Associate Professor Josephine May

Associate Professor Josephine May

Honorary Associate Professor

Pathways and Academic Learning Support (History)

Career Summary

Biography

I am Honorary Associate Professor in the Pathways and Academic Learning Centre at the University of Newcastle. Before my retirement in 2015 from active service to the university of over two decades, I was an award-winning university lecturer, and I accumulated broad academic leadership experience. I am primarily a historian of education specialising in the history of Australian education, although I have a keen research interest in entry pathways to higher education and the experience of first-in-family students. I have published on visual representations of educational subjects leading to the book, Reel Schools: Schooling and the Nation in Australian Cinema (2013). I utilise analytic lenses of gender, class, age, race and ethnicity, and memory to examine affect the lived experience of education. My numerous research articles have appeared in leading journals including History of Education Review, Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Journal of Australian Studies and Paedagogica Historica. I am on the Editorial Board of History of Education Review, and I was the inaugural Chair of the Editorial Board of the Dictionary of Educational History in Australia and New Zealand (DEHANZ). I am a former President of the Australian & New Zealand History of Education Society (2011-2012) and former national secretary and executive member of InASA (2004-2008). With colleagues I helped research and write the groundbreaking text, First-in-Family students, university experience and family Life: Motivations, transitions and participation (2nd edition 2024). I am currently working on a book length study of the first female principals in NSW secondary girls schools.


Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Newcastle
  • Bachelor of Arts, University of Newcastle
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Newcastle
  • Graduate Diploma of Education, University of Newcastle

Keywords

  • Australian History
  • Enabling Education
  • Film and History
  • Film and the History of Australian Education
  • First in Family
  • Gender and History
  • Gender and sexuality
  • History of Australian Education
  • History of Teacher Education

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
430302 Australian history 50
390499 Specialist studies in education not elsewhere classified 50

Professional Experience

Academic appointment

Dates Title Organisation / Department
1/3/2013 -  Associate Professor University of Newcastle
Centre for English Language and Foundation Studies
Australia
1/1/2013 -  Editorial Board - Historical Encounters: A Journal of Historical Consciousness, Historical Cultures, and History Education Historical Encounters: A Journal of Historical Consciousness, Historical Cultures, and History Education
Australia
1/1/2013 -  Editorial Board - Online Dictionary of Educational History in Australia and New Zealand Online Dictionary of Educational History in Australia and New Zealand
Australia
1/1/2012 -  Editorial Board - History of Education Review History of Education Review
Australia
1/1/2010 - 31/12/2014 Membership - Executive, Australian & New Zealand History of Education Society Executive, Australian & New Zealand History of Education Society
Australia
1/1/2009 - 12/3/2013 Senior Lecturer University of Newcastle
School of Humanities and Social Science
Australia
1/1/2005 - 31/12/2011 Membership - International Australian Studies Association (InASA) Executive International Australian Studies Association (InASA) Executive
Australia
1/8/2004 - 1/12/2008 Lecturer University of Newcastle
School of Humanities and Social Science
Australia
1/1/2004 - 31/12/2004 Conference Chair - Ourimbah Campus Festival of Literature Committee Ourimbah Campus Festival of Literature Committee
Australia
1/1/2003 - 31/12/2004 Conference Chair - The Inaugural Australian Enabling Educators Conference Committee The Inaugural Australian Enabling Educators Conference Committee
Australia

Awards

Recognition

Year Award
2012 Vice-Chancellor's Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
University of Newcastle
2009 Excellence Award
Unknown
2009 Teacher Recognition Award
Unknown
2009 Lecturer of the Year
Unknown
2007 New South Wales Quality Teaching Award
Australian College of Educators

Invitations

Keynote Speaker

Year Title / Rationale
2016 Sight, Sound and Text in the History of Education
Keynote entitled 'Views from Somewhere: gender, history and filmic representations of Australian primary school teachers'. See https://storify.com/suzman/sight-sound-and-text-in-the-history-of-education
2012 Presidential Address
Organisation: ANZHES
2009 'From Reel Schools to Real Schools Australian Films and the History of Education'
Organisation: Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society Description: May, J., 2009, Keynote, 'From Reel Schools to Real Schools Australian Films and the History of Education', ANZHES Conference, Connections and Circuits in Histories of Education, 7 - 10 December, 2009, St Mark's College, North Adelaide.

Participant

Year Title / Rationale
2013 NewMac Postgraduate Conference
Organisation: University of Newcastle and Macquarie University
2012 Newmac Postgraduate Conference
Organisation: University of Newcastle/Macquarie University Description: NewMac Postgraduate Conference
2012 Invited Book Launch
Organisation: Common Ground Publishing; Coop Bookstore Description: Invitation to launch the book "Transformations & Self-Discovery" by Cathy Stone and Sarah O'Shea on 5 December 2012 at the Coop Bookstore at Ourimbah.
2011 NSW Premiers History Prize
Organisation: Arts NSW, NSW State Government
2011 NSW State Records
Organisation: NSW Department of Services, Technology and Administration Description: This prestigious annual prize is worth $15,000.
2010 Public Forum on Governor Macquarie
Organisation: NSW History Week (Hunter) Description: Public Forum on Governor Macquarie, Newcastle City Hall.
2009 NSW Premier’s History Awards
Organisation: Arts NSW in association with the History Council of NSW Description: The New South Wales Premier’s History Awards, established to honour distinguished achievement in history by Australians, are worth $90,000 in total. I was one of six specialist invited judges under the leadership of Professor Ros Pesman, University of Sydney. I participated in the multimedia and Young People's History awards judging.

Speaker

Year Title / Rationale
2012 Ned Kelly
Organisation: Singleton Library Description: Guest Speaker
2011 'Look Who's Talking' Local History Series
Organisation: Maitland City Council Library Description: Invited speaker because of my research and expertise in Australian women's history.
2009 International Women’s Day After Dinner Speech
Organisation: Union of Australian Women (Hunter Region) Description: Speech entitled: "Making Ends Meet: Women's Lives When the Global Becomes Local" on the Hunter Experience of the Great Depression.
2009 Invited Speech for book launch
Organisation: Australian Teacher Education Association Description: Claiming a Voice, ATEA Conference, Albury, 29 June 2009.
2008 Annual Conference Dinner
Organisation: Progressive Labour Party Description: Invited After Dinner Speaker on The Labour Movement in Newcastle During WWI.
2008 Invited Occasional Talk
Organisation: Union of University Women Description: 'Topic: 'On Teaching The Patriarchal Equilibrium’

Prestigious works / other achievements

Year Commenced Year Finished Prestigious work / other achievement Role
2015 2015 BA Review Panel La Trobe University Reviewer
Edit

Publications

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


Book (5 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2023 O'Shea S, May J, Stone C, Delahunty J, 'First-in-family students, university experience and family life: Motivations, transitions and participation', 1-294 (2023)

This open access book, now in its second edition, offers a comprehensive overview of the experiences of First in Family (FiF) or first-generation students in higher education. It ... [more]

This open access book, now in its second edition, offers a comprehensive overview of the experiences of First in Family (FiF) or first-generation students in higher education. It draws upon narratives of students and their family members and spans the entire university student life cycle (pre-entry, commencement, progression and graduation) with a focus on specific cohorts including mature-aged students, parents or carers, as well as the differentiated experiences of male and female learners. With research drawn from three major research projects and including over 650 FiF students from across all Australian states and territories, as well as Europe, this wealth of perspectives provides unique insights into the lived reality of attending university in contemporary higher education settings. The book is written for a broad audience and will appeal to those working in universities, as well as family members and students who may be contemplating participating in higher education.

DOI 10.1007/978-3-031-34451-0
Citations Scopus - 3
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2017 O'Shea S, May J, Stone C, Delahunty J, 'First-in-Family Students, University Experience and Family Life Motivations, Transitions and Participation' (2017) [A1]
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-58284-3
Citations Scopus - 5
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2016 Fitzgerald T, May J, Portraying lives: Headmistresses and Women Professors 1880s-1940s, Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, 148 (2016) [A1]
2013 May J, 'Reel Schools: Schooling and the Nation in Australian Cinema.' (2013) [A1]
Citations Scopus - 5
2009 May JR, Holbrook AP, Thompson AM, Preston GD, Bessant B, Claiming a Voice: The First Thirty-Five Years of the Australian Teacher Education Association, Australian Teacher Education Association, Perth, WA, 169 (2009) [A2]
Co-authors Allyson Holbrook, Greg Preston
Show 2 more books

Chapter (6 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2021 Parnell J, May J, 'Introduction', xiii-xxii (2021)
Co-authors Annette Parnell
2019 May J, 'Gender and hyper-linear history in the representation of the female Australian primary school teacher in Marion (ABCTV, 1974)', Sight, Sound and Text in the History of Education, Routledge, London (2019)
2018 May JR, 'Foreword', vii-xii (2018)
2016 May JR, 'History-in-the-round: Oral history, memory and praxis for small scale oral history projects', Oral history education: Dialogue with the past, Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO, Ljubljana 27-41 (2016) [B1]
2011 May JR, 'The Devil's Playground: Coming-of-age as national cinema', Making Film and Television Histories: Australia and New Zealand, I. B. Tauris, London 158-163 (2011) [B2]
2002 May JR, 'Loyalty and dissent: the labour movement in Newcastle during the Great War', Broadmeadow to Villers-Bretonneux: Newcastle during the Great War, Random, Newcastle 250 (2002) [B2]
Show 3 more chapters

Conference (37 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2022 May J, 'Border crossings: state education and generational mobilities in the life and family of Janette Grace Grossmann (1862-1924), antipodean educator.', University of Sydney (2022)
2021 May J, 'Who's Who in the world of women in the 1930s: A comparative study of elite women's biographical sketches from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland', Online (2021)
2020 May J, 'From across the oceans: the transnational educational backgrounds of the first headmistresses of public secondary schools in New South Wales from 1883 to 1919', Port Macquarie NSW (2020)
2018 May J, 'Empire's Daughters', ANZHES Book of Abstracts. Outsiders and Insiders: Histories of educational access, success and failure, Women's College, University of Sydney NSW (2018)
2017 May J, ''Get all the papers ready in this woman's matter': Anna Marie Hlawaczek, the NSW Department of Public Instruction and the darker side of transnationalism, 1885 to 1887', Powerful Narratives & Compelling Explanations: Conference Program: September 2017, University of Canberra, ACT, Australia (2017)
2016 Fitzgerald T, May JR, 'Portraying lives: Women headmistresses and professors 1880s-1940s', Abstracts Reviewed., Tower Block, University of Otago College of Education, 155 Union Street East (2016)
2016 May JR, 'Invited Keynote Address: Views from Somewhere: gender, history and filmic representations of Australian primary school teachers', Conference Program and Abstracts, University of Worcester, Malvern, UK (2016)
2015 Fitzgerald T, May JR, 'Portraits of past lives: Women headmistresses and professors 1880s-1940s', Wellington, NZ (2015) [O1]
2015 May JR, O'Shea S, Stone C, Delahunty J, 'Seeing what all the fuss was about: The narratives of two first-in-family men enrolled in an enabling program as sites of struggle over the cultural imaginary of the Australian university', Western Sydney University (2015) [E3]
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2014 O'Shea S, Stone C, May JR, ''Breaking the Barriers: supporting and engaging mature age first-in-family university learners and their families'', Proceedings of the 17th International First Year in Higher Education (FYHE) Conference Darwin, Australia, July 2014., Darwin, NT (2014) [E1]
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2014 May JR, 'The shadow of the world-sorrow hangs over us all: Australian Women Educational Leaders Narrativising the World Wars', Full written paper but Abstract only reviewed and published in the Conference Program, University of London, London UK (2014)
2014 O'Shea S, May JR, Stone C, 'Ripples of learning higher education participation, familial habitus, gender and first-in-family female students', The abstract was peer reviewed, accepted by email on 6 June 20014 from the conference committee and the paper was presented., University of Melbourne (2014)
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2013 May JR, 'Desire, Denial and Death in The Fringe Dwellers (1986): coming of age as a counter-narrative of nation', Conference Program and Book of Abstracts, Leicester, United Kingdom (2013) [E3]
2013 May JR, 'Brian Smith: tackling wider access and participation in an Australian University in the 1970s', Final Conference Program with Abstracts, QUT Gardens Point Campus, Brisbane, Queensland Australia (2013) [E3]
2013 May JR, Bunn R, '1974-1976: The seeds of flexibility in pathways to tertiary participation at University of Newcastle, NSW', National Association of Enabling Educators of Australia Conference, Melbourne, VIC (2013) [E3]
2012 May JR, 'The multicultural nation at school in Australian cinema', Abstracts. International Standing Conference for the History of Education, Geneva, Switzerland (2012) [E3]
2012 May JR, 'Lessons from the black box: Australian cinematic representations of the classroom', Combined conference of the ANZHES, Mechanics' Institutes World Wide and the 10th Australian Library History Forum, Melbourne, Australia (2012) [E3]
2012 May JR, 'Reading the country in The Country Schoolteacher: The relevance of the history of education on film for understanding Australian nationalism', Program. 17th Biennial Conference: Canadian History of Education Association, Vancouver, BC (2012) [E3]
2011 Proctor H, May JR, 'The ties that bind: Memory and the experience of the NSW selective public high school, 1920s-1950s', Experiencing Education: Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society Conference. Programme and Abstracts 2011, Auckland, NZ (2011) [E3]
2011 May JR, 'Suffering sexualities: Otherness and counternarratives of nation in two Australian coming of age films', Histories of Sexuality, Newcastle, Australia (2011) [E3]
2010 May JR, 'A classroom without walls: Reviewing post-war national imaginings of Australian geography in two Australian documentaries', Australian Historical Association Biennial Conference. Program and General Information for Delegates, University of Western Australia, WA (2010) [E2]
2010 May JR, 'Schooling at the periphery: In My Beginning and the experimental Koornong School, Victoria, 1939-1947', Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society Conference Program and Abstracts, Wagga Wagga, NSW (2010) [E3]
2010 May JR, ''Welcome to Dante's Inferno': Gender, the nation, and the boy problem in two Australian school films of the 1980s', Double Vision: Biennial Australian Studies Conference, University of Sydney (2010) [E2]
2009 May JR, 'ATEA in the 1980s: Context, history and identity', ATEA 2009 Conference Program, Albury, NSW (2009) [E3]
2009 May JR, 'From reel schools to real schools: Australian films and the history of education', Connections and Circuits in Histories of Education: Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society Conference Program and Abstracts 2009, Adelaide, SA (2009) [E3]
2008 May JR, 'A challenging vision: Eros, agency and gender in The Heartbreak Kid', ASA Conference 2008. New Voices, New Visions: Challenging Australian Identities and Legacies. Book of Abstracts, Brisbane, QLD (2008) [E3]
2008 May JR, 'Father knows best: One woman's transition from school to work in the late 1940s', Work! Work! Work! Work and the History of Education: Program and Abstracts, University of Sydney (2008) [E3]
2007 May JR, 'Engaging histories: Engaging the history of education on Australian silent film: The female teacher as object of desire', Australian Historical Association 2007 Regional Conference. Papers, Armidale, NSW (2007) [E2]
2006 May J, 'Reflections on writing the history of a professional association: the ATEA Project', ANZHES Conference: Education, Leadership and Community, Armidale (2006) [E3]
2005 May J, 'Picnics, Playgrounds and Puberty Blues: Visions of Youth and the Nation in Australian Films 1970s to the 1980s', Paper presented at the 8th Biennial EASA and InASA Conference, ReVisions of Australia: Histories, Images, Identities, Debrecen (2005) [E3]
2004 Debenham JA, May JR, 'Making connections: a dialogue about learning and teaching in a tertiary enabling program', Building Foundations 2004 Conference of Enabling Educators, Newcastle, Australia (2004) [E2]
Co-authors Jennifer Debenham
2003 May JR, 'From idea to reality: A history of the Open Foundation Program, University of Newcastle, New South Wales, circa 1970-1978', Bridging Education in New Zealand Proceedings of the Third Conference of the New Zealand Association of Bridging Educators, Auckland, New Zealand (2003) [E4]
2001 May J, Jarvis R, Holbrook A, 'Migrants and education in the Hunter Region of New South Wales after World War Two', Visible Migrants 6 - Speaking to Immigrants: Oral testimony and the History of Australian Migration, Canberra (2001) [E3]
1999 Holbrook AP, May JR, 'Research into gender and discipline in the early twentieth century classroom', Global Issues & Local Effects: The Challenge for Educational Research, Melbourne Australia (1999) [E3]
Co-authors Allyson Holbrook
1999 May J, 'Sex/gender differences in the school to work transition of forty selective school students in Newcastle, 1930s to the 1950s', NIER Mini-Conference 99: From School to Work, Callaghan (1999) [E3]
1998 Holbrook AP, May JR, 'Making an impression: teachers' use of the 'visual' in Australian classrooms (1920s-1950s)', Imagine, All the Education..... The Visual in the Making of the Educational Space through History, Leuven (1998) [E3]
Co-authors Allyson Holbrook
1996 May JR, 'Australian womens and mens autobiographies of childhood and schooling, 1930s-1950s', Sidelights to an oral history study Conference Papers, Brisbane, Australia (1996) [E2]
Show 34 more conferences

Journal article (32 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2023 May J, 'Elite women's clubs in the 1930s across three Australian states: a prosopographical study', History of Education Review, 52 49-68 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1108/her-05-2022-0017
2023 May J, 'Elite women's schools across three Australian states in the 1930s: a prosopographical study', History of Education Review, 52 29-48 (2023) [C1]

Purpose: This paper presents a descriptive analysis of elite women's biographical sketches in Who's Who-type collections, now out of copyright, published in Australia in... [more]

Purpose: This paper presents a descriptive analysis of elite women's biographical sketches in Who's Who-type collections, now out of copyright, published in Australia in the 1930s: Victoria (1934), New South Wales (1936) and Queensland (1939). It concentrates on information given about their schooling. Design/methodology/approach: The biographical sketches of the women, defined as "elite" by their inclusion in three collections from the 1930s, were examined for information about their and their daughters' education. Using mixed methods in a prosopographical approach, this is mainly a quantitative analysis. It outlines and compares the schools they attended where given as well as providing basic demographic details of the 491 women. Findings: The paper shows that, for those who gave educational details, the women and their daughters attended private schools almost exclusively. Three types of schools were listed ¿ private venture, corporate, and a very few state schools. The paper demonstrates that the landscape for girls' secondary schooling was not a settled terrain in terms of type, place, religion, or age of schools available for elite girls' education in the late 19th and early 20th century. Private schools are shown to be part of the "machinery of exclusiveness which characterised the inter-war years" (Teese, 1998, p. 402) and private venture schools survived well into the third decade of the 20th century. Originality/value: Beyond the histories of individual schools, little is known about the educational profile of Australian elite women in the past. This largely quantitative analysis helps to uncover and compare across state-based cohorts, previously unknown demographic, and schooling details for interwar women who recorded their educational details, as well as for the NSW and Victorian daughters where given.

DOI 10.1108/HER-12-2021-0034
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 1
2022 Conway J, Cushing N, May J, 'Obstacle Course: Women's Entry into Skilled Positions in the Newcastle Steel Industry, 1980-2000', LABOUR HISTORY, 77-105 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.3828/jlh.2022.4
Co-authors Nancy Cushing
2021 May J, 'Revisiting the life of Lucy Garvin, first principal of Sydney Girls High School: expanded biography and use of digital sources', History of Education Review, 50 287-302 (2021) [C1]

Purpose: The article sets out primarily to fill in some of the gaps in the biography of Lucy Arabella Stocks Garvin (1851¿1938), first principal of Sydney Girls High School. As a ... [more]

Purpose: The article sets out primarily to fill in some of the gaps in the biography of Lucy Arabella Stocks Garvin (1851¿1938), first principal of Sydney Girls High School. As a reflexive exercise stimulated by this biographical research, the second aim is to explore the transformative work of digital sources on the researcher's research processes that in turn generate possibilities for expanded biographical studies in the history of education. Design/methodology/approach: This article encompasses two approaches: the first uses traditional historical methods in the digital sources to provide an expanded biography of Lucy Garvin. The second is a reflexive investigation of the effects of digitisation of sources on the historian's research processes. Findings: The advent of digital technologies has opened up more evidence on the life of Lucy Garvin which enables a fuller account both within and beyond the school gate. Digital sources have helped to address important gaps in her life story that challenge current historiographical understandings about her: for example, regarding her initial travel to Australia; her previous career as a teacher in Australia and the circumstances of her appointment as principal; her private and family life; and her involvement in extra school activities. In the process of exploring Garvin's life, the researcher reflected on the work of digital sources and argues that such sources transform the research process by speeding up and de-situating the collection and selection of evidence, while at the same time expanding and slowing the scrutiny of evidence. The ever-expanding array of digital sources, despite its patchiness, can lead to finer grained expanded biographical studies while increasing the provisionality of historical accounts. Originality/value: The article presents new biographical information about an important early female educational leader in Australia and discusses the impact of digital sources on archival and research processes in the history of women's education.

DOI 10.1108/HER-10-2020-0053
Citations Scopus - 2Web of Science - 2
2020 May J, 'Empire's daughters: the first 25 Australian born women at Girton and Newnham Colleges Cambridge, 1870 1940, as insiders and outsiders', History of Education, 49 781-804 (2020) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/0046760X.2020.1752822
Citations Scopus - 2Web of Science - 3
2018 May J, 'The national in the transnational: The compelling story of Anna Marie Hlawaczek in the New South Wales colonial teaching service', History of Education Review, 47 197-207 (2018) [C1]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to relate the compelling story of Viennese-born and educated Anna Marie Hlawaczek (c.1849¿1893) and her employment as the second headmistress... [more]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to relate the compelling story of Viennese-born and educated Anna Marie Hlawaczek (c.1849¿1893) and her employment as the second headmistress at Maitland Girls High School in the colony of New South Wales (NSW) from 1885 to 1887. Design/methodology/approach: Through a biographical lens, this paper uses traditional documentary research mainly in the school administration files in the NSW State Archives to explore Hlawaczek's experiences. Findings: The first set of findings forms the narrative of Anna Hlawaczek's troubled employment in the NSW teaching service at the beginnings of public girls' secondary education. It shows the ways in which ethnicity, gender, career history and expectations worked on both sides to exacerbate the potential for misunderstanding between her and the all-male administrators of the NSW Department of Public Instruction. The second set of findings suggests two ways in which the national worked as a transnational shaping factor in her story, both constraining and empowering her. Originality/value: The careers of non-Anglo women working in the early colonial secondary schools for girls have been rarely studied. This paper presents a previously untold story of one pioneering transnational headmistress in the NSW Department of Public Instruction. Her story complicates the transnational approach in the history of women's education by highlighting the power of the national within the transnational.

DOI 10.1108/HER-12-2017-0030
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 1
2018 May J, 'Gender and hyper-linear history in the representation of the female Australian primary school teacher in Marion (ABCTV, 1974)', History of Education, 47 209-224 (2018) [C1]

Building on the author's previous work on Australian national cinema and schooling, this article explores the representation of the female primary school teacher in the telev... [more]

Building on the author's previous work on Australian national cinema and schooling, this article explores the representation of the female primary school teacher in the television mini-series entitled Marion (Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1974). Using narrative analysis, it argues that this representation is disruptive of patriarchal gender relations, demonstrating 'hyper-linear history' where an exemplary relationship is created between the disrupted gender relations in school leadership in Australia caused by the Second World War and the ongoing disruption of gender relations occasioned by the second-wave women's movement in the 1970s. This mini-series shows how history, gender and representation are mobilised to create a unique cinematic historical argument about the gendered nature of Australian primary school teaching. Finally, the article reflects briefly on the situatedness of this reading out of the Global South.

DOI 10.1080/0046760X.2017.1420247
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 1
2018 O'Shea S, Stone C, Delahunty J, May JR, 'Discourses of betterment and opportunity: exploring the privileging of university attendance for first-in-family learners', Studies in Higher Education, 43, 1010-1033 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/03075079.2016.1212325
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 2
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2017 Mundy-Taylor J, May JR, Reynolds R, 'Storytelling in 3D: Interrogating Engagement with Oral Storytelling in the School Classroom', Storytelling, Self, Society, Vol. 11, 159-182 (2017) [C1]
DOI 10.13110/storselfsoci.11.2.0159
Co-authors Ruth Reynolds
2016 May JR, Delahunty J, O'Shea S, Stone C, 'Seeking the passionate career: first-in-family enabling students and the idea of the Australian university', Higher Education Quarterly, 70 384-399 (2016) [C1]
DOI 10.1111/hequ.12104
Citations Scopus - 18Web of Science - 8
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2016 Stone C, O'Shea S, May JR, Delahunty J, Partington Z, 'Opportunity through online learning: experiences of first-in-family students in online open-entry higher education', Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 56, 146-169 (2016) [C1]
Citations Scopus - 7Web of Science - 5
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2015 May J, Bunn RJ, 'A1974-1976: The seeds of longevity in a pathway to tertiary participation at University of Newcastle, NSW', Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 55, 135-152 (2015) [C1]

By the 1960s equality of opportunity was a dominant theme in social science research, and in keeping with this trend, the Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees in 197... [more]

By the 1960s equality of opportunity was a dominant theme in social science research, and in keeping with this trend, the Whitlam Labor Government abolished university fees in 1974 to open university access, especially to talented women and men who otherwise would not contemplate a university career. In the same year also the University of Newcastle instituted a radical new plan to open up its doors to the wider community of 'non traditional students'. This paper explores the history of the enabling program that resulted, the Open Foundation Program, focusing on the 1974 pilot program and its first two years of full operation. Thought at the time likely to 'drain its market' within five years, the Open Foundation has flourished and grown for forty years. The analysis focuses on hitherto unexplored aspects of the program and canvasses three key themes: curriculum and pedagogy, access and success, and support and retention, in order to understand the seeds of this longevity.

Citations Scopus - 7Web of Science - 3
2013 May J, Proctor H, 'Being special: memories of the Australian public high school, 1920s-1950s', History of Education Review (Emerald Group Publishing Limited), 42 55-68 (2013) [C1]
DOI 10.1108/08198691311317697
Citations Scopus - 9Web of Science - 6
2010 May JR, 'A field of desire: visions of education in selected Australian silent films', Paedagogica Historica, 46 623-637 (2010) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/00309231003798237
Citations Scopus - 8Web of Science - 9
2009 May J, 'Schools as dangerous places: a historical perspective', JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND HISTORY, 41 210-211 (2009)
2009 May JR, 'ATEA special publication: Claiming a voice: The first thirty-five years of the Australian Teacher Education Association', Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 37 415-417 (2009) [C3]
DOI 10.1080/13598660903250407
2009 May JR, 'A challenging vision: The teacher-student relationship in The Heartbreak Kid', Journal of Australian Studies, 33 405-415 (2009) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/14443050903308642
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 2
2008 May JR, 'Puberty Blues and the representation of an Australian comprehensive high school', History of Education Review, 37, 61-67 (2008) [C1]
DOI 10.1108/08198691200800011
Citations Web of Science - 3
2007 May JR, Ramsland JA, 'The disenchantment of childhood: Exploring the cultural and spatial boundaries of childhood in three Australian feature films, 1920s-1970s', Paedagogica Historica, 43, 135-149 (2007) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/00309230601080626
Citations Web of Science - 3
2006 May JR, 'Imagining the secondary School : the 'pictorial turn' and representations of secondary schools in two Australian feature films of the 1970s', History of Education Review, 35 13-22 (2006) [C1]
DOI 10.1108/08198691200600002
Citations Web of Science - 3
2006 May JR, 'Insistent Bodies versus the Rule: Male Sexualities and Gender Identities in the Devil's Playground', Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, 10, 107-123 (2006) [C1]
2006 Bennett JE, May JR, 'Introduction', Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, 10, i-ix (2006) [C3]
2006 May J, 'Secrets and lies: Sex education and gendered memories of childhood's end in an Australian provincial city, 1930s-1950s', Sex Education, 6, 1-15 (2006)

There are few historical studies about the sex education of Australian youth. Drawing on a range of sources, including the oral histories of 40 women and men who attended two sing... [more]

There are few historical studies about the sex education of Australian youth. Drawing on a range of sources, including the oral histories of 40 women and men who attended two single-sex, selective high schools in a provincial Australian city (Newcastle, New South Wales) in the 1930s-1950s, this paper explores the adolescent experience of sex education and gender relations. First, it outlines attempts by the New South Wales State Government and the Newcastle community to introduce sex education, especially during the moral panic about sexuality generated during World War Two. Second, it charts the experiential realm of growing up for adolescent females and males. Hegemonic gender ideology meant that sexual knowledge was mostly kept secret from adolescent girls, and that frightening lies about sexual matters proliferated in the vacuum created by sexual ignorance. For adolescent males, sexual knowledge, while still shrouded in myth and mystery, was more readily available. Indeed sex education classes were introduced at the boys' school in the 1950s, while the girls' school remained silent on the matter for the entire time. At the theoretical level, the paper suggests that the dominant ideology of femininity included sexual ignorance and was allied to the ideology of childhood innocence. Both ideologies were artefacts of patriarchal power. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.

DOI 10.1680/stbu.2006.159.1.1
Citations Scopus - 18
2006 May JR, 'Secrets and lies: Sex education and gendered memories of childhood's end in an Australian provincial city, 1930s-1950s', Sex Education, 6 1-15 (2006) [C1]
DOI 10.1080/14681810500508790
2005 May JR, 'A child of change: the establishment of the Open Foundation Programme in 1974', History of Education Review, 34 51-62 (2005) [C1]
DOI 10.1108/08198691200500004
Citations Web of Science - 3
2005 Debenham JA, May JR, 'Making connections: a dialogue about learning and teaching in a tertiary enabling program', Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 45 82-105 (2005) [C1]
Co-authors Jennifer Debenham
2004 May JR, 'Educating Rita and Peter: gender and a history of the Open Foundation Program, University of Newcastle, Australia, 1974-1994', Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, 9, 129-147 (2004) [C1]
2004 May JR, 'Special Issue on Enabling Education: Guest Editor's Desk', Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 44 (2004) [D2]
2003 May JR, 'Of secular nuns and worldly men: Australia students from two single-sex high schools recall their teachers in the 1930's to the 1950's', Histoire de L'Education, 161-185 (2003) [C2]
Citations Scopus - 3
2003 May JR, 'The Medium and the Message: Teaching 'Australia' to Australians in Two Types of tertiary Access Courses', Crossing: the bulletin of the International Australian Studies Association, Vol 8, 1 8 (2003) [C3]
2001 May JR, 'A very big change', Change: Transformations in Education, 4 19-32 (2001) [C1]
1995 May JR, 'A pocket of empowerment? Women's memories of selective schooling in Newcastle, 1930s to 1950s', Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, 1, 11-21 (1995) [C1]
Show 29 more journal articles

Other (9 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2015 Fagan, May JR, 'Open Foundation opens doors to uni study', Newcastle Morning Herald Opinion. Newcastle NSW: Newcastle Morning Herald (2015)
Co-authors Seamus Fagan
2015 Stone C, May J, O'Shea S, Delahunty J, 'Launching the First in Family website', ( issue.June pp.2-3). ANZSSA@vuw.ac.nz: ANZSSA (2015)
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2015 O'Shea S, Stone C, May JR, 'It's a good life going to uni isn't it? Problematising perceptions of opportunity and betterment for first-in-family learners attending university', (2015)
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2015 Delahunty J, O'Shea S, Stone C, May JR, 'Listening to Emma and Liana: stories from two young Aboriginal women who are first in their families to attend university', (2015)
Co-authors Cathy Stone
2014 May JR, 'Films with students, teachers and schooling', Dictionary of Educational History in Australia and New Zealand (DEHANZ). online at http://dehanz.net.au: Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society (2014)
2014 May JR, 'Headmistresses' Association during WWI', (2014)
2014 May JR, Kavanagh K, 'Introduction to Transformations: 40th Open Foundation Program Anniversary Art Show Catalogue', Transformations: 40th Open Foundation Program Anniversary Art Show Catalogue ( issue.one only pp.4-5). Newcastle, NSW: ELFSC UON (2014)
2012 May JR, 'Winn, Osbert Mervyn (1906-1983)', ( issue.-). Carlton, VIC (2012) [D2]
2004 May J, 'Communities benefit from engaged members', (2004) [O1]
Show 6 more others

Report (2 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2013 Grushka K, Bennett J, Parkes RJ, Beirne R, Donnelly D, Falzon C, Gallagher B, Imre R, Lowrie C, May J, Sharp H, 'Visual media texts: Teaching and assessing the humanities & social sciences in a post-literate age', 1-18 (2013) [R1]
Co-authors Debra Donnelly, Robert Parkes, Rebecca Beirne, Heather Sharp
2013 Grushka KM, Bennett J, Parkes R, Beirne R, Donnelly D, Falzon C, Gallager B, Imre R, Lowrie C, May J, Sharp H, 'Visual Media Texts: Teaching and Assessing the Humanities and Social Sciences in a Post-literate Age', 1-17 (2013)
Co-authors Robert Parkes, Debra Donnelly, Heather Sharp, Rebecca Beirne

Review (7 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2022 May J, 'H-Biography: May on Baisnée-Keay and Bigot and Alexoae-Zagni and Genty and Bazin, 'Text and Image in Women's Life Writing: Picturing the Female Self' (2022)
2017 May J, 'Margaret Bailey: Pioneering Headmistress of Ascham School', HISTORY OF EDUCATION REVIEW (2017)
DOI 10.1108/HER-06-2017-0013
2014 May JR, 'A History of Australian Schooling (2014) [C3]
DOI 10.1108/HER-05-2014-0032
Citations Web of Science - 1
2013 May JR, 'Book Review: Transformations and Self Discovery: Stories of Women Returning to Education by Cathy Stone and Sarah O'Shea 2012 Common Ground Publications.', Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association (2013) [C3]
2009 May JR, 'Schools as dangerous place: A historical perspective', Journal of Education Administration and History (2009) [C3]
DOI 10.1080/00220620902808319
2009 May JR, 'Australian postwar documentary film: An arc of mirrors', Media International Australia (2009) [C3]
2001 May J, Holbrook A, 'Book Review: Love and Freedom', History Of Education (2001) [D2]
Show 4 more reviews
Edit

Grants and Funding

Summary

Number of grants 14
Total funding $113,661

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


20161 grants / $41,118

Addressing the gap between policy and implementation: Strategies for improving educational outcomes of Indigenous students$41,118

Funding body: Department of Education and Training

Funding body Department of Education and Training
Project Team Associate Professor Maree Gruppetta, Associate Professor Josephine May, Professor Bronwyn Fredericks, Professor Denise Wood, Dr Felecia Watkin, Professor Irabinna Rigney
Scheme Innovation Development Grant
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2016
Funding Finish 2017
GNo G1600568
Type Of Funding C2100 - Aust Commonwealth – Own Purpose
Category 2100
UON Y

20151 grants / $15,000

Comparing Our Pasts (COP) International Pilot Study$15,000

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
Project Team Associate Professor Robert Parkes, Associate Professor Debra Donnelly, Associate Professor Heather Sharp, Associate Professor Josephine May, Doctor Jill Barnes, Ms Vicki Parkes
Scheme Strategic Networks Grant
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2015
Funding Finish 2015
GNo G1500901
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20142 grants / $20,350

Historical Experience, Representation, Media, Education, Society$15,000

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
Project Team Associate Professor Robert Parkes, Associate Professor Debra Donnelly, Doctor Catherine Hart, Associate Professor Josephine May, Associate Professor Heather Sharp
Scheme Strategic Networks Grant
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2014
Funding Finish 2014
GNo G1400959
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

Breaking the barriers: supporting and engaging mature age first-in-family university learners and their families$5,350

Funding body: Office for Learning and Teaching

Funding body Office for Learning and Teaching
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May, Professor Sarah O'Shea, Dr Cathy Stone, Ms Janine Delahunty
Scheme Commissioned Strategic Projects
Role Lead
Funding Start 2014
Funding Finish 2014
GNo G1400842
Type Of Funding Aust Competitive - Commonwealth
Category 1CS
UON Y

20111 grants / $10,000

Visual Media Texts: Teaching and Assessing the Humanities and Social Sciences in a Post-literate Age$10,000

A Teaching and Learning Project to scope the use of multimedia in tertiary classrooms at the University of Newcastle.

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team

Dr James Bennett, Dr Robert Parkes, Dr Kath Gruska

Scheme TEACHING AND LEARNING PROJECT GRANTS 2011
Role Investigator
Funding Start 2011
Funding Finish 2011
GNo
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON N

20101 grants / $1,500

The Australian historical Associate Biennial Conference: Reviewing History, The University of Western Australia, Perth, 05 - 09 July 2010$1,500

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2010
Funding Finish 2011
GNo G1000529
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20091 grants / $492

ANZHES Conference: Connections and circuits in histories of education, North Adelaide, 7-10 December 2009$492

Funding body: University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts

Funding body University of Newcastle - Faculty of Education and Arts
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2009
Funding Finish 2010
GNo G0900106
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20071 grants / $580

Engaging Histories - 2007 Regional Conference, University of New England, Armidale, 23/9/2007 - 26/9/2007$580

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2007
Funding Finish 2007
GNo G0188016
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20061 grants / $17,510

History of the Australian Teacher Education Association$17,510

Funding body: Australian Teacher Education Association

Funding body Australian Teacher Education Association
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May, Doctor Greg Preston, Professor Bob Bessant, Professor Allyson Holbrook
Scheme Research Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2006
Funding Finish 2007
GNo G0186621
Type Of Funding Not Known
Category UNKN
UON Y

20051 grants / $1,957

8th Biennial European Australian Studies Association Conference. ReVision of Australia: Histories, Images, Identities, 20-24 September 2005$1,957

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2005
Funding Finish 2005
GNo G0185436
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20042 grants / $2,710

The National Conference of Enabling Educators: Building Foundations 14 to 16 July 2004$2,500

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Conference Establishment Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2004
Funding Finish 2004
GNo G0183776
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

Social Change, Education and History ANZHES Annual Conference 2004, 7-10 December 2004$210

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2004
Funding Finish 2004
GNo G0184954
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20031 grants / $840

3rd Annual Conference of New Zealand Association of Bridging Educators$840

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2003
Funding Finish 2003
GNo G0183280
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y

20021 grants / $1,604

XXIV Annual Conference: Secondary Education-Institutional, Cultural and Social History, Paris, France 9-13 July 2002$1,604

Funding body: University of Newcastle

Funding body University of Newcastle
Project Team Associate Professor Josephine May
Scheme Travel Grant
Role Lead
Funding Start 2002
Funding Finish 2002
GNo G0181718
Type Of Funding Internal
Category INTE
UON Y
Edit

Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed11
Current0

Past Supervision

Year Level of Study Research Title Program Supervisor Type
2022 PhD The Newcastle Women’s Movement in the 1970s and 1980s through the Lens of Josephine Conway’s Activism and Archives PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2019 PhD Pragmatic Transformations: An Entwined History of Newcastle Teachers College PhD (Education), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2018 PhD When the Grass Roots Died: Finding and Understanding an Australian Coal Mining Community in the 1980s PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2018 PhD The History and Impacts of the University of Newcastle’s Open Foundation Program PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2016 PhD The History of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Australia from 1950 to 2010 PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2016 PhD "My Own Darling Laddie". In Search of George Wenham: An Aboriginal Anzac and the History of Denial PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2013 PhD Women and Constructing Re-Membering: Identity Formation in the Stolen Generations PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2013 PhD Storytelling Engagement in the Classroom: Observable Behavioural Cues of Children's Story Experiences PhD (Humanities), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2013 PhD Masculinities in American Western Films, 1950-1972: A Hyper-Linear History PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
2013 PhD Creative Empathy: How Writers Turn Experience Not Their Own Into Literary Non-Fiction PhD (English), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2008 PhD Value to Vermin: The Donkey in Australia PhD (History), College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle Principal Supervisor
Edit

News

News • 19 Jan 2016

UON innovation and development grants

The University of Newcastle (UON) has achieved success in the latest round of Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT) funding for innovation and development projects.

Dr Robert Parkes

News • 1 Jul 2014

UON Research Group Launches World-class Journal

The University of Newcastle's Historical Experience, Representation, Media, Education, and Society (HERMES) Research Group has launched its inaugural issue of Historical Encounters.

Associate Professor Josephine May

Position

Honorary Associate Professor
Pathways and Academic Learning Support Centre
Pathways and Academic Learning Support
Engagement and Equity Division

Focus area

History

Contact Details

Email josephine.may@newcastle.edu.au
Mobile 0439 676567

Office

Location Callaghan
University Drive
Callaghan, NSW 2308
Australia
Edit