Rate My Professor Joanna Anderson

Joanna Anderson is an Associate Professor of Education in the School of Education, College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences, at the University of Adelaide. Holding a PhD, she possesses more than 20 years of experience as a classroom teacher and school leader across primary and secondary settings in Australia and New Zealand. She serves as Associate Head of Learning and Teaching and Academic Lead for Research (ECR, MCR, GR). An internationally recognised and respected academic and author in inclusive education and leadership, Anderson is a member of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Network on Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education, leading the Inclusive Education sub-theme group. Her research specializations and academic interests include inclusive education, with a focus on system and school leadership, innovative learning environments, philosophy of education, and inclusive education in the Pacific. Committed to influential and impactful research for sustainable and equitable education systems, she has over 60 research outputs and grant success across Australian education systems. Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD students, she currently acts as principal supervisor for PhD candidates such as Ms Nchimunya Ng'andu on comparative policy analysis for inclusive education and Heather Makris on system strategy impacts for Master of Philosophy, and co-supervises others on pedagogical and metacognitive topics.

Her career history reflects progression from practical educational roles to academic leadership at the University of Adelaide. Key publications include 'Looking in the mirror: reflecting on 25 years of inclusive education in Australia' (Anderson & Boyle, 2019, International Journal of Inclusive Education), 'The importance of teacher attitudes to inclusive education' (Boyle & Anderson, 2020, in Inclusive Education: Global issues & controversies), 'The ecology of inclusive education: Reconceptualising Bronfenbrenner' (Anderson, Boyle & Deppeler, 2014, in Equality in Education: Fairness and Inclusion), 'The justification for inclusive education in Australia' (Boyle & Anderson, 2020, Prospects), and 'Inclusive education in Australia: Rhetoric, reality and the road ahead' (Anderson & Boyle, 2015, Support for Learning). She teaches courses such as EDUC 7054 Research Design, EDUC 7068 Leading Positive Change, and EDUC 7555 Education for Inclusion, contributing to teacher education and leadership development.