Dr Christina Gowlett

Christina is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. She draws from philosophy and sociology to examine contemporary practices and policies in education. Prior to working at UQ, Christina held a prestigious McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at The University of Melbourne. She also has experience working in schools as both a humanities teacher and head of department.

I interrogate the borders and boundaries placed around a lot of educational thinking. I ask probing questions about why we do things in education the way we do, and I explore the consequences that can flow on from thinking one-dimensionally about schooling. This reflection enables me to research the current trends in education and unpack the assumptions about young people, school leaders and teachers often entrenched in education policy and practice. Whose interests are served by formulating education policy and practice in this way, and whose interests are left out? Importantly, I explore how we can rethink education to enable more equitable access. I ask - how can we think outside the square to innovate and generate more educational opportunity? Pushing the boundaries about what we know about education in order to generate productive conversations about where we are heading as a society is an important thread that flows through all of my research.