Rate My Professor Kelly Johnston

Kelly Johnston, also publishing as Kelly Bittner, is an Adjunct Research Fellow and Professional Casual in the School of Education at Macquarie University, and Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood at Southern Cross University. She earned her PhD in Early Childhood Education from Macquarie University in 2017, with a dissertation entitled "Conceptualisations, beliefs and practices: Investigating technology integration in Australian early learning environments through practitioner inquiry." Additional qualifications include a Master of Early Childhood (2013), Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods (2013), and Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) (1999), all from Macquarie University. Before entering academia, Johnston worked as an early childhood teacher and service director in Australia and New Zealand, taught in primary schools in the United Kingdom, and held positions in early childhood licensing and accreditation at state and federal government levels in Australia. Her academic career includes a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, lecturing at Macquarie University, and senior researcher roles with the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

Johnston's research focuses on play-based pedagogies in early childhood education and care, professional learning and development for early childhood educators, equity and social justice in education, digital citizenship, mathematics and science in early childhood, early STEM/STEAM, and makerspaces. Notable publications include "STEM, STEAM and makerspaces in early childhood: a scoping review" (Sustainability, 2022); "More than ‘more’: quantity and quality of mathematical language used by educators in mealtimes with infants" (International Journal of Early Years Education, 2022); "Creating space for equity in early childhood educator’s participation in documentation, assessment and evaluation" (European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2022); "Resisting hyperreality? talking to young children about YouTube and YouTube Kids" (Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2025); and the editorial "Listening, empowering and innovating - Reflections from the AJEC Symposium 2023" (Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 2024). Her work has accumulated 521 citations with an h-index of 10. Johnston received the Ian Potter Travel Grant in 2019. She serves on the committee for the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood and previously acted as editorial assistant for the International Journal of Early Years.