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Professor

Louise Paatsch

Professor, Education

Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Education/Research for Educational Impact

Orcid identifier0000-0003-3978-9603
  • Professor, Education
    Faculty of Arts and Education/School of Education/Research for Educational Impact
  • +61 3 522 71457 (Work)
  • Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216

BIO

Deputy Director REDI: Research for Educational Impact. Deakin University's Strategic Research Centre in Education.
Professor in Education: Language & Literacy

Professor Louise Paatsch is the Deputy Director of Deakin University's Strategic Research Centre in Education - Research for Educational Impact (REDI), and a Chief Investigator at the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.

Her research focuses on children's and young people's communication, language, digital play, pretend play, and literacy development, with a strong focus on metapragmatic and pragmatic language use and the link to social communication. She also investigates teachers' talk patterns and intentional teaching practices in supporting children's and young people's communication, language, and play abilities. Louise also undertakes research that focuses on the communication, spoken language and literacy abilities of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and young people. She also works with teachers and educators to explore their own practices as reflective researchers to support positive outcomes for children, young people, and their families.

Louise employs mixed methods approaches including survey development, case studies, interventions, and video methodology. She also has extensive experience in presenting professional learning programs for early childhood educators, teachers, education support officers, and allied health professionals. Many of these programs include the use of participatory methodologies to support educators to research and reflect on their own practices, and to plan for future oral language, literacy and play teaching and learning.

Louise has published widely in high quality outlets including books, book chapters, refereed journal articles, commissioned research reports, and
conference proceedings. She has been invited to present keynotes and featured talks at various national and international conferences, workshops and community forums on key issues related to communication, language, play and literacy in children and young people.

Louise is currently the Associate Review Editor for Deafness Education International and Associate Editor for the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf
Education.

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CURRENT APPOINTMENT

  • Professor, Education
    Deakin University, School of Education

DEGREES

  • Doctor of Philosophy
    University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • Master of Education
    University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • Graduate Diploma in Special Education (Hearing Impaired)
    Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
  • Diploma of Teaching (Primary)
    Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

FIELDS OF RESEARCH (2020)

  • Specialist studies in education
  • Education systems
  • Linguistics
  • Curriculum and pedagogy

AVAILABILITY FOR SUPERVISION

  • Masters by Research and PhD supervision

AREA/FACULTY

  • Faculty of Arts and Education

DEPARTMENT/SCHOOL/INSTITUTE

  • School of Education

STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION CENTRE

  • Research for Educational Impact