Marian Mahat

Marian Mahat is an Associate Professor of Learning Environments in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, completed between 2013 and 2016. Mahat leads a sustained and impactful research program on learning environments, fostering partnerships with government agencies and international institutions such as a consortium of five European universities and Singapore's National Institute of Education. Her research emphasizes spatial competency, co-designing curriculum and pedagogy, teacher-led inquiry, and professional learning and development for teachers. She directs the Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) and serves as Executive Director of the Forum for International Networking in Education (FINE) under Universitas 21. Previously, she held positions as Senior Research Fellow and Research Manager for the Innovative Learning Environments and Teacher Change (ILETC) project at the University of Melbourne.

Mahat has been recognized with the Research Excellence Award from the Faculty of Education in 2024, the Research Partnership Excellence Award, and the Early Career Research Excellence Award from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. She received a Dyason Fellowship for her project examining Singapore teachers' spatial competency in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Her key publications include 'Teachers' changing perspectives of their spatial competencies: A case study of professional learning in Singapore' (2024, Teaching and Teacher Education), 'Capturing learning in context: videos as a research method in school learning environments' (2024), 'Case studies on the transition from traditional classrooms to innovative learning environments: emerging strategies for success' (2019), 'Developing teachers' spatial competency: A tripartite model of professional learning and development' (2024), and 'The development of a psychometrically-sound instrument to measure teachers' multidimensional attitudes toward inclusive education' (2016). With 2381 citations on Google Scholar, her contributions shape understandings of how physical, pedagogical, and psychosocial dimensions of learning environments influence teaching and student experiences. Mahat co-authors on topics like global teacher shortages and leads projects such as Learning Environments and Inclusive Education.

Professional Email: marian.mahat@unimelb.edu.au