Biography and expertise
Biography
Wendy commenced her PhD at QUT in 2005 having been Director of a community based early childhood (EC) centre for 24 years. At each assessment point the centre was rated as providing high quality EC education and care. She is Associate Professor in the School of Education coordinating initial teacher education programs including EC teacher education programs.
Wendy's work contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals
Research
Wendy’s research focuses on provision of quality early childhood education and care for all children within Australia and globally. Areas of research include education of the EC workforce; parents’ perspectives; the arts and curriculum; and sustainable practices in EC education.
Community engagement
Wendy engages with international and national EC organisations to consolidate research and teaching in EC education and to improve the quality of early childhood teacher workforce. Her work is based on the premise that EC teachers, who implement good quality programs, are critical to the success of the nation's children.
Supervision
Wendy is supervisor and mentor to Higher Degree Research candidates investigating issues within education across EC, primary, vocational and health education. Candidates are encouraged to publish their research to provide foundations for career success.
Teaching
Wendy's teaching is in innovative in the online teaching space where she brings real world experiences to enhance students' learning; and provides a strong role model for EC pre-service teachers to become global citizens.
Other
Wendy has been invited speaker at national and international conferences. She is on the Editorial Board for Australian Journal of Early Childhood; Editor of New Zealand International Research in Early Childhood Journal; Editor of Research in Practice Series for ECA; and examines HDR theses in education on request.
Links
Honours
Organisational affiliations
Past affiliations
Highlights - Output
Journal article
First online publication 2021
Australian Educational Researcher
Book
Published 2020
This book examines the approaches, content and design, and practices of current early childhood teacher preparation programs in universities across Australia, and compares them with those in Finland, Norway and Sweden. It is well established that investment in good quality early childhood education yields the best outcomes for children, and that there is significant correlation between quality early childhood learning environments and qualified teachers. As such, this book offers key insights into academic approaches to the design, implementation and assessment of early childhood teacher programs, and how these programs are shaped in response to requirements and constraints, both within the university context and beyond. This book provides a focus to inform future practice for decision-makers of early childhood teacher policy; researchers interested in improving the quality and status of early childhood education; and assessors of early childhood teacher programs.