Personal
- Name
- Professor Donna Berthelsen
- Position(s)
- Professor
Faculty of Education,
Early Childhood - Discipline *
- Psychology, Education Systems
- Phone
- +61 7 3138 3173
- Fax
- +61 7 3138 3989
- d.berthelsen@qut.edu.au
- Location
- View location details (QUT staff and student access only)
- Qualifications
-
PhD (Queensland University of Technology), MAppPsych (University of Queensland), BA(Hons) (University of Queensland), DipT (Kedron Park T.C.), CertSpecEd (Mt. Gravatt C.A.E)
- Professional memberships
and associations - member SRCD (Society for Research in Child Develoment)
- member – ISSBD (International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development)
- member – AHDA (Australasian Human Development Association)
- member – EECERA (European Early Childhood Education Research Association)
- member – ARACY (Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth)
- member – EARLI (European Association of Learning and Instruction)
- 1981 – 2009: Registered Psychologist (QLD)
- 1978 – 2009: Registered Teacher (QLD)
- Keywords
-
Child Development, Developmental Disabilities, Early Childhood Education, Family Learning Environments, Parenting, Transition To School
Biography
Donna Berthelsen is a Professor in the School of Early Childhood and a researcher in the Centre for Learning Innovation.
She is a developmental psychologist engaged in research that focuses on child outcomes in relation to:
- family environments
- early childhood education programs
- early intervention
- the transition to school.
The outcomes of her research inform social and educational policy and practice.
Current and recent research projects
2002 – 2018: Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
This major national study of 10,000 children (2 cohorts of 5,000 children) is funded by the Australian Department of Family, Communities and Indigenous Affairs. Donna was a member of the LSAC Research Consortium awarded the competitive tender in 2002 to design the LSAC project. Her engagement in LSAC includes being a member of the Consortium Advisory Group that guides the conduct of the study; leader of the Education Measurement Design Team; member of the Child Functioning and Child Care Measurement Teams; and the member of the team that advises on the development of the Outcome Index Group.
2005 – 2009: Playgroup (QLD) – Sing and Grow Evaluation Project
Donna is a National Evaluator of this project with Associate Professor Jan Nicholson (Murdoch Childrens Research Institute) that, over the life of the currently funded project, will involve 3,000 families. The national roll-out of this music therapy program is funded through the Investment to Grow policy initiative of the Department of Family, Communities and Indigenous Affairs and under the auspice of Playgroup (QLD).
2006 – 2008: Investigating the professional beliefs and practices of child care workers
Donna is a Chief Investigator on this ARC Discovery Grant that will inform professional development programs for staff in long day care centres. The project investigates beliefs and practices of child care workers. International evidence identifies that underpinning quality in early childhood programs is staff professionalism. This project examines contextual and personal factors influencing beliefs about knowledge for child care practice.
Experience
2002 – 2018: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
Member of the LSAC Consortium Advisory Group J. Ainley, D. Berthelsen, M. Bittman, L. Harrison, J. Nicholson, A. Sanson, M. Sawyer, S. Silburn, L. Strazdin, J. Ungerer, G. Vimpani, M. Wake, & S. Zubrick. Funded by the Australian Government (Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs).
2010 – 2012: Early Home Learning Study
Parenting Research Centre, Melbourne (Chief Investigators – W. Cann, J. Matthews, J. M. Nicholson, & D. Berthelsen, Victorian Government (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development).
2005 – 2009: Sing and Grow National Evaluation of Early Intervention Program
D. Berthelsen & J. M. Nicholson. Under the auspices of Playgroup Association Qld through Investment to Grow (Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services).
2009: Singapore Early Years Longitudinal Study (SEYLS)
D. Berthelsen & J. M. Nicholson. National Institute of Education, Nanyang University, Singapore.
Publications
- Nicholson JM, Lucas N, Berthelsen D, Wake M, (2012) Socioeconomic inequality profiles in physical and developmental health from 0-7 years: Australian National Study, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and researchers in all areas of epidemiology p81-87
- Brownlee J, Schraw G, Berthelsen D, (2011) Personal epistemology and teacher education: An emerging field of research, Personal Epistemology and Teacher Education p3-21
- Brownlee J, Berthelsen D, Boulton-Lewis GM, (2010) Towards self-authorship in child care students: Implications for working with children and their families, Development and Assessment of Self-Authorship: Exploring the Concept Across Cultures p101-115
- Walker S, Berthelsen D, (2010) Social inequalities and parent involvement in children's education in the early years of school, Delving into Diversity: An International Exploration of issues of Diversity in Education p139-150
- Sanson A, Misson S, Hawkins MT, Berthelsen D, LSAC Research Consortium , (2010) The Development and Validation of Australian Indices of Child Development-Part I: Conceptualisation and Development, Child Indicators Research p275-292
- Nicholson JM, Berthelsen D, Williams K, Abad V, (2010) National study of an early parenting intervention: Implementation differences on parent and child outcomes - Parenting program implementation, Prevention Science p360-370
- Harrison L, McLeod S, Berthelsen D, Walker S, (2009) Literacy, numeracy, and learning in school-aged children identified as having speech and language impairment in early childhood, International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology p392-403
- Berthelsen D, (2008) Participatory learning: Issues for research and practice, Participatory Learning in the Early Years : Research and Pedagogy p1-11
- Brownlee J, Berthelsen D, (2008) Developing relational epistemology through relational pedagogy: New ways of thinking about personal epistemology in teacher education, Knowing, Knowledge and Beliefs: Epistemological Studies Across Diverse Cultures p405-422
- Nicholson J, Berthelsen D, Abad V, Williams K, Bradley J, (2008) Impact of music therapy to promote parenting and child development., Journal of Health Psychology p226-238
For more publications by this staff member, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.
Research projects
Grants and projects (Category 1: Australian Competitive Grants only)
- Title
- Parental Engagement in Supported Playgroups
- Primary fund type
- Australian Competitive Grants
- Project ID
- LP100200723
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Family Support, Child Wellbeing, Playgroups
- Title
- Making Prevention Matter: Establishing Characteristics of Effective Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs
- Primary fund type
- Australian Competitive Grants
- Project ID
- DP1093717
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Child sexual abuse, Health Promotion, Health Education, Child health, Child Abuse Prevention, Program Development
- Title
- The Transition to School for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities: The Impact of Interpersonal Relationships on Successful School Adjustment
- Primary fund type
- Australian Competitive Grants
- Project ID
- DP0877587
- Start year
- 2008
- Keywords
- Transition to School, Disability, Early Childhood, Inclusion, School Adjustment, School Engagement,
- Title
- Enhancing quality in long day care: Investigating professional beliefes and practices of child care workers
- Primary fund type
- Australian Competitive Grants
- Project ID
- DP0664191
- Start year
- 2006
- Keywords
- Child care practice, Epistemological beliefs, Competency based training, Child care workers, Early childhood education .
Supervision
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Leadership and Management in Child Care Services: Contextual factors and their impact on practice (2005)
- Computer - Based Technologies: Perceptions and Usage in Preservice Teacher Education (2004)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Children with Special Health Care Needs - Social and Learning Competence in the Early Years (2011)
- The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability (2010)
- Teacher-child Relationship Quality for Young Children with Parent Reported Language Concerns (2008)
