DrNikki Brunker
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Senior LecturerFaculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Research projects & supervision summary
Project Opportunities
Title: Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Children
Summary of opportunity:
After completing a Bachelor of Education at University of Sydney, Nikki taught in alternative and mainstream schools. She has experience in early childhood, primary and secondary schooling as a teacher and principal. Nikki’s research interests include children’s social and emotional wellbeing, Initial Teacher Education (ITE) pedagogy, alternative schooling and innovative qualitative methodologies. Current research projects include an exploration of children’s experiences when school has not ‘fit’; pre-service teacher and teacher educator perceptions of ITE pedagogy; and the experience of moving from home education to being a teacher. Nikki is interested in post-qualitative and arts informed inquiry approaches to research. Her PhD thesis involved an interpretation of Lawrence Lightfoot’s portraiture overlaid with patchwork, which won the NSW Institute for Educational Research’s Beth Southwell Award for Outstanding Thesis.
Opportunity synopsis:
Research interests
Educational history, sociology and philosophy
- Alternative paths for schooling and education
Research on teaching and learning
- Initial Teacher Education
- Innovative research methodologies
- Social and emotional wellbeing
----------Current Research Projects----------
- 'From home education to teaching'
- 'Democratic school teachers’ thinking on democratic education' with Dr Rebecca English, Queensland University of Technology
RESEARCH PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONAn Exploration of Factors Enabling and Constraining the Adoption of Disruptive Humanistic Innovations in Australian Schools
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONAssessment as Part of Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education and Care: Assessment for Learning Through the Creative Arts
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONClassroom based summative assessment and student self-efficacy
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONEnabling and Constraining Student Agency through Curriculum Co‑Design: A Comparative Case Study of Perspectives Policy and Practice in Australian Schools
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONEncountering the Idea of the University in the Library: New Meldings of Metaphor, Methodology, and Theory in Qualitative Inquiry
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONExploring Teachers’ Beliefs, Understanding and Practices of Formative Assessment and Professional Development: A Case Study
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONI expect that the thesis title will be amended slightly but need a few more weeks to determine exactly what this will be
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONMapping the contours of teacher identity: charting a journey to an arts informed methodology
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONNew Possibilities for Professional Identity and Sector Sustainability through Respectful Documentation Practices
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONReconnection, Revitalisation, Restoration- Reigniting our Human Social Connectedness, Our Sense of Belonging
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONStories of Light and Shade - When School is a Healing Community
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONTeachers’ perspectives: what support systems are needed to ensure effective implementation of SEL by classroom teachers?
- RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISIONWatch Their Faces: Seeking space for the fine detail of student engagement as rich evidence in Evidence Based Practice.