Dr Sarah Ohi

2022 Expert National Presenter (by invitation) for the Primary English Teaching Association's (PETAA) Leading with Literacy Conference: From Babble to Batavia and Beyond, Sydney, 2022. Delivery of 2 Early Years presentations for the Early Childhood Program:

• The Early Years Framework; The Language of Play; a foundation for children’s literacy

• Why aren’t you teaching my child to read? How to answer this inevitable question

2022 Expert Consultant for Pasifika Education by invitation from Swinburne University. Provided consultation on a scoping review on the Educational Successes and Challenges of Pacific Learners in Australia 2010-2021. 

2021 - 2022 Region Mentor for pre-service teachers on placement in 10 schools, The Melbourne Teaching Academy, Deakin University

2018 - 2020 State Conference Presenter for Victorian Primary and Secondary school teachers at the Graduate Teacher Conferences: Design, Implementation and Evaluation Department of Education and Training (DET), Victoria.

2017 - 2021 Coordinator/Leader of The Language, Literacies & Learning,Teaching and Research Group, School of Education, Deakin University.

2019 The Imaginarium Community of Practice, Deakin University. Investigating pedagogies for use in the 360-degree interactive learning in the Nyaal Precinct.

2015 Key Note Speaker for The 3rd International Conference of Early Chidlhood Education (IECE), Early Childhood Education Holistic and Integrative. By invitation from Padang Universitas, Padang, Indonesia.Keynote Speech titled, Communication keys: understanding the importance of the early childhood teacher's role in children's language and literacy development within a holistic, integrative approach to child development.

Teacher Education

Language and Literacy Development in the Early Years

Digital literacies

Cloud Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Pasifika Education

Critical Discourse Analysis

Supervision of domestic and international student research projects.

Recent topics include:

• The complexities of language in education policies in the Pacific: The Kiribati context

• A focus on literacy development in primary schools in Solomon Islands: Engaging parents to support children’s English reading development

• Parents’ perceptions of touch-screen device use to foster pre-schoolers’ emergent literacy development

• Levelled Text Series and the Perpetuation of Majoritarian Narratives

• The role of play in teaching English as a foreign language in early childhood settings in Indonesia

• Spelling in the early years: Linguistically based approaches

• Play, children’s rights and the pandemic: a systematic literature review on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s access to play and the implications for long-term wellbeing

• Assessment for Children with English as a Second Language (ESL) in Early Childhood Education

• Are Video Modelling techniques adaptable to the adults undertaking the teaching of communication? A Self-Study

• What does digital literacy mean in Australian higher education institutions? A case study of four Australian universities

• Investigating the representation of problems in the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022

• An in-depth analysis of three Aviation English textbooks

Unit Chair, Lecturer, Curriculum & Assessment Developer, Cloud Instructional Designer

• ECE703 Master of Teaching, Early Childhood Language, Literacy and Mathematics 
• ECE230 Bachelor Early Childhood Education,Language and Literacy Development in the Early Years

Teacher Education & Professional Learning

Literacy Education

Early language and literacy development (early childhood and primary school)

Pasifika Education

Discourse Analysis

2014 - 2023 Human Ethics Advisor, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University 

2020 - 2023 Annual Presenter at the Bachelor of Early Childhood Cloud Conference, Deakin University

2019 - 2020 Co-opted Member of the Faculty Board, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University

2022 - Industry and Community Engagement Award, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University. For Engagement and Partnership Excellence, The Bach. Early Childhood Education Teaching Team.

2017 - School of Education Teaching Award, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University. For Sustained Excellence in Teaching from 2015-2017.

2013 - Vice Chancellor’s Award For Outstanding Contribution to Partnerships, Deakin University. BECE-DAYD Project Team.

2010 - The Dean's Teaching Award (Prof.Jennifer Radbourne), Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University. For Excellence in Teaching; First Year Teaching.

2010 - Best Abstract Award, Deakin Teaching and Learning Conference, Deakin University.

Graduate Teacher Conferences: Design, Implementation and Evaluation Department of Education and Training (DET), Victoria. 

Pre-Service Teachers Theory-Praxis Nexus: Perspectives on Early Years Literacy Education. Cross- University Research partnership with Swinburne University of Technology - Dr. Maryanne Pale.