Rate My Professor Alicia Phillips

Dr. Alicia Phillips is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University, where she joined in 2015 bringing extensive teaching experience from early childhood education and care settings, primary schools, and tertiary education. She serves as the Course Coordinator for the early childhood courses and teaches units across early childhood programs, particularly focusing on professional experience units to support student success in practical placements. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) (Honours) from Charles Sturt University and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney in 2020. The PhD thesis, titled "An investigation of long day care services in Australia that are Exceeding the National Quality Standard," explored high-quality early childhood services.

Dr. Phillips' research specializations encompass quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia and internationally, government regulation and quality assurance mechanisms, initial teacher education programs, the early childhood workforce, COVID-19 impacts, and wellbeing of educators, children, and families. Key publications include "Characteristics of high-quality early childhood education and care: a study from Australia" (Frontiers in Education, 2023, with Wendy Boyd), "Educators’ perceptions of Australia’s early childhood education and care quality assurance rating system" (European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2023, with Marianne Fenech), "Supporting Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce and Service Quality Through Governance Practices" (Education Sciences, 2025), "Getting it right for early childhood teacher programs in Australia" (book chapter, 2021, with Wendy Boyd), and "A Vision for High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care" (book chapter, 2024, with Kelly Simpson and Wendy Boyd). She supervises Honours, Masters, and PhD students and has presented at national and international conferences. Awards include the Faculty of Education Early Career Researcher of the Year Award in 2023 at Southern Cross University for highest research productivity, the 2020 SCU School of Education Professional Experience group teaching excellence award, 2016 SCU Teacher commendations for excellence in student learning and engagement, and the 2015 University of Sydney Faculty of Education and Social Work Teaching Excellence Award.