Rate My Professor Sylvia Robertson

Dr Sylvia Robertson is a Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of Otago College of Education and Director of the Centre for Educational Leadership and Administration (CELA). She also serves as Co-Director of the UCEA Centre for the International Study of School Leadership. Robertson returned to Dunedin in 2011 after 18 years of teaching and advanced study in Sydney, Australia, and Hertfordshire in the UK. She joined the University of Otago College of Education in 2016 while completing her PhD. Prior to her academic appointment, she held teaching and leadership positions in primary schools in New Zealand's Hutt Valley and Wainuiomata regions, as well as in Sydney and Hertfordshire. Her experience spans diverse educational contexts, including state and independent schools, bilingual programmes, all-boys, all-girls, and co-educational settings.

Robertson's research specializations focus on educational leadership, including the leadership of change, leader identity, leadership in high-needs settings, leadership for social justice, leadership preparation, teacher effectiveness, and student metacognition. She has made significant contributions through peer-reviewed publications and presentations. Key works include her most cited article, "Transformation of professional identity in an experienced primary school principal: A New Zealand case study" (Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2017), "Responsive, adaptive, and future-centred leadership in response to crisis: findings from Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand" (School Leadership & Management, 2023), "A New Zealand principal's perceptions of identity and change" (Leading and Managing, 2018), "Going hard and early: Tertiary teaching under lockdown in New Zealand" (International Studies in Educational Administration, 2020), and "Leadership factors that influence the development of teacher practice" (Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 2013, with R. Notman). Recent book chapters encompass "And only connect!: Inclusive leadership in a New Zealand context" (2024), "Aotearoa New Zealand: Leading for equity through disruption and uncertainty" (2024), and "Preparing for principalship: Case studies from Aotearoa New Zealand" (2025). Robertson lectures in undergraduate and postgraduate Education Studies papers such as EDUC102 Human Development and EDUC438 Leadership for Learning, and facilitates executive education programmes.