Dr Jenna Gillett-Swan is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Faculty of Education at QUT. Her research focuses on wellbeing, rights, voice, inclusion, and participation. She also specialises in qualitative child-centred participatory research methodologies.

Jenna is the Child Rights Research Strand Leader for the Student Engagement, Learning and Behaviour Research Group, and an active member of the Children’s Rights Network of the European Educational Research Association. She is also the Research and Publications Convenor for this Network. As a member of this Network, she has established a range of international connections and potential collaborators in the UK, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and Portugal with an interest in children’s rights, wellbeing, and educational research.

Jenna guest edited the Global Studies of Childhood Journal Special Issue on ‘Children’s Rights in a 21st Century Digital World’ (2016) and the Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education Special Issue on ‘Exploring the diversity of pre-service and beginning teachers’ experiences through multiple lenses’ (2017).

Jenna is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was a QUT Higher Education Research Network Executive Committee Member. She was the Master of Education (Inclusive Education) Study Area Coordinator (2015-2016) and school representative on the Faculty of Education Equity Committee. She was also the Unit Coordinator for a Professional Experience Unit in the Bachelor of Education program.

Jenna was awarded a Vice Chancellor’s Performance Award in 2015, the Executive Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in 2016, and the Australian Teacher Education Association [ATEA] Early Career Research Recognition Award (2016).

Jenna has been successful in securing a Brisbane Catholic Education Research Grant (Lead Investigator – 2016), a National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education grant (Co-Lead Investigator – 2016), and two Education Horizon Competitive Grants (CI Project Team – 2017; Lead Investigator – 2018).

Jenna’s research focuses on a social justice orientation that seeks to build and enable individual capacity and wellbeing. Recent funded research projects include:

• Wellbeing matters: a collaborative approach to harnessing student voice to develop a Wellbeing Framework for Action in the middle years
• Voice Inclusive Practice: Engaging Children’s Perspectives in Wellbeing Pedagogy
• Empowering learners: Using student voice, video recorded classroom interactions and teacher feedback
• Kids Rights in Schools Project [KRISP]
• Equity considerations in pre-service teacher education
• Investigating the Impact of Youth Groups on the Community