Dr Piper Rodd

Piper's research interests are concerned with advancing a more humane and fair society. Her research has examined various aspects of Australian society, attempting to improve the public understanding of systemic and structural injustice. Her research often takes an historical perspective, allowing contemporary society to be viewed critically and in social and political context. Her main research foci are:

• Critical pedagogy to advance opportunities for all through schooling
• The interaction between school children, their families, their communities and educational engagement
• The impact of neoliberal policy and practice on the public school system and the TAFE sector in Australia
• The role of historical narrative in education 

Piper has two decades of secondary and tertiary teaching experience. She has a varied and eclectic teaching background, spanning the cognate disciplines of Australian Studies, history, sociology and education. The connecting thread of her teaching interest is concerned with exploring issues of social justice within Australian society. Currently, she draws on her critical knowledge of Australian history to inform her interest in contemporary policy and social justice in the pedagogical practice of education at all levels of the Australian education system. Broadly, her teaching interests focus on the sociology of education and the systemic and structural factors that shape people's experience of school, TAFE and university sectors.

Piper teaches across both the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Associate Degrees of Arts and Education and co-ordinates the Education Studies units that comprise a major for BA students. She currently chairs EDU102, History and Philosophy of Education and is the Co-ordinator of the BA Education Studies Major.

Piper is also the Burwood Campus Co-ordinator of the Associate Degrees of Arts and Education core units and currently teaches EAD111, Digital Literacy.

• The sociology and history of education, especially in Australian contexts
• Critical pedagogy
• Social class and education
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) and post-school pathways of education

'The regeneration of School X – a critical ethnographic exploration of neoliberal education reform in contemporary Australia', The Australian Sociology Association (TASA) Conference, November 2017 at UWA, Perth, WA

'Parity of esteem in a market economy:  A critical examination of ‘brand vet/tafe’ in 2017 Australia', NCVER 'No Frills' Conference, June 2017 Hobart, Tas.

'Documenting the Demise of TAFE', Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) OctoberVET Conference, October 2016, LaTrobe University, Bundoora, Vic.

‘An Alternative National Mythology: War Resistance in Canada and Australia during the First World War’, Remembrance and Representation: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in World War I Workshop, Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand (ACSANZ), Australian National University and the Canadian High Commission, Canberra (December 2014)

‘War on Terror as Fought through the Popular Media in Canada and Australia’, New Zealand Political Science Association Conference, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (December 2009)

Hancock, L. & P. Rodd, ‘Measuring 'What works': Designing an Australian mixed-method longitudinal evaluation to enhance low SES, rural & post secondary education participation’, Forum for Access and Continuing Education, University of Ulster, Ulster, UK (July, 2012)

‘Christianity, Communism and Pacifism: An Unholy Trinity of Cold War Activism’, Socialist Studies; Canadian Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo Ontario, Canada (June 2012)

‘Nationalism and the Collective Memory’, Cultures of Violence and Conflict, annual conference of the International Society for Cultural History, University of Queensland (July 2009)

‘Was Jesus a Pacifist? War-time dilemmas of secular societies: Canada and Australia compared’, Canada in the Asia-Pacific, Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand Biennial Conference, University of Queensland (July 2008)

‘Australian Tolerance: A study of devolution of civil society in 25 years’, Researchers for Asylum Seekers Conference and Book Launch, University of Melbourne (November 2007)

‘Preserving the Whiteness of the Interior: Refugee Detention and the Racial Imperative’ Whiteness and the Horizons of Race, University of Queensland (November 2005)

‘Humanitarian Idealism versus Populist Point-Scoring, Social Change In The Twenty-first Century Conference Proceedings www.socialchange.qut.edu.au/conference/docs/2004proceedings.html  (October 2004)

• 'ATAR results not the only path to success in VCE', ABC: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/ballarat-breakfast/deakin-atar/11793132
• 'Unpacking Australia's HSC gender gap', Education Review: https://www.educationreview.com.au/2022/06/unpacking-australias-hsc-gender-gap-podcast/  
• 'Does NAPLAN do more harm than good?': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh2p69RMYYk 
• 'How outdated is the ATAR score?': https://disruptr.deakin.edu.au/society/how-outdated-is-the-atar-score/

Piper is an active member of the two research groups in the Faculty of Arts and Education, the Centre for Regenerating Futures and TPLLL, Transforming Professional Lives, Learning and Leadership

Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship    2008 – 2012

Current research projects include:

• A Critical Pedagogy for Campus Activism: Australian University Student Politics in the Jobs Ready Graduate era of higher education

• Post-School Pathways in the Western Suburbs: A post-covid research update

• Radical Pedagogies for Australian Young People: a critical reflection of social class in the anthropocene