Education and Work: Equity, Participation and Opportunity

Research within our Education and Work theme draws on the population diversity of Western Sydney to underpin research that explores educational access on a global scale. This research theme supports individuals and communities in achieving their economic, social and cultural aspirations through education.

Our research is concerned with the potential for education to transform the way people live and learn. Education needs to be responsive and inclusive, especially in times increasingly being influenced by rapid social, economic and technological change. Research in this theme draws together researchers from across our Schools and Institutes. The School of Education’s Centre for Educational Research brings together researchers with a long history of engagement with educational institutions and schools across Western Sydney and beyond. Through Western’s MARCS Institute, and in collaboration with the School of Social Sciences and Psychology, the School of Education, and the School of Nursing and Midwifery, we promote improved early childhood learning, focussing on the building blocks of speech and language learning. The critical need for improved outcomes in STEM connects researchers across the School of Education, MARCS, and the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, among others.

As western economies transition from manufacturing to knowledge industries as the key driver of productivity and economic prosperity, educational attainment and economic success will be twinned. This is true both for the individual and the nation. There is a need for effective, comprehensive and inclusive education at all levels.

The University’s backyard is a microcosm of this global challenge. With a changing industry mix and manufacturing as a diminishing source of employment, understanding and addressing issues affecting access to education is crucial to the prosperity of Western Sydney and the nation.

Theme Champions

• Professor Danielle Tracey
• Associate Professor Maria Estela Varua

Theme Fellow

• Selection process underway

Research Excellence in Education and Work

The University’s MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development has a focus on the promotion of improved early childhood learning, focusing on the building blocks of speech and language learning. The Centre for Educational Research is a hub for researchers with a long history of engagement with educational institutions and schools across Western Sydney and beyond. Improving STEM literacy is a critical priority under this research theme, as is the pivotal role of the humanities and arts in optimising educational frameworks and outcomes in a digitally disrupted era.

Impact Snapshot

Futuro Infantil Hoy: Our Children’s Future, Today

It might be a truism that it takes a village to raise a child, but most of the time families and communities are left outside the school gates with no way to participate in the education of their children. Futuro Infantil Hoy (FIH), a project led by Associate Professor Christine Woodrow from the Centre for Educational Research, addressed the absence of family and community engagement in schools in Chile and Western Sydney.

FIH built peer support for early childhood learning through local, networked communities of practice. Parents were invited to meet with teachers to inform curriculum and pedagogy – not just when their children were in trouble! Through careful and consistent engagement, a new pedagogical model was established that could be owned, adapted and managed by the community. Early childhood centres provided the ‘hub’ for integration and capacity building among parents, engaging them to be active partners in their child’s learning.

The impact of FIH has spread from 20 schools in Chile to 18 pre-schools in Western Sydney, with over 5,000 children and their families – alongside 500 educators – experiencing the benefits of family and community engagement in education, including dramatic increases in language and maths performance.

Currently Funded Projects