Staff

Natalie Calleja has worked on a variety of research projects that aim to examine how education can meaningfully engage with young people. She is a postgraduate researcher at the Youth Research Collective, interested in thinking with young people about what sociomaterial interactions are shaping who they are becoming and their feelings of belonging. Natalie uses intersectionality, equity, and social change as critical lenses to consider how education can meaningfully engage with young people. She also teaches subjects at the Faculty of Education that examine sociology in education, national and global education programs and policies, and student wellbeing.

Dave Camilleri is a Teaching Specialist and researcher at The University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Education. He has worked with adolescents in a variety of contexts for the past 18 years. Despite leaving formal education early at 16, he worked as a secondary school teacher before completing a PhD investigating the relationships between engagement, creative ability, and classroom culture with a particular focus on high ability students who are disengaged from regular schooling. He was awarded the Dr Lawrie Shears Doctoral Scholarship in 2016 for outstanding PhD research. Dave’s current research looks at wellbeing and creativity in young people.

Jenny Chesters is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education. Her research interests include inequality in educational attainment and transitions between education and employment throughout the life course. Her publications include peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters reporting the results of quantitative data analysis. Her teaching includes research methodologies, and she coordinates the capstone projects of Master of Education students. Jenny is a member of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) and a member of the International Sociological Association (ISA).

Jun (Eric) Fu is a Senior Research Fellow at the Youth Research Collective. His research interests include digital citizenship, young people, media and digital literacy education, education mobility and international students. He also teaches several breadth subjects (undergraduate level) and subjects for Master students at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Annie Gowing coordinates the Master of Education program at The University of Melbourne and leads the Student Wellbeing Specialisation within that course. The ways in which student wellbeing is understood, implemented, monitored and evaluated in schools is a longstanding practice, policy and research focus and her PhD study was on school connectedness which, along with school climate, the teacher-student relationship, and the concepts of compassion and care in the school context and their inter-cultural understandings, are her key research interests.

Natalie Ann Hendry is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education. Natalie investigates the relationships between digital media, health and education, focusing on youth, mental health, sexuality and finance. As a critical scholar, Natalie positions her work within media and communication studies, cultural studies, critical health, and sociology, through diverse methodologies including digital ethnography, group workshops and creative methods. In 2021, Natalie published her first book, tumblr, co-authored with Katrin Tiidenberg and Crystal Abidin. Before undertaking her PhD, Natalie was a teacher and consultant, with experience in community, secondary (health and humanities) and youth hospital-based education settings.

Quentin Maire is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Education working on the ARC-funded Life Patterns project. Quentin is a sociologist researching schooling, education and young people, with a particular focus on social inequalities. He explores the role of credentials, curriculum, and social class in the making of youth inequality. He is a comparativist, uses quantitative and qualitative methods, and seeks to historicise contemporary social phenomena.

Rosie Yasmin is a lecturer in the Youth Research Collective. Her research interests include education, wellbeing, social justice, capability and rights-based approaches, resilience, human rights, international development, gender, third sector, and mixed-methods and participatory research methodologies. She coordinates and teaches several Master level subjects at the Faculty of Education. She also taught Master level subjects at the School of Social & Political Sciences (SSPS), Faculty of Arts and breadth subjects (undergraduate level). She worked in academia in Bangladesh and in international NGOs.

Hanyue Zhong is a PhD candidate. Her research interest is around rural education, education policy, and educational equity. Her PhD project is to investigate the enactment of education modernization policy in Chinese rural schools. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2166-2268

Helen Cahill is an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne.

Bronwyn Davies is an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne.