Rate My Professor Simone White

Professor Simone White serves as Dean of the School of Education at RMIT University. She is a leading expert in teacher education and professional learning, with a focus on preparing teachers for diverse contexts, particularly rural, regional, and remote areas. Her research spans teacher education policy, teacher learning, professional experience, and building and maintaining university-school and community partnerships. White has contributed significantly to several major research initiatives. She was a key member of the ARC Discovery project 'Teacher Education for Rural and Regional Australia (TERRAnova)' and the ARC Linkage project 'Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE)'. She led the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) federal grant project supporting teachers to engage and partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and caregivers. Currently, she is Chief Investigator on three ARC projects: two with colleagues at Queensland University of Technology examining career change teachers and hard-to-staff schools, and one led by the University of South Australia on precariously employed teachers. Through her work, White connects research, policy, and practice, breaking down traditional boundaries between academics, policymakers, communities, and practitioners.

Prior to her appointment at RMIT, Simone White held several senior leadership roles, including Associate Dean (International and Engagement) at Queensland University of Technology, Chair of Teacher Education at Monash University, and Director of Professional Experience at Deakin University. She is a Past President of the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA). White supports a range of teacher professional learning workshops and recently developed a Casual Relief Teacher learning module. Her influence in the field is evident in her editorial and supervisory roles, including supervision of projects on culturally responsive curriculum-making in Vietnam and inclusive education policy in Cambodia. Key publications include 'Career change teachers: solving the teacher shortage?' (2025, Journal of Education for Teaching), 'An Exploration of the Experiences of Substitute Teachers: A Systematic Review' (2023), 'Strengthening a research-rich teaching profession: an Australian study' (2021), 'In-the-Moment Experiences of Rural School Principals in the COVID-19 Pandemic' (2022), and she co-edited 'Learning to Teach in a New Era' (3rd Edition, 2026). She is open to supervising Masters and PhD students in education-related research.