Personal details
- Name
- Professor Linda Graham
- Position(s)
- Professor
Faculty of Education,
School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education - Discipline *
- Specialist Studies in Education
- Phone
- +61 7 3138 3738
- linda.graham@qut.edu.au
- Location
- View location details (QUT staff and student access only)
- Identifiers and profiles
-
- Qualifications
-
PhD (Queensland University of Technology), Master of Education (Macquarie University), Bachelor of Arts (Eng. Lit & Mod. Hist) (Macquarie University)
- Professional memberships
and associations Director, The Centre for Inclusive Education (C4IE)
Membership of Editorial Boards
- Australian Educational Researcher
- Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs (JORSEN)
Memberships
- Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA)
Membership of Learned Societies
- Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)
- American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- British Educational Research Association (BERA)
- Keywords
-
disruptive behaviour, learning support, education policy, international comparison, mixed-methods, multi case-study, discourse analysis
Biography
Linda J. Graham is Director of The Centre for Inclusive Education (C4IE) and a Professor in the Faculty of Education at QUT. Her research investigates the role of education policy and schooling practices in the development of disruptive student behaviour and the improvement of responses to children that some teachers find difficult to teach.
Professor Graham completed her doctoral study, titled “Schooling Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders: educational systems of formation and the ‘disorderly’ school child” at QUT in 2007. Of particular interest was how schooling practices and discourses may be contributing to the increased diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Since graduating with the 2007 Faculty of Education Outstanding Thesis Award and the 2008 Australian Association of Research (AARE) Excellence in Doctoral Research Award, Linda has been awarded 4 successive research fellowships. These highly competitive awards have included a postdoctoral fellowship at The University of Sydney (2007-2008), a Macquarie University Research Fellowship (The political economy of special educational needs: international trends and policy developments, 2009-2011), an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Research Fellowship (A critical analysis of the increase in diagnosis of special educational needs in NSW government schools, 2010-2012), and most recently, a QUT Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellowship (Destination elsewhere: a longitudinal study of pathways into separate special educational settings for students with disruptive behaviour, 2013-2015).
In 2011, she was awarded a second ARC Discovery project grant (Tracking the experiences of students enrolled in special schools for challenging behaviour and their reintegration to mainstream) with Dr Penny Van Bergen & Dr Naomi Sweller (Macquarie University).
She has also partnered with international collaborators on a comparative project funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Council of Canada with Professor Markku Jahnukainen, University of Alberta & University of Helsinki (Analysing the current state and change of special education in New South Wales, Finland and Alberta) and is partner investigator on a 2012-2013 Leverhulme International Network grant with Professor Sheila Riddell from the University of Edinburgh (Special Education & Policy Change: A study of six jurisdictions).
In the same year, Linda was named Macquarie University Early Career Researcher of the Year, and received both the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) Paul Bourke Award and the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Early Career Research Award.
From 2013 to 2019, she led a 6-year longitudinal study tracking the school liking, learning, language and behaviour of QLD prep children through to end grade 5, with Dr Sonia White (School of Early Childhood, QUT), Dr Kathy Cologon (Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University), Prof Pamela Snow (LaTrobe Rural Health School), and Prof Robert Pianta (Curry School of Education, University of Virginia). The study was funded by the Financial Markets Foundation for Children (2013-2015) and the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects scheme (2016-2019).
In 2016, she began leading an Education Horizon project funded by the Queensland Government, “Empowering learners: using student voice, videorecorded classroom interactions and teacher feedback to develop positive learning environments in high-need Queensland secondary schools”, with Dr Jenna Gillett-Swan.
In 2017, she again partnered with Dr Jenna Gillett-Swan (Lead CI) on “Wellbeing Matters: a collaborative approach to harnessing student voice to develop a Wellbeing Framework for Action in the middle years“, also funded by the Queensland government.
Currently, Linda is co-leading the Accessible Assessment ARC Linkage project with A/Prof Jill Willis “Improving Outcomes through Accessible Assessment and Inclusive Practices”, partnering with the QCAA, three large state secondary schools, QLD Secondary Schools Association and Speech Pathology Australia. The research team includes A/Prof Naomi Sweller (MQ), A/Prof Sonia White, Dr Andrew Gibson (QUT), A/Prof Chris DeLuca (Kingston University), Ms Gaenor Dixon (SPA), Ms Callula Killingly (QUT) and two PhD students: Ms Julie Arnold and Ms Haley Tancredi.
This ARC Linkage built on a project led by A/Prof Jill Willis, Strengthening Senior Assessment, funded by the Queensland government Education Horizons scheme.
Linda is also Chair of the Inquiry into suspension, exclusion and expulsion processes in South Australian government schools, and co-convenes the AARE Inclusive Education Special Interest Group (with Dr Kate de Bruin and Ms Haley Tancredi).
She has appeared in numerous print, radio and television media and is a strong advocate that inclusive education is a foundation platform for broader social inclusion and the development of an inclusive democracy.
Teaching
Linda is the Unit Coordinator for the Master of Education unit, LCN629 Inclusive Education: Theory, Policy and Practice, and with Haley Tancredi, co-creator of QUT’s free online course: Inclusive Education: Essential Knowledge for Success.
Publications
- Graham L, Tancredi H, (2019) In search of a middle ground: the dangers and affordances of diagnosis in relation to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties p287-300
- Graham L, Tancredi H, Willis J, McGraw K, (2018) Designing out barriers to student access and participation in secondary school assessment, Australian Educational Researcher p103-124
- Graham L, Sweller N, Van Bergen P, (2020) Do older children with disruptive behaviour exhibit positive illusory bias and should oral language competence be considered in research?, Educational Review
- Graham L, (2020) Questioning the impacts of legislative change on the use of exclusionary discipline in the context of broader system reforms: a Queensland case-study, International Journal of Inclusive Education
- Graham L, (2018) Student compliance will not mean 'all teachers can teach': a critical analysis of the rationale for 'no excuses' discipline, International Journal of Inclusive Education p1242-1256
- White S, Graham L, Blaas S, (2018) Why do we know so little about the factors associated with gifted underachievement? A systematic literature review, Educational Research Review p55-66
- Graham L, Van Bergen P, Sweller N, (2016) Caught between a rock and a hard place: disruptive boys' views on mainstream and special schools in New South Wales, Australia, Critical Studies in Education p35-54
- Graham L, Van Bergen P, Sweller N, (2015) 'To educate you to be smart': disaffected students and the purpose of school in the (not so clever) 'lucky country', Journal of Education Policy p237-257
- Graham L, (2012) Disproportionate over-representation of Indigenous students in New South Wales government special schools, Cambridge Journal of Education p163-176
- Graham L, Slee R, (2007) An illusory interiority: interrogating the discourse/s of inclusion, Educational Philosophy And Theory p277-293
For more publications by this staff member, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.
Awards
Awards and recognition
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Education and Human Society Research Evaluation Committee Member, Excellence for Research in Australia (ERA)
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2014
- Details
- Elected Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Educational Researcher (AER) and appointed to the AARE Executive Committee.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Macquarie University 'Early Career Researcher of the Year' (2011)
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA)2011 Paul Bourke Award for Outstanding Early Career Research
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Early Career Researcher Award for 2011
- Type
- Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Fellowship Type: ARC Principal Research Fellowship Project Title: A critical analysis of the increase in diagnosis of special educational needs in New South Wales government schools External Reference : DP1093020 Years Awarded: 2010-2012 Total Funding Awarded: $240,546
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- "Highly Commended Finalist" Macquarie University Early Career Researcher of the Year 2010
- Type
- Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- Australian Research Council (ARC) INTReader: Assessor of International Standing
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2008
- Details
- Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) 2008 National Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2007
- Details
- Faculty of Education Outstanding Thesis Award
Research projects
Grants and projects (Category 1: Australian Competitive Grants only)
- Title
- Improving Outcomes through Accessible Assessment and Inclusive Practices
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP180100830
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Which Children Develop Severely Disruptive School Behaviour?
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP160100319
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
- Title
- Whose behaviour is and is not managed in the early years of school, why and with what effects?
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 2013-030
- Start year
- 2013
- Keywords
- Disruptive Behaviour; Inclusive Education; Learning Support; Mixed-Methods; Teacher-Student Relationships
- Title
- Tracking the experiences of students enrolled in segregated settings for challenging behaviour and their reintegration to mainstream schools
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP110103093
- Start year
- 2011
- Keywords
- segregated schooling; behaviour disorder; education policy; student perspectives; inclusive education
- Title
- A critical analysis of the increase in diagnosis of special educational needs in New South Wales government schools
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP1093020
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
Supervision
Current supervisions
- ASPIRATIONS THROUGH TIME: THE YEAR 10 TRANSITION PLANNING EXPERIENCE OF QUEENSLAND STUDENTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Suzanne Carrington - Discreet Disengagement in the Classroom
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Jill Willis - The impact of accessible pedagogies on the classroom experiences, engagement and academic output of students with language and/or attentional difficulties
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Sonia White - Identifying and implementing curriculum adjustments for students with disability in secondary classrooms.
Professional Doctorate, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Suzanne Carrington - Meeting the Needs of Students: What Teachers Know About Developmental Language Disorder and Inclusive Practices
MPhil, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Sonia White
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Social and Cultural Issues which Influence and Challenge High School Students' Professional Choices (2016)
- Discourses, decisions, designs: An international comparative analysis of special educational policy making in New South Wales, Scotland, Finland and Malaysia (2013)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Ghosts in the Classroom: Passive Disengagement and Its Implications for Teachers (2020)
- Royal Palms: Exploring 1980s Neoliberal Characterisation through Foucauldian Power and Discourse (2019)
- Adjusting language barriers in secondary classrooms through professional collaboration based on student consultation (2018)