Biography
I am interested in all things digital from a critical perspective. I have worked and researched at many levels of the education system and on many projects around the world. I have studied: classroom interactions, school life, curricuulum change, creative media practices, youth community centres and out-of-school digital cultures over the last 30 years. I am particularly interested in forms of learning outside of the school, both in non-formal learning institutions and in everyday social activities; and how these might play a part in wider political projects of educational reform. I want to explore how everyday uses of the digital intersect with social inequality in order to enable learning in young people’s cultural, creative, civic and political lives.
I joined Deakin in 2017 as Professor of New Media Education having previously held posts in the Department of Media and Communication at the London School of Economics and in the Faculty of Education Research at the University of Oslo. I have worked as an independent scholar in Education and in the Cultural and Creative Industries; as a Media Studies teacher in an inner city comprehensive in London and in higher education teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses, leading; teacher training degrees in media education. I was also the Head of Media Arts and Education at WAC Performing Arts and Media College - a centre for informal training and education - where I directed a range of digital media activities for young people and co-ordinated training for media artists and teachers.
Read more on Julian's profileCareer highlights
- I have led significant research projects in the fields of creativity and creative learning, advising and a developing research strategy for an English national body (Creative Partnerships), commissioning research and leading on the production of handbooks, co-editing literature reviews and other academic resources for a constituency of educators.
- I have led research projects exploring learning in the home and out of school, focusing on the role of digital technology in such expanded social contexts and exploring changing pedagogies. Projects have been longitudinal and ethnographic with an emphasis on ethnic minority youth.
- I have written and theorised about the nature of informal and non -formal learning by young people across social contexts, especially working with socially excluded young people in community-based settings, mapping a new and emerging field.
- I am one of the early leaders in the field of classroom-based research in media education developing curriculum, theorising a new field within a new literacies paradigm and supporting the development of teacher education and classroom practice at national and international level.
- I have led projects and written about the interface between initiatives developing employability for ethnic minority and socially marginalised youth and the labour force in the cultural and creative industries.
Research interests
- The political economy and pedagogy of out-of-school learning
- Critical digital literacies
- Young People’s entry into work in the creative industries
- Multiliteracies and school reform
- Comparative educational research
- Digital Youth Identities
- Social inequality and diversity
Affiliations
Visiting Professor, The Playful Learning Centre, University of Helsinki, Finland
Visiting Professor, Dept Media and Communications, LSE, London.
Research for Educational Impact (REDI)
Chief Investigator and Connected Child Co-Lead, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child
Knowledge areas
- Digital culture/digital technologies
- Informal learning
- Creative learning
- Media education
- New literacies
- Media production
- Researching the cultures of youth and childhood
- Learning/learner identities
Professional activities
- The Young, Creative, Connected (YCC) Network
- Editorial Board: Working Papers on Culture, Education and Human Development
- Series Editor, Connected Youth and Digital Futures New York University Press
- Editorial Board: Digital Culture and Education
- International Editorial Board British Journal of Music Education 2007-2010
- Joint editor for the literature review series for Creativity, Culture and Education
- Joint General Editor, Creative Teaching/Creative Learning series: David Fulton
- Editorial Board of Aesthetics, Arts and Education, Springer International
- Editorial Board of International Journal of Arts and Education, 2006-2016
Projects
My current projects include:
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child - dedicated to research intersecting across fields of health, education and technology to offer a holistic view of young children and their digital experiences
- Tracing the Enduring Effects of Community Arts Programs - exploring the long-term effects of participating in out-of-school (OST) arts education programs serving young people from marginalised communities
- Young people’s learning in digital worlds: the alienation and re-imagining of education in association with the University of Utrecht
- Platform Pedagogies
My past projects include:
- Researching the creative biographies of young people as they enter work in the creative industries as part of 'The Connected Learning Research Network'.
- Studying the political economcy of the Non-Formal learning sector in London, Toronto and Vancouver as it as developed over the last 30 years as part of a Canadian Research Council project, called YouthSites.
- Monilukutaitoa Opitaan Ilolla, MOI (in English; Let’s learn multiliteracy with joy) is a research and development project funded by the Finnish National Ministry of Education.
Publications
YouthSites: HISTORIES OF CREATIVITY, CARE, AND LEARNING IN THE CITY
H Frey, J Sefton-Green, S Poyntz
(2023), Oxford, Eng., A1
Learning to live well with data: concepts and challenges
Julian Sefton-Green, Luci Pangrazio
(2022), pp. 1-16, Learning to Live with Datafication Educational Case Studies and Initiatives from Across the World, London, Eng., B1
Conclusion: learning to to live better with data
Julian Sefton-Green, Luci Pangrazio
(2022), pp. 201-208, Learning to live with Datafication: Educational Case Studies and Initiatives from Around the World, London, Eng., B1
J Sefton-Green
(2022), pp. 1-13, Continuum, London, England, C1
Learning to live with datafication
L Pangrazio, L Pangrazio, J Sefton-Green, J Sefton-Green, R Eynon, R Eynon, C Cobo, C Cobo, P Rivera Vargas, P Rivera Vargas, N Selwyn, N Selwyn, B Cumbo, B Cumbo, J Raffaghelle, J Raffaghelle, E Aguilera, E Aguilera, R de Roock, R de Roock, N Kerssens, N Kerssens, M De Haan, M De Haan, J Grosman, J Grosman, J Jacques, J Jacques, A Collard, A Collard, H Jeong, H Jeong, Y Oh, Y Oh, A Kim, A Kim, L Xiaoming, L Xiaoming, S Livingstone, S Livingstone
(2022), London, Eng., A7
Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age
Julian Sefton-Green
(2021), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, Oxford, Eng., B1
Is the re-contextualization of digital writing inevitable, escapable or desirable?
J Sefton-Green
(2021), Vol. 60, pp. 116-125, Theory into Practice, C1
Digital rights, digital citizenship and digital literacy: what's the difference?
L Pangrazio, J Sefton-Green
(2021), Vol. 10, pp. 15-27, Journal of new approaches in educational research, Alicante, Spain, C1
J Sefton-Green
(2021), Discourse, C1
The death of the educative subject? The limits of criticality under datafication
J Sefton-Green, L Pangrazio
(2021), Educational Philosophy and Theory, C1
Embodied technology use:: Unaccompanied refugee youth and the migrant platformed body
Anamaria Neag, Julian Sefton-Green
(2021), Vol. 71, pp. 09-30, MedieKultur, Alborg, Denmark, C1
Julian Sefton-Green
(2020), pp. 84-100, Young people's transitions into creative work : navigating challenges and opportunities, New York, N.Y., B1
Young People's Journeys Into Creative Work: Challenges and Transitions Into the Workforce
Julian Sefton-Green, S Watkins, Ben Kirshner
(2020), pp. 1-26, Young people's transitions into creative work : navigating challenges and opportunities, London, Eng., B1
Learning Creative Identities in Filmmaking: The Dubious Pleasures of Precarity
Julian Sefton-Green
(2020), pp. 64-83, Young people's transitions into creative work : navigating challenges and opportunities, New York, N.Y., B1
Play and learning in the digital age
Julian Sefton-Green
(2020), pp. 81-96, Education in the Digital Age: Happy and healthy children, Paris, France, B1
Teacher learning and the everyday digital
N Wood, C Beavis, A Cloonan, K Hutchison, L Pangrazio, J Sefton-Green
(2020), Vol. 47, pp. 183-197, Australian Educational Researcher, C1
The social utility of 'data literacy'
L Pangrazio, J Sefton-Green
(2020), Vol. 45, pp. 208-220, Learning, media and technology, Abingdon, Eng., C1
The Connected Learning Research Network: Reflections on a Decade of Engaged Scholarship
Mizuko Ito, Richard Arum, Dalton Conely, Kris Gutiérrez, Ben Kirschner, Sonia Livingstone, Vera Michalchik, Kylie Peppler, William Penuel, Nicole Pinkard, Jean Rhodes, Katie Salen Tekinbaş, Juliet Schor, Julian Sefton-Green, Craig Watkins
(2020), [Online], A6
Introduction: learning beyond the school -international perspectives on the schooled society
Julian Sefton-Green
(2019), pp. 1-15, Learning beyond the school: international perspectives on the schooled society, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Multiliteracies and early years innovation: Perspectives from finland and beyond
K Kumpulainen, K Kumpulainen, J Sefton-Green, J Sefton-Green
(2019), pp. 1-20, Multiliteracies and Early Years Innovation: Perspectives from Finland and Beyond, London, Eng., B1
The non-formal arts learning sector, youth provision, and paradox in the learning city
S Poyntz, R Coles, H Fitzsimmons-Frey, A Bains, J Sefton-Green, M Hoechsmann
(2019), Vol. 45, pp. 258-278, Oxford Review of Education, C1
Young People's Transitions into Creative Work Navigating Challenges and Opportunities
Julian Sefton-Green, S Watkins, Ben Kirshner
(2019), London, Eng., A7
Multiliteracies and early years innovation perspectives from Finland and beyond
K Kumpulainen, J Sefton-Green
(2019), A7
Introduction: learning beyond the school international perspectives on the schooled society
J Sefton-Green
(2018), pp. 1-15, Learning beyond the school : international perspectives on the schooled society, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Learning keywords- a cultural studies approach to schooling and pedagogy
J Sefton-Green, James Ladwig
(2018), pp. 16-27, Learning beyond the school : international perspectives on the schooled society, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Outing the "out" in out-of-school: a comparative international perspective
J Sefton-Green
(2018), pp. 193-208, Learning beyond the school : international perspectives on the schooled society, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Beyond the totally pedagogicized society: final reflections
J Sefton-Green
(2018), pp. 227-232, Learning beyond the school : international perspectives on the schooled society, Abingdon, Eng., B1
J Sefton-Green, S Lewis, J Holloway
(2018), [Burwood, Vic.], A6
Digital ethics, political economy and the curriculum: this changes everything
J Sefton-Green, A Luke,, P Graham, D Kellner, J Ladwig
(2017), pp. 287-287, Handbook of writing, literacies, and education in digital cultures, New York, N.Y., B1
J Sefton-Green
(2017), pp. 181-184, SAGE encyclopedia of out-of-school learning, London, Eng., B1
J Sefton-Green
(2017), pp. 823-826, SAGE encyclopedia of out-of-school learning, London, Eng., B1
Class in "the class": conservative, competitive and (dis)connected
J Sefton-Green, S Livingstone
(2017), pp. 176-187, Media and class: TV, film, and digital culture, New York, N.Y., B1
Representing learning lives: what does it mean to map learning journeys?
J Sefton-Green
(2017), Vol. 84, pp. 111-118, International journal of educational research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1-1
Researching 'learning lives' - a new agenda for learning, media and technology
J Sefton-Green, O Erstad
(2017), Vol. 42, pp. 246-250, Learning, media and technology, London, Eng., C1-1
The class. Living and learning in the digital age
S Livingstone, J Sefton-Green
(2016), New York, N.Y., A1-1
Learning identities, education and community. Young lives in the cosmopolitan city
O Erstad, Ø Gilje, J Sefton-Green, H Arnseth
(2016), Cambridge, Eng., A1-1
J Sefton-Green
(2016), Vol. 9, pp. 243-251, Learning across contexts in the knowledge society, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, B1-1
J Sefton-Green, J Marsh, O Erstad, R Flewitt
(2016), Brussels, Belgium, A6-1
Negotiating the pedagogicisation of everyday life; the art of learning
J Sefton-Green
(2015), pp. 45-59, Cultural pedagogies and human conduct, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Cultural studies went to school and where did It end up?
J Sefton-Green
(2015), pp. 46-60, Learning and Literacy Over Time. Longitudinal Perspectives, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Introduction. Making sense of longitudinal perspectives on literacy learning-a revisiting approach
J Sefton-Green
(2015), pp. 1-15, Learning and literacy over time: longitudinal perspectives, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Learning and literacy over time: longitudinal perspectives
J Sefton-Green, J Rowsell
(2015), New York, N.Y., A7-1
'From 'othering' to incorporation: the dilemmas of crossing informal and formal learning boundaries
J Sefton-Green
(2014), Vol. 1, pp. 175-189, Everyday youth literacies: critical perspectives for new times, Singapore, B1-1
Introduction: innovative methods for researching connected learning
J Sefton-Green
(2014), Vol. 4, pp. 1-5, International journal of learning and media, Cambridge, Mass., C1-1
What is connected learning and how to research it?
K Kumpulainen, J Sefton-Green
(2014), Vol. 4, pp. 7-18, International journal of learning and media, Cambridge, Mass., C1-1
Mapping learner progression into digital creativity
J Sefton-Green, L Brown
(2014), Oxford, Eng., A6-1
Learning at not-school. A review of study, theory, and advocacy for education in non-formal settings
J Sefton-Green
(2013), Cambridge, Mass., A1-1
Connected learning: an agenda for research and design
M Ito, K Gutiérrez, S Livingstone, B Penuel, J Rhodes, K Salen, J Schor, J Sefton-Green, S Watkins
(2013), Irvine, Calif., A1-1
I Dussel, P Ferrante, J Sefton-Green
(2013), pp. 127-145, The politics of education and technology: conflicts, controversies, and connections, New York, N.Y., B1-1
Digital disconnect? The 'digital learner' and the school
O Erstad, J Sefton-Green
(2013), pp. 87-104, Identity, community, and learning lives in the digital age, New York, N.Y., B1-1
Identity, community, and learning lives in the digital age
J Sefton-Green, O Erstad
(2013), pp. 1-19, Identity, community, and learning lives in the digital age, New York, N.Y., B1-1
Mapping digital makers: a review exploring everyday creativity, learning lives and the digital
J Sefton-Green
(2013), Oxford, Eng., A6-1
Identity, Community, and Learning Lives in the Digital Age
O Erstad, J Sefton-Green
(2012), Canbridge, Eng., A7-1
J Sefton-Green, P Thomson, K Jones, L Bresler
(2011), pp. 1-8, The Routledge international handbook of creative learning, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Theories and histories: creative learning and its contexts
J Sefton-Green, L Bresler
(2011), pp. 9-14, The Routledge international handbook of creative learning, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Creativity, the arts and schools
J Sefton-Green, P Thomson
(2011), pp. 116-117, The Routledge international handbook of creative learning, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Creative digital cultures: informal learning beyond the school
J Sefton-Green
(2011), pp. 240-248, The Routledge international handbook of creative learning, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Judgement, authority and legitimacy. Evaluating creative learning
J Sefton-Green
(2011), pp. 307-315, The Routledge international handbook of creative learning, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
P Thomson, J Sefton-Green
(2011), pp. 1-14, Researching creative learning: methods and issues, Abingdon, Eng., B1-1
Creative digital cultures Informal learning beyond the school
J Sefton-Green
(2011), pp. 244-252, The Routledge International Handbook of Creative Learning, B1
Cultural studies and education: reflecting on differences, impacts, effects and change
J Sefton-Green
(2011), Vol. 25, pp. 55-70, Cultural studies, Abingdon, Eng., C1-1
The Routledge international handbook of creative learning
J Sefton-Green, P Thomson, L Bresler, K Jones
(2011), Abingdon, Eng., A7-1
Researching Creative Learning: Methods and Issues
P Thomson, J Sefton-Green
(2010), London, Eng., A7-1
Reviewing approaches and perspectives on "digital literacy"
J Sefton-Green, H Nixon, O Erstad
(2009), Vol. 4, pp. 107-125, Pedagogies: an international journal, Abingdon, Eng., C1-1
Exploring 'learning lives': Community, identity, literacy and meaning
O Erstad, Ø Gilje, J Sefton-Green, K Vasbø
(2009), Vol. 43, pp. 100-106, Literacy, C1-1
J Clemens, R Grigg
(2006), pp. 1-7, Jacques Lacan and the other side of psychoanalysis : reflections on Seminar XVII, Durham, N.C., B1-1
Youth, technology, and media cultures
J Sefton-Green
(2006), Vol. 30, pp. 279-306, Review of research in education, Thousand Oaks, Calif., C1-1
D Kingsbury
(2005), pp. 1-8, Violence in between conflict and security in archipelagic Southeast Asia, Clayton, Vic. and Singapore, B1
D Lowe
(2005), pp. 1-12, Australia and the Colombo plan, 1949-1957, Barton, A.C.T., B1-1
Changing the Rules? Computer Games, Theory, Learning, and Play
Julian Sefton-Green
(2005), Vol. 26, pp. 411-419, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, London, Eng., C1-1
Structure, Agency, and Pedagogy in Children's Media Culture
D Buckingham, J Sefton-Green
(2004), pp. 12-33, Pikachu's Global Adventure, Durham, N.C., B1-1
Initiation Rites: A Small Boy in a Poké-World
J Sefton-Green
(2004), pp. 141-164, Pikachu's Global Adventure, Durham, N.C., B1-1
Gotta catch 'em all: Structure, agency and pedagogy in children's media culture
D Buckingham, J Sefton-Green
(2003), Vol. 25, pp. 379-399, Media, culture and society, London, Eng., C1-1
A Carter, G Stokes
(2002), pp. 1-19, Democratic theory today: challenges for the 21st century, Malden, MA, B1
Book review : From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: gender and computer games
J Sefton-Green
(1999), Vol. 5, pp. 114-120, Convergence: the international journal of research into new media technologies, London, Eng., C1-1
The difference is digital? Digital technology and student media production
D Buckingham, I Harvey, J Sefton-Green
(1999), Vol. 5, pp. 10-20, Convergence, London, Eng., C1-1
Young people, creativity and new technologies
David Puttnam, J Sefton-Green, V Reiss, V Lachs, R Sinker, A Loveless, J Booth, I Ordidge, S Williams, A Jones, R Hall, D Newbury, C Abbott, H Cunningham, M Rivett
(1999), London, Eng., A7-1
Neither 'reading' nor 'writing': the history of practical work in media education
J Sefton-Green
(1995), Vol. 2, pp. 77-96, Changing English, Abingdon, Eng., C1-1
Making sense of the media: from reading to culture
D Buckingham, J Sefton Green
(1993), Vol. 27, pp. 1-10, English in education, Hoboken, N.J., C1-1
Creative Media Cultures: Making and Learning Beyond the School
Julian Sefton-Green, Elisabeth Soep
(), pp. 835-856, International Handbook of Research in Arts Education, B1-1
Judgement, authority and legitimacy
Julian Sefton-Green
(), The Routledge International Handbook of Creative Learning, B1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child
Prof Susan Danby, Prof Lelia Green, A/Prof Lisa Kervin, Prof Julian Sefton-Green, Prof Leon Straker, Prof Karen Thorpe, Prof Peta Wyeth, Dr Luci Pangrazio, Prof Louise Paatsch
ARC CRE - Centres of Excellence
- 2023: $420,137
- 2022: $516,958
- 2021: $503,195
Industry and Other Funding
National education change agenda in Armenia.
Prof Julian Sefton-Green
TUMO Centre for Creative Technologies
- 2018: $16,879
Tracing the Effects of Community Arts Programs (TEECAP)
Dr Vera Michalchik, Prof Julian Sefton-Green, Dr Daniela DiGiacomo, Dr Pariece Nelligan, Dr Sam Mejias
Wallace Foundation Grant
- 2023: $207,991
- 2022: $253,661
- 2021: $74,763
Other Funding Sources
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child
Prof Susan Danby, Prof Lelia Green, A/Prof Lisa Kervin, Prof Julian Sefton-Green, Prof Leon Straker, Prof Karen Thorpe, Prof Peta Wyeth, Dr Luci Pangrazio, Prof Louise Paatsch
Queensland University of Technology
- 2023: $98,133
- 2022: $135,601
- 2021: $82,438
Supervisions
Chris Adriaan Zomer
Thesis entitled: Laugh, Focus, and Perform! A Critical Inquiry of Gamified Engagement
Doctor of Philosophy (Education), School of Education