Dr Genee Marks

I am by preference a qualitative researcher, and in particular, I take a socially critical perspective, and draw frequently on action research as a participatory tool for working in community/communities, and as a basis on which other participatory research methodologies may be created and scaffolded. I see considerable ethical value in drawing on principles of co-research and co-production within research, education and policy development, and have been invited to universities internationally (such as Trinity College in Dublin, and Syracuse University in New York State), to present my work to faculty and postgraduate students there.

New projects currently being developed include:

• Using 'yarning' methodologies in the development of inclusive education and inclusive societies. This project will explore the epistemologies and ontologies of cultures that are disadvantaged by the dominant systems and models may be seen to be transferable to a diversity of disadvantaged children and young people (as well as their parents, community, Elders etc). The paper touches on Australian Aboriginal yarning, Filipino pagtatanong-tanong, Maori Kaupapa Korero, western memory work, and life-story narratives from people with disability, in its exploration of the use of ‘yarning’ methodologies as a tool in the development of inclusive education and inclusive societies.
   
• Research into the development of a program for Indigenous students, as well as other students who may have been disadvantaged, drawing on equine assisted learning and the principles and science of neuroplasticity. The research, which is being developed with a community run program in Western Australia, focuses on reducing recidivism, incarceration, and alcohol and drug abuse among young Indigenous Australians.
   

• Australian Association for Research in Education
• The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) (Foundation co-convener: Critical Disability Studies thematic group)
• Peripheries Research Theme, School of Education and Social Work, University of Dundee   https://www.dundee.ac.uk/esw/research/themes/peripheries/
• SJIDE: Social Justice, Inclusion and Diversity in Education, Research Focus Area- School of Education, Federation University (Adjunct researcher)
• Alfred Deakin Institute (Subscriber)

Doctoral Supervision

I am keen to supervise research candidates in areas related to my research interests, including diversity and inclusion,  dis/ability, cultural diversity, and indigeneity.

Below are some successful doctorates I have supervised:

• Behaviour management of autistic children in special settings (Dr Britt Edwards)
• Managed Identities: How do Australian university students who stutter negotiate their studies? (Dr Grant Meredith)
• 'Disabled Justice: Why reports of sexual assault made by adults with cognitive impairment fail to proceed through the justice system (Dr Margaret Camilleri)
• Menopause, art and change (Dr Julie Heron)
• Mathematics education in Australia and Azerbaijian (Dr SIma Ragimova)
• Implementing inclusion: classroom journeys (Dr Moya Elvey)
• Special needs, special play? Examining the agency of children with impairments in play-based learning in a Special School (Dr Amy Claughton)
• Student Acquisition of Social Skills through Teacher Modelling (Dr Carol Tocknell)
• Reaching the heart: Assessing and nurturing spiritual well-being via education (Dr John Fisher)
• A collaborative exploration of creativity, doodling and flow: A practice-based education inquiry (Dr Katherine Barrand)

Deakin University (2017-present)

EIE703 Designing Engagement for Learning
EIE704 Supporting Communication in Inclusive Classrooms
EEI704 Advanced Inclusive Practice
EEI705 Practicum: Specialist Inclusive Education
EIE702 Teaching and Learning in the Inclusive Classroom
ETP300 Educating Students with Additional Needs
EDX703, EDX704, EDX705, EDX 706  Research Paper;  Minor Thesis A & B
ESM410 Professional Practice & Mathematics: Designing an Inclusive Program
EEI301 Personalising Learning: A Transdisciplinary Approach
ESM310Teaching & Mathematics: Creating an Effective Classroom
EEE751 Teaching: Promoting Successful Learning
ECE763 Science and Environmental Awareness
EEE752 Planning and Assessment with Diverse Learners

Other curriculum areas in which I have taught include:

• Indigenous education, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels (through Koorie Teacher Education Program (K-TEP), Deakin University and Murrup Barak Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development, The University of Melbourne)
   
• Policy studies (Masters of Education Administration, Deakin University, and the Masters of Policy Studies, and Masters of Government at The University of Melbourne).  In the former, the focus was on educational policy and analysis, and at The University of Melbourne, the course addressed policy development and analysis for inclusion
   
• Disability Studies and Education studies, including professional experience, and school and community based practice (Deakin University, Federation University, Melbourne College of Advanced Education, La Trobe University)
   
• Educational leadership (Deakin University

• Language Education (various units at Deakin University)

• Critical dis/ability studies
• Dis/ability and diversity
• Inclusive education across social diversity, cultural diversity, gender and dis/ability
• STEM in various cultural contexts
• Yarning methodologies
• Co-research and co-design as inclusivity
• Bricolage as methodology
• Inclusive policy in education

• Coordinator- Northern Territory Global Education Program (NT GEP), School of Education, Deakin University
• Adjunct researcher, Federation University
• Editorial Reviewer: 
Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education
International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations
International Journal of Inclusive Education
The Australian Educational Researcher
Gender and Education
• Co-founder/moderator - Online forum Women with Disabilities in Higher Education (Mentoring, resourcing, and supporting members)

Assistance Dogs for People with Early Onset Dementia:
https://www.facebook.com/HelloCareAU/videos/1090624331041194/

Voices of GROW: What our community is telling us about employment:
https://grow.g21.com.au/voice/dr-genee-marks-learnings-from-job-seekers

• Invited member of the international Peripheries Research Stream, coming out of the School of Education and Social Work, the University of Dundee, Scotland. The group argues: “Peripheries ruptures dominant western approaches to research in its turn to the periphery (sometimes, but not exclusively, referred to as the majority world, global South, marginal, disabled, incarcerated, banished, subaltern or displaced persons- and territories.” https://www.dundee.ac.uk/esw/research/themes/peripheries/
   
• As an Adjunct Researcher at FederationUniversity, I am a member of SJIDE: Social Justice, Inclusion and Diversity in Education, Research Focus Area- School of Education, Federation University
   
• Alfred Deakin Institute- Deakin University (subscriber)

A selection of projects includes:

* Voices of GROW- What jobseekers are telling us (2017-2018)

Researching for GROW (G21 Region Opportunities for Work), I asked long-term job seekers to participate within ‘action research’, helping to write and respond to key research questions. The aim was to hear directly from those who have experienced barriers and to influence the way that employers and employment services support job seekers in our region. In addition to the final formal report, GROW incorporated the data into a pamphlet that could then be used with employers in Geelong, on the website, and as a tool for attracting funding. Links may be found at: https://grow.g21.com.au/voice/what-job-seekers-are-telling-us and https://grow.g21.com.au/wp-content/uploads/pdf/13234-GROW-CASE-STUDIES-6pp_2404_R.pdf. Video interviews were carried out with a number of participants. These have been posted on the website at https://grow.g21.com.au/voice/voices-of-colac-job-seekers, along with a video interview of Dr Genée Marks, as researcher: https://grow.g21.com.au/voice/dr-genee-marks-learnings-from-job-seekers. The data gained were used to attract Government funding of $750,000 to support the work of GROW in enabling employment in the region. https://grow.g21.com.au/2018/06/750000-state-government-boost-to-grow-in-g21-region.

* Assistance Dogs for People with Younger Onset Dementia (2016-2019)

Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs, Dementia Australia, and The University of Melbourne (Dr Genée Marks- Research Fellow; Principal Investigator- Professor Keith McVilly) collaborated to implement a project to investigate the role and potential impact of assistance dogs in the support of people with Younger Onset Dementia (funded by Gandel Philanthropy and State Trustees of Victoria). The program documented the extent to which the help of trained dementia assistance dogs, were able to sustain their physical and emotional well-being, and self-manage the difficulties associated with dementia. Importantly, the investigation also considered the impact on family carers. The outcomes of this project have featured extensively in the media, including internet, television and print media. The attached internet link was an impromptu interview at a national Alzheimer’s conference in 2017, when the program was officially launched publicly. https://www.facebook.com/CarePageAU/videos/1090624331041194/. The impact of this research is particularly wide reaching in that the Australian National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has now recognised assistance dogs for people with younger onset dementia as being National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding.

• Higher Education Equity Program (HEEP) grant funding ($21,000) to research the needs of Deakin University’s incarcerated students, and advise the University of their educational needs, and the barriers to their success, especially those due to Deakin University policies, procedures and structures (DUSA).

• Federally funded CUTSD staff development grant ($86,000) to research the need for, and develop a training and mentoring program, for women academics attempting to establish their international reputations as researchers within the university system (UNSW).

• Transition in VET for people with intellectual disability (Victorian Department of Human Services- $50,000; SGR LLEN- $12,000) Partners/collaborators were Corio Bay Innovators Inc. This action research project established a committee of critical friends with intellectual disability to research the process of transition from supported employment to open employment. The project brought about considerable change in understanding of co-research, and was shortlisted for the Geelong Researcher of the Year competition.