Associate Professor
Jill Willis
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Teacher Education & Leadership
Biography
Jill Willis is an Associate Professor in Education. She evaluates the social structures of assessment and learning spaces, to make recommendations for improving teacher and student agency. Her current projects include co-leading the ARC Linkage Accessible Assessment; and the ARC Linkage Thriving in Vertical Schools. She is the Australian lead researcher on the SSHRC Preparing Assessment Capable Teachers project. Jill has a strong track record in collaborative partnerships and innovative methodologies.Additional QUT highlights include:
- Collaborating with Dr Andrew Gibson to bring together his field of reflective writing analytics with her sociocultural commitments to self assessment and feedback loops that build collective agency. The design led learning is ongoing through a series of collaborative research inquiries using the reflective writing tool GoingOk.
- Innovative teaching in postgraduate Masters of Educational Leadership, recognised by the ACEL Qld Miller Grassie Award. Implementing digital feedback loops when teaching in the Masters of Teaching.
- International research collaborations with Chris DeLuca, Bronwen Cowie and Christine Harrison preparing Assessment Capable teachers.
- Working with Independent Schools Queensland to support their Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers, and how teachers represent their impact on student learning in this professional evaluation process.
- Investigating the impact of physical and digital learning environments on learner agency in a series of projects that have culminated in an edited book School Spaces for Student Wellbeing and Learning.
- Working with schools to understand how assessment within the changes to Queensland Senior Assessment and the Australian Curriculum can enhance student experiences of learning in schools.
- Involvement in establishing the Kelvin Grove Teacher Education Centre of Excellence partnership program (2011 - 2013) with Education Queensland and Kelvin Grove State College and partner schools.
- Supporting experienced teachers throughout Queensland through the Mentoring Beginning Teacher project.
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Teacher Education & Leadership
Keywords
Assessment, Learning Spaces, Teacher agency, Student voice, Participatory methodologies, Policy evaluation, Learner agency, Reflexive decision making
Research field
Education Systems, Specialist Studies in Education
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)
- Master of Education (James Cook Uni. of North Qld)
- Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) (Kelvin Grove C.A.E)
- Bachelor of Arts (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
Centre for Inclusive Education (C4iE) - Program co-lead Engagement and Learning Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) American Education Research Association (AERA)
Teaching
LCN659 Leading Evaluation
LCN630 Leading policy and change in action
EUN122 Assessment pedagogies
Publications
- Klenowski, V. & Willis, J. (2023). Student Involvement in Assessment: Queensland Teacher Repertoires of Practice. In C. Harrison, C. Leung & D. Pepper (Eds.), Educational Assessment: The Influence of Paul Black on Research, Pedagogy and Practice (pp. 127–142). Bloomsbury Academic. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/210458
- Willis, J., Arnold, J. & Deluca, C. (2023). Accessibility in assessment for learning: sharing criteria for success. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/239792
- Deluca, C., Willis, J., Dorji, K. & Sherman, A. (2023). Cultivating reflective teachers: Challenging power and promoting pedagogy of self-assessment in Australian, Bhutanese, and Canadian teacher education programs. Power and Education, 15(1), 5–22. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/231918
- Churchward, P. & Willis, J. (2023). Early career teachers and the always becoming horizon of quality teaching. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 29(1), 1–19. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236871
- Munro, D., Willis, J., Gibson, A. & Laundon, M. (2023). Higher education decision making of Australian women with caring responsibilities. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/239396
- Willis, J., Adie, L., Addison, B. & Kimber, M. (2023). Students drawing conclusions about assessment to inform school change. Cambridge Journal of Education, 53(6), 779–801. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/241268
- Gibson, A., De Vine, L., Canizares, M. & Willis, J. (2023). Reflexive Expressions: Towards the Analysis of Reflexive Capability from Reflective Text. Artificial Intelligence in Education: 24th International Conference, AIED 2023, Tokyo, Japan, July 3–7, 2023, Proceedings, 353–364. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/239338
- Gallagher, J., Willis, J. & Spina, N. (2022). Method as an Opportunity for Collaborative Agency: An Australian Delphi Inquiry into Teacher Educators' Priorities in Assessment Education. In T. Bourke, D. Henderson, R. Spooner-Lane & S. White (Eds.), Reconstructing the Work of Teacher Educators: Finding Spaces in Policy Through Agentic Approaches - Insights from a Research Collective (pp. 197–221). Springer. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/230625
- Churchward, P., Crosswell, L., Spooner-Lane, R., Wise, J., Jessen, S. & Willis, J. (2022). Recognising the impact of highly accomplished and lead teachers. Australian Educational Researcher, 49(4), 691–709. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/209110
- Harth, S., Kelly, N., Martin, D., Mason, D., Miles, P., Carroli, L., Willis, J., Franz, J., Barker, S., Bone, N., Brown, A., Chisholm, N., Gibson, A., Pierpont, A. & Gillett-Swan, J. (2022). Conversations about Vertical Schools in Australia. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/239256
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Jill, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- The Miller-Grassie Award for Outstanding Leadership in Education, and President¿s Citation is the highest honour awarded each year by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (Qld). It is nominated by members and acknowledges and perpetuates the memory of the life and work of educational researchers and administrators, Dr Laurie Miller and Associate Professor McCrae Grassie. Miller and Grassie were pioneers in educational administration in Queensland from the 1970s through to the 1990s.
- Type
- Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Senior Fellowship demonstrates a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education. As a senior Fellow of the international Higher Education Academy I have demonstrated a thorough understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning to support high quality student learning. I support and mentor others in relation to learning and teaching, and integrate quality teaching principles and practices into my own tertiary teaching.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Faculty of Education Teaching and Learning Team award, for innovative use of data to improve learning.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Vice Chancellor's Performance Award in recognition of a significant and superior contribution to the work of the University.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2012
- Details
- Faculty of Education Teaching and Learning Award for teaching excellence, Early Career Award.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2012
- Details
- Vice Chancellor's Performance Award in recognition of a significant and superior contribution to the work of the University.
Selected research projects
- Title
- The Impact of Urban Vertical Schools on Students' Capability and Wellbeing
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP200301274
- Start year
- 2022
- Keywords
- Title
- Improving Outcomes through Accessible Assessment and Inclusive Practices
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP180100830
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Making Middle Leadership Visible: Representations of Identity and Influence in Australian Independent Secondary Schools
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Leanne Crosswell - Care-Wisdom in the Classroom: Professional Learning to Support Students Living with Medical Stress
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Judith Howard - Secondary Arts Education and 21st Century Skills: Educating the Whole Person in the Service of Life
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Sandra Gattenhof - The impact of educational decisions made within vertical schools on student agency
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Prue Miles, Associate Professor Nick Kelly - Self-Advocacy and Access to Assessment Adjustments: Exploring the Knowledge and Experiences of Queensland High School Students with Dyslexia
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Sofia Mavropoulou - Accessible peer assessment: improving inclusion in Australian schools
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Nerida Spina - Understanding how summative classroom assessment cycles influence student conceptualisations of their academic wellbeing and achievement
Professional Doctorate, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Jenna Gillett-Swan - Making Assessment Inclusive in Higher Education
Professional Doctorate, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Glenys Mann
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Accessible experiences of assessment for learning pedagogies (2024)
- Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD): An institutional ethnography of student funding (2022)
- Early Career Teachers' Experiences in the Pursuit of Quality (2020)
- Secondary English Feedback: a Case Study of Contextual Influences on the Feedback Practices of Four Queensland Teachers (2020)
- Teachers Creating the "Third Teacher": An Action Research Approach to Learning Environment Design (2017)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Wrestling with Neoliberalism in Christian Schools (2021)
- Ghosts in the Classroom: Passive Disengagement and Its Implications for Teachers (2020)
- School Design and Procurement and Educational Goals: A Qualitative Case Study of Two Australian Schools (2019)
- Higher Degree Research as Professional Learning for Teachers: A Cohort Perspective (2017)
- Understanding Curriculum Planning Practices That Promote Equity and Excellence for Students with Disability (2016)