We're lauded as above world standard
Excellence Research in Australia (ERA) identifies research excellence within Australia’s higher education institutions based on national and international benchmarks.
In the Australian Research Council (ARC)’s 2018 national ERA assessment, Deakin University gained a score of 4 out of 5 (‘above world standard’) for education, illustrating the capacity, reputation and impact of Deakin's educational researchers.
In its inaugural Engagement and Impact Assessment, which presents the outcomes of its nationwide assessment of university research engagement and impact, the ARC also gave Deakin University the highest possible rating ('high') for research impact in the discipline of education.
Our HDR disciplines
Our teaching and research groups conduct research in a number of different disciplines. Find out more about the groups and their supervisory expertise below.
- Applied Learning Professional Education and Training
- Arts Education
- Curriculum, Pedagogy and Professional Learning
- Early Childhood
- Education, Leadership, Governance and Policy
- Health and Physical Education
- Humanities
- Inclusive Education
- Language, Literacies and Learning
- Mathematics Education
- Science, Technology and Environmental Education
- TESOL, EAL/D and Languages
If you’d like to study a master's or PhD at the School of Education, find
Contact our HDR Coordinators
Our HDR coordinators will be happy to help you with any enquiries you might have regarding studying at the School of Education, choosing a discipline or finding a supervisor.
HDR Coordinator
Dr Andrew Skourdoumis
+61 3 9244 6673
Email Dr Skourdoumbis
HDR Coordinator
Associate Professor Bernadette Walker-Gibbs
+61 3 9244 6195
Email Associate Professor Bernadette Walker-Gibbs
My supervisors are first class and the opportunities for networking and collaboration make being a distance student both positive and rewarding.
Adrian Farnham
HDR student
Breaking new ground in educational research
Deakin researchers are involved in a number of innovative education research projects.
- Deakin’s Chair in Education Professor Amanda Keddie received a prestigious Fulbright Senior Scholarship to work with world-renowned gender, relationships and equity experts in the United States to conduct research into how schools can help change the story on gendered violence.
- Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow Associate Professor Ly Tran led a team that conducted research on reciprocal intercultural supervision, resulting in the publication of a series of guides that support three key stakeholders in higher degree research: international candidates, supervisors and research training managers.
- Professor of New Media Education Julian Sefton-Green brought teachers together to develop strategies to research what the children at their schools did with digital media at home and with friends. This culminated in the development of the Researching the Everyday Digital website – a useful resource for all Australian teachers.
- A team led by Chair in Science Education and Alfred Deakin Professor Russell Tytler is working as part of a major national program to increase the study of science and technology in secondary education. They've developed a trailblazing 'representation construction'-guided inquiry pedagogy. It's achieving dramatic improvements in student performance and influencing science educators around the world.
Representations in STEM education
Developing diagrams and visual representations can lead to huge improvements in student performance and engagement in STEM subjects. Deakin researchers are taking their findings to schools across the country.
Our research centres and groups
Research for Educational Impact
Research for Educational Impact (REDI) aspires to be a leading national and international centre in education research. Underpinned by strong equity principles, REDI is formed around four distinctive programs that address key contemporary education issues:
- children, young people and their communities
- curriculum, assessment and digital learning
- education, governance and policy
- science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
REDI collaborates in interdisciplinary research that crosses all sectors: kindergartens, schools, universities, vocational education and training and community education.
Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE)
CRADLE focuses on investigating quality assessment in higher education and practices that can be enhanced through emerging digital environments.
The centre is led by Foundation Director Professor David Boud. It collaborates on research in significant areas of assessment innovation, credentialing and the use of evidence of learning.
Centre for Teaching and Learning Languages (CTaLL)
The Centre for Teaching and Learning Languages (CTaLL) research program focuses on the development of innovative teaching and learning across the TESOL, EAL/D and languages teaching education sectors in Australia and internationally.
Their research is framed by socio-cultural perspectives on languages, culture and identity in education, and the nexus between communication, language awareness and languages curriculum, pedagogy and practice.
Building on the extensive expertise of the languages, EAL/D and TESOL discipline team, CTaLL provides specialist units of contemporary theory, pedagogy and practice cross undergraduate and postgraduate teaching courses.
Contact us
General enquiries
Email general enquiries
Senior HDR Advisor
Robyn Ficnerski
+61 3 5227 2226
Email Robyn Ficnerski