Dr Amy McPherson
Senior Lecturer
School of Education
- Email:amy.mcpherson@newcastle.edu.au
- Phone:(02) 40550294
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 intersection of effects societal change, education and the lives of children, young people, and their families. 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.
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.
Education and Social Change
Amy’s ongoing research program investigates how education interacts with and responds to societal change, with a particular emphasis on the dynamics of social inequality and their impact on children and young people. Utilising interdisciplinary frameworks grounded in sociology, cultural studies, and philosophy, I explore how schools navigate complex social, political, economic, and environmental challenges while addressing the needs of their communities.
This research seeks to uncover the contested nature of education, positioning it as a force for fostering social change and addressing systemic inequalities. It critically examines how shifting societal conditions reshape educational purposes, policies, and practices, highlighting both structural constraints and transformative opportunities. By examining how schools respond to and address social disparities, the program provides critical insights into strategies educators can employ to tackle community challenges effectively, equipping schools and educators with the knowledge needed to critically engage with and respond to the complexities of rapidly evolving societal, cultural, and environmental landscapes.
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 and hard to staff schools
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 390201 | Education policy | 20 |
| 390202 | History and philosophy of education | 20 |
| 390203 | Sociology of education | 20 |
| 390307 | Teacher education and professional development of educators | 20 |
| 390412 | Teacher and student wellbeing | 20 |
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 |
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]
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Open Research Newcastle | ||||||
| 2019 |
McPherson A, 'Directions in Empirical Studies of Educational Ethics', Encyclopedia of Teacher Education, Springer, Singapore (2019)
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| 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.
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| 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]
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Open Research Newcastle | ||||||
| 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]
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Open Research Newcastle | ||||||
| Show 3 more chapters | ||||||||
Conference (8 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | McPherson A, Lampert J, 'Navigating the Teacher Shortage Crisis: Exploring the Realities of Teachers Who Stay in Hard-to-Staff Schools', Newcastle (2024) | ||
| 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) | ||
| Show 5 more conferences | |||
Journal article (25 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 |
Lampert J, McPherson A, Casanueva Baptista A, 'Not the job I imagined: teachers’ expectations of their work in the context of teaching shortages', Teachers and Teaching Theory and Practice (2025) In the context of extreme teaching shortages in Australia, this paper examines the concept of a 'teaching imaginary'. It explores the discrepancy between teachers' ... [more] In the context of extreme teaching shortages in Australia, this paper examines the concept of a 'teaching imaginary'. It explores the discrepancy between teachers' expectations of their work, primarily focused on classroom teaching, professional judgement and relationships with students, and the realities of their often administrative and managerial roles. In this paper we draw on narratives from teachers collected as part of a larger ethnographic study into teacher retention, and present excerpts from our conversations with teachers to illustrate how some are struggling to reconcile their daily work with how they had once imagined the work of teaching, leading to a sense of frustration and dislocation. In the context of mounting neoliberal accountabilities and managerialism, we demonstrate how teachers reconcile, navigate or struggle with their work, based, in part, on their socialised expectations of the job. While younger teachers' conceptions of teaching are often more aligned with current expectations of their jobs, some of the more experienced, and older, teachers feel a greater discrepancy between what they had wanted to do and what they find themselves doing, leading to potential 'walking points' where teachers find themselves increasingly dissatisfied with a job that is so unlike what they had once imagined.
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| 2025 |
McPherson A, Lampert J, 'An analysis of Australian teacher workforce policy: Challenges and opportunities for teacher recruitment and retention', Policy Futures in Education, 23, 446-463 (2025) [C1]
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| 2025 |
McPherson A, Lampert J, Baptista AC, 'Teachers who stay in hard-to-staff schools: School responses to the teacher shortage crisis', Australian Educational Researcher, (2025) [C1] In this paper, we report on some early findings from a project that explores the experiences of teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools in Australia. We provide an in-depth acc... [more] In this paper, we report on some early findings from a project that explores the experiences of teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools in Australia. We provide an in-depth account of the experiences of teachers who remain at schools characterised by unfilled vacancies, high staff turnover and a limited casual relief workforce. These experiences are often overlooked because most studies concerning teacher shortages typically analyse such issues through a labour market lens, concentrating on supply and demand and the extent and causes of the shortages. We use a work-storied approach that includes data from purposeful conversations, walking interviews, work-shadowing and journals, to examine the impact of teacher shortages on schools with low scores on the index of community socio-educational advantage across rural and metropolitan. This research explores how school leaders and teachers who remain in their roles respond to the challenges of teacher shortages. It examines the strategies they respond to these issues, focusing on how they adapt and modify organisational structures and norms to manage the impacts. We demonstrate how teacher shortages cause ripple effects across schools that create challenges beyond filling vacancies: the hard-to-staff schools in our study must simultaneously manage high teacher turnover, attrition, induction, out-of-field teaching, teacher workload capacity, and student behaviour issues. Ultimately, the current workforce conditions force strategic responses to unfilled vacancies and high teacher turnover in ways that intensify the already high-pressure working conditions for teachers and school leaders.
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| 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]
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Open Research Newcastle | |||||||||
| 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, 52, 332-349 (2024) [C1]
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| 2024 |
McPherson A, Casanueva Baptista A, 'Resilience in the face of crisis: an analysis of the Australian government's natural disaster resilience education program', Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 1-1 (2024) [C1]
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| 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]
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| 2022 |
Saltmarsh S, McPherson A, 'Un/satisfactory encounters: communication, conflict and parent-school engagement', CRITICAL STUDIES IN EDUCATION, 63 147-162 (2022) [C1]
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| 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) [C1]
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| 2019 |
Buchanan R, McPherson A, 'Teachers and learners in a time of big data', Journal of Philosophy in Schools, 6, 26-43 (2019) [C1]
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Open Research Newcastle | |||||||||
| 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) [C1] 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.
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| 2017 |
McPherson A, Saltmarsh S, 'Bodies and affect in non-traditional learning spaces', EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY, 49, 832-841 (2017) [C1] 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 ... [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.
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| 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
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| 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, s... [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.
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Open Research Newcastle | |||||||||
| 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]
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| 2013 |
Chapman A, Forster D, Buchanan R, 'The Moral Imagination in Pre-service Teachers' Ethical Reasoning', Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 38 (2013) [C1]
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| 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]
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Open Research Newcastle | |||||||||
| Show 22 more journal articles | |||||||||||
Media (3 outputs)
| Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | McPherson A, 'Teachers are lesson planning from hospital beds: study reveals full toll of supply crisis', (2025) | ||
| 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 | Brennan M, McPherson A, Zipin L, Rudolph S, Barron R, Rogers B, Woods A, 'The growing urgency of attending to the state of education research in Australian higher education', Australian Association of Education Research (2020) | ||
| Show 3 more reports | |||
Grants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 11 |
|---|---|
| Total funding | $1,759,352 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20241 grants / $67,500
Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools$67,500
Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
| Funding body | ARC (Australian Research Council) |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Doctor Amy McPherson, Professor Jo Lampert, Professor Bruce Burnett |
| Scheme | Discovery Projects |
| Role | Lead |
| Funding Start | 2024 |
| Funding Finish | 2026 |
| GNo | G2400021 |
| Type Of Funding | C1200 - Aust Competitive - ARC |
| Category | 1200 |
| UON | Y |
20232 grants / $1,238,300
Building capacity for quality teaching in disadvantaged schools: Thriving teachers, thriving students, thriving communities$785,000
Funding body: Paul Ramsay Foundation
| Funding body | Paul Ramsay Foundation |
|---|---|
| Project Team | Doctor Drew Miller, Laureate Professor Jennifer Gore, Doctor Sally Patfield, Doctor Leanne Fray, Amy McPherson |
| Scheme | Project Grant |
| Role | Investigator |
| Funding Start | 2023 |
| Funding Finish | 2026 |
| GNo | |
| Type Of Funding | C3200 – Aust Not-for Profit |
| Category | 3200 |
| UON | N |
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 |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Current Supervision
| Commenced | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | PhD | Evaluating transition models to measure their impact and to develop an explicit transition model to foster strong student engagement throughout their education journey | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
| 2025 | PhD | Thriving Schools - Exploring the influence of School Leadership during school improvement cycles. | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
| 2025 | PhD | Thriving Schools | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
| 2024 | PhD | Teacher Well-being: the Key to Unlocking the Potential of our Education Systems | PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
| 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 |
Research Projects
Imagining Futures: Social transformation and education 2017 - 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.
Thriving Schools Through Quality Teaching 2023 - 2026
Edit
Dr Amy McPherson
Position
Senior Lecturer
School of Education
School of Education
College of Human and Social Futures
Contact Details
| 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 |
