Funding C1200 - Aust Competitive - ARC
Category 1200
UON N

20221 grants / $3,626

Policies impacting teacher workforce supply and demand $3,626

Funding body: Australian Catholic University

Funding body Australian Catholic University
Scheme Faculty Research Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2022
Funding Finish 2023
GNo
Type Of Funding External
Category EXTE
UON N

20201 grants / $72,890

Research into initiatives to prepare and supply a workforce for hard-to-staff schools$72,890

Funding body: Australian Government, Department of Education, Skills, and Employment

Funding body Australian Government, Department of Education, Skills, and Employment
Project Team

Jo Lampert and Bruce Burnett

Scheme Research Training Program
Role Lead
Funding Start 2020
Funding Finish 2021
GNo
Type Of Funding C2100 - Aust Commonwealth – Own Purpose
Category 2100
UON N

20191 grants / $25,000

Outer Regional and Remote Professional Experience Placement Initiative $25,000

Funding body: NSW Department of Education and Training and Victorian Department of Education and Training

Funding body NSW Department of Education and Training and Victorian Department of Education and Training
Project Team

Bruce Burnett

Scheme school or cluster based research projects
Role Lead
Funding Start 2019
Funding Finish 2020
GNo
Type Of Funding C2220 - Aust StateTerritoryLocal - Other
Category 2220
UON N

20181 grants / $11,850

Developing a work-integrated placement model to support LSES schools$11,850

Funding body: Australian Catholic University

Funding body Australian Catholic University
Scheme Teaching Development Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2018
Funding Finish 2019
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

20161 grants / $100,000

National Exceptional Teaching in Disadvantage Schools Program$100,000

Funding body: Origin Energy

Funding body Origin Energy
Project Team

Professor Bruce Burnett

Scheme The Eraring Community Investment Fund
Role Lead
Funding Start 2016
Funding Finish 2023
GNo
Type Of Funding C3120 - Aust Philanthropy
Category 3120
UON N

20141 grants / $111,700

Place-based education in the Murray Darling Basin$111,700

Funding body: Murray Darling Basin Authority

Funding body Murray Darling Basin Authority
Project Team

Phil Roberts University of Canberra, Jo Caffery University of Canberra, Bill Green Charles Sturt University

Scheme Murray Darling Basin Cooperative Research Network
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2014
Funding Finish 2016
GNo
Type Of Funding C2100 - Aust Commonwealth – Own Purpose
Category 2100
UON N

20131 grants / $2,500

Visiting Scholar Program$2,500

Funding body: Australian Catholic University

Funding body Australian Catholic University
Scheme Teaching Development Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2013
Funding Finish 2013
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

20121 grants / $125,986

The Janus Project: Low SES student retention and achievement under the Bradley Review$125,986

Funding body: Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme

Funding body Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme
Project Team

Professor Elizabeth Labone

Scheme Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme
Role Lead
Funding Start 2012
Funding Finish 2014
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N
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Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed10
Current2

Current Supervision

Commenced Level of Study Research Title Program Supervisor Type
2024 PhD Impacts of teacher shortages on middle leaders in schools Education, Monash University Co-Supervisor
2017 PhD Exploring Environmental Sustainability and Visual Art Education Through Teacher Narratives in Bahrain’s Kindergartens PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor

Past Supervision

Year Level of Study Research Title Program Supervisor Type
2024 PhD Exploring the post school aspirations of migrant background students Education, Australian Catholic University Principal Supervisor
2024 PhD The rollercoaster ride: An interpretive phenomenological analysis of parent decision making concerning academic redshirting of school entry Education, Australian Catholic University Co-Supervisor
2023 PhD School-university partnerships: A Foucauldian analysis Education, Australian Catholic University Co-Supervisor
2023 Professional Doctorate An investigation of Chaldean parents' perspectives on their involvement in their children's secondary education Education, Australian Catholic University Principal Supervisor
2021 Professional Doctorate Educational Leadership Practices in Australian Islamic Schools Education, Australian Catholic University Principal Supervisor
2020 PhD A journey to the South: Becoming third world woman educators Education, Australian Catholic University Co-Supervisor
2019 Masters Factors that influence learning using transformative ICT practices Education, Australian Catholic University Co-Supervisor
2018 Professional Doctorate Love spoken here: Exploring the experience of one primary school within a school / community partnership program Education, Australian Catholic University Principal Supervisor
2015 PhD Rules, rights and responsibilities: Becoming 'responsible' students in upper-primary school contexts Education, Australian Catholic University Co-Supervisor
2014 PhD Soak up the goodness: Discourses of Australian childhoods on television advertisements, 2006-2012 Education, Australian Catholic University Co-Supervisor
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Research Projects

Imagining Futures: Children, parents and a resilient education for vulnerable communities 2016 - 2026

This program of predominantly theoretical work contributes new knowledge about the effects of major social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental change on the everyday lives, learning and wellbeing of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds.  Drawing on sociological, cultural and ethical theory, the research analyses and retheorizes how the complex dynamics between schools and their contexts guide how schools and teachers respond to mounting social inequality and increasingly complex community disadvantage.


Impacts of teacher shortages on teachers in hard to staff schools 2023 - 2026

This project aims to investigate the lived experiences of teachers in a time of unprecedented teacher shortages. While previous studies have examined the causes of teacher shortages, the project is significant in its review of the issues of teacher retention focusing instead on those teachers who remain. By addressing the problem of retention this way, the expected outcomes of this project include developing a much deeper understanding of how educational systems, as well as individual schools, can support those teachers remaining in the profession. This will provide significant benefits such as informing policy on how to facilitate greater teacher retention at a time when maintaining support for a declining teaching workforce is urgent.


Research into initiatives to prepare and supply a workforce for hard to staff schools 2019 - 2022

This project examines the notion of ‘teacher shortages’ within the context of the difficulties that some schools have in finding and retaining enough teachers, not only across rural, regional, and remote geographic contexts, but also across high poverty school settings and within key discipline or subject areas. Framing this broad issue as a workforce issue for hard-to-staff schools, the project sought to learn more about the reasons teachers accept or fail to take up the many vacant positions in these schools or prematurely leave the profession once employed in these complex settings. 


Developing teacher recruitment pipelines to school in LSES communities 2016 - 2023

The persistent problem of teacher attrition, especially in high poverty schools, is widely acknowledged, and its impact on high-poverty, ‘hard-to-staff’ schools and vulnerable communities well documented. The reasons why teachers leave the profession, especially in high poverty schools, are far more complex and under-theorised than commonly believed.  This research aims to understand and identify ways that the targeted initiatives can work coherently to address the teacher workforce shortage in LSES school settings for more equitable outcomes for students and communities.  The project focuses of the development rollout of the National Exceptional Teaching in Disadvantaged Schools Program (NETDS). It includes a commitment to supporting graduate teachers starting their careers in disadvantaged schools by creating practical support systems which integrate course work and clinical work that focus on the preparation of preservice teachers for careers in marginalised and high poverty communities.  


The impact of family violence on schools’ work with parents and children in vulnerable communities 2024 - 2025

Although COVID-19 has yet to be fully contained, in most areas of the Asia-Pacific and other world regions, schools and businesses have begun to resume normal operations. What remains to be seen is the educational and social impact of family violence as children return to school after prolonged periods of isolation and increased exposure to violence in their homes. Drawing on cultural and sociological theory, we will analyse and retheorize how cultural and jurisdictional differences shape the complex dynamics between families and schools, and guide how school personnel respond to and implement relevant policies, procedures and practices. Findings will be used to transform school policies and practices, rendering schools more effective in supporting children and families affected by violence.


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Dr Amy McPherson

Position

Senior Lecturer
School of Education
School of Education
College of Human and Social Futures

Contact Details

Email amy.mcpherson@newcastle.edu.au
Phone (02) 40550294
Links Google+
Personal webpage

Office

Room V127
Building V Building
Location Callaghan Campus V Building Room: V127
University Drive
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
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