Biography
Dr Rebecca Cairns is a senior lecturer in Humanities education at Deakin University, Geelong. Her curriculum inquiry research investigates how we do curriculum and focuses on History, studies of Asia and decolonising approaches. Prior to this she taught in secondary and primary schools in Victoria and Queensland.
Read more on Rebecca's profileResearch interests
Research interests: curriculum inquiry; curriculum enactment; History curriculum; decolonising curriculum; studies of Asia; Asia as method; open educational practices and resources; senior secondary curriculum; critical policy analysis; discourse analysis
Rebecca investigates how contemporary and historical socio-political conditions shape curriculum. This includes examining how curriculum gets made and mediated by a range of curriculum actors across contexts.
This work brings much needed socio-historical understandings of curriculum making practices to the often highly politicised debates around the relationship between curriculum policy, public policy, historical narratives and socio-cultural change.
The Asia literacy dilemma: A curriculum perspective (Cairns & Weinmann, 2023): This book examines the dilemma of 'Asia literacy' and brings into focus Asia as a curriculum dimension using curriculum inquiry. It interrogates current curricular imaginations of Asia, aims to move towards a more multifaceted discussion of Asia-related curriculum, and seeks to amplify the voices of students and teachers as key curriculum actors.
Decolonising Australian History Education Fresh Perspectives from Beyond the ‘History Wars’ (Cairns, Fricker & Weuffen (in press): This book is the first of its kind to showcase a range of fresh and expert perspectives on decolonising History education in Australia. The research-informed chapters by First Nations and non-Indigenous educators and scholars provide guidance on applying practical strategies for decolonising learning and teaching, and moving beyond the ‘history wars’.
Rebecca is also interested in the potential of Open Educational Resources (OER) for initial teacher education and has co-authored two collections with Master of Education pre-service teachers:
She has experience reviewing journal articles, examining PhD theses and is available to supervise Higher Degree Research students.
Affiliations
Co-convenor: Transforming Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy Research Program, Deakin
Associate Editor: Curriculum Perspectives
Member: Centre for Contemporary Histories Research, Deakin
Council member (Teacehr Representative): Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA)
Member: History Teachers' Association of Victoria (HTAV)
Units taught
Current units:
EHI702 History Curriculum Inquiry
EEO101 Humanities through Experiential Pedagogy
Conferences
Cairns, R. (2023). Future directions: Developing quality resources for decolonising Australian history education. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference, University of Melbourne.
Garrard, K.A. & Cairns, R. (2023). Social media as a tool for recruiting and empowering a diverse mix of student participants in curriculum research???. European Conference of Educational Research, University of Glasgow.
Cairns, R. (2023). Student voices in the Australian curricular landscape: an analysis of student participation across sites of curriculum making. Australian Curriculum Studies Association Conference, Brisbane.
Cairns et al. (2022). Symposium - Curriculum intentions and curriculum realities: Exploring assumptions and possibilities for curriculum transformation. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference, University of South Australia.
Cairns, R. (2021). Curricular Responsiveness to Crisis Panel. Comparative and International Education Society’ International Conference, May, Seattle, USA [online].
Cairns, R. (2018). Deimperialising Constructions of Asia in Senior Secondary History Curriculum. World Curriculum Studies Conference, Melbourne University, December 9-12.
Cairns, R. & Weinmann, M. (2018). ‘Successful participation’? Exploring the gap between intended and experienced Asia curriculum in senior secondary schooling, Where’s your Asia? Symposium, University of Western Australia, November.
Cairns, R. (2016). The Shrinking VCE History Curriculum and a History of the Curricular Present. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference, Melbourne, November.
Cairns, R. (2016). Analysing the discursive construction of Asia in senior secondary History curriculum in Australia. Asia Pacific Education Research Association (APERA) Conference, Kaohsuing Taiwan, November.
Media appearances
Cairns, R. (2022). The national history curriculum should not be used and abused as an election issue. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-national-history-curriculum-should-not-be-used-and-abused-as-an-election-issue-176783
Cairns, R. (2018). ‘Western civilisation’? History teaching has moved on, and so should those who champion it. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/western-civilisation-history-teaching-has-moved-on-and-so-should-those-who-champion-it-97697
Cairns, R. (June 7, 2018). The Politics of History Education. Breakfast. ABC Radio Perth.
Awards
Deakin School of Education Innovative Pedagogue Award 2022
Arts and Education Teaching Excellence Award (Middle Years Teaching Strategies Team) 2018
Philip Brown History Award 2016
Projects
Navigating the Curriculum Resource Marketplace
Publications
Rebecca Cairns, Kerri Garrard
(2023), pp. 1-14, Policy Futures in Education, London, Eng., C1
Anticipating Controversy: What's the Problem Represented to Be in Australian Policies for the Selection of Learning Resources?
Rebecca Cairns, Rebecca Cairns
(2023), Vol. 67, pp. 196-208, Australian Journal of Education, London, Eng., C1
The Asia Literacy Dilemma: A Curriculum Perspective
Rebecca Cairns, Michiko Weinmann
(2022), London, Eng., A1
Rebecca Cairns
(2021), Vol. 18, pp. 21-44, Journal of curriculum and pedagogy, Abingdon, Eng., C1
R Cairns, M Weinmann
(2021), Asia Pacific Journal of Education, C1
Learning Firsthand: Vietnam War Digital Teaching Resource
Kerri Garrard, Rebecca Cairns, Julianne Moss
(2021), Geelong, Vic., A6
Rebecca Cairns
(2020), Vol. 44, pp. 258-277, Asian Studies Review, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Deimperialising Asia-related history: an Australian case study
Rebecca Cairns
(2020), Vol. 50, pp. 126-148, Curriculum Inquiry, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Exams tested by Covid-19: An opportunity to rethink standardized senior secondary examinations
Rebecca Cairns
(2020), Prospects, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, C1
Flatlining? National Enrolment trends in senior secondary History
Rebecca Cairns, Kerri Garrard
(2020), Vol. 50, pp. 1-9, Agora, Collingwood, Vic., C1
A systematized review of research into/on Asia literacy in schools
R Cairns, Christine Halse
(2018), Vol. 45, pp. 9-23, Asia literacy in a global world an Australian perspective, Singapore, B1
The many voices of senior history curriculum enactment
R Cairns
(2018), Vol. 53, pp. 4-13, Agora, Collingwood, Vic., C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Other Public Sector Funding
Learning first Hand: Vietnam War teaching and learning resources.
Prof Julianne Moss, Dr Kerri Garrard, Dr Rebecca Cairns
DPCGV Grant - Research - Department of Premier and Cabinet, Government of Victoria
- 2020: $68,181
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report