Biography summary
Mandy is a lecturer in Early Childhood Education in the School of Education at Deakin University. She is currently the Course Director for the suite of Early Childhood Education courses. Mandy began her career as a primary school teacher in 1994 and moved to Early Childhood Education in 2005. Mandy has taught with a range of pedagogical approaches in Australia and overseas, including Montessori Education, IB PYP and the Reggio Emilia approach. She has held leadership positions, including Lower School Principal at K International School, Tokyo. Mandy completed her PhD in Early Childhood Education in 2021 and received the Charles Sturt Higher Degree by Research University Medal. She has worked on a number of national research projects, including the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Exemplary Early Chilhdood Educators at Work. As a lecturer, Mandy focuses on critically reflective practices that support diversity, community and social justice.
Research interests
Mandy's research interests focus on pedagogy and practices and within early childhood and preservice teacher education. Her main area of interest is beneficial risk-taking for children and educators. Mandy uses the theory of practice architectures as a guide for exploring practices, the conditions that enable and constrain practices, and sustainable ways to transform pedagogy and practices for the good of individuals and society.
Affiliations
Knowledge areas
Risk-taking in education
Early childhood education practices and pedagogy
The theory of practice architectures
Professional practice in early childhood education
Publications
Unpacking the theory of practice architectures for research in early childhood education
Leanne Gibbs, Mandy Cooke, Andi Salamon
(2022), pp. 1-15, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, London, Eng., C1
M Cooke, S Francisco
(2021), Vol. 49, pp. 1073-1086, Early Childhood Education Journal, C1
Mandy Cooke
(2021), Vol. 46, pp. 342-354, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, C1
Inequality, social justice and the purpose of Early Childhood Education
Frances Press, Mandy Cooke, Leanne Gibbs, Robbie Warren
(2021), Vol. 16, pp. 510-524, Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung / Discourse. Journal of Childhood and Adolescence Research, Leverkusen, Germany, C1
Educators' risk-taking in high quality early childhood education
M Cooke, F Press, S Wong
(2020), pp. 1-17, International journal of early years education, Abingdon, Eng., C1
M Cooke, S Francisco, F Press, S Wong
(2020), Vol. 18, pp. 404-417, Journal of Early Childhood Research, C1
M Cooke, S Wong, F Press
(2020), Vol. 28, pp. 424-438, European early childhood education research journal, Chichester, Eng., C1
Towards a re-conceptualisation of risk in early childhood education
M Cooke, S Wong, F Press
(2019), Vol. 22, pp. 5-19, Contemporary issues in early childhood, London, Eng., C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Other Public Sector Funding
Deakin University Early Childhood Innovative Initial Teacher Education Program: Accelerated Bachelor of Early Childhood Education.
Dr Natalie Robertson, Prof Amanda Mooney, Dr Mandy Cooke
DETVic Grant - Research - Department of Education and Training Victoria
- 2023: $1,124,000
- 2022: $522,000
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report