DrKellie McGlynn

Senior Lecturer | School of Education | Deakin University

Dr Kellie McGlynn is a Senior Lecturer and interdisciplinary researcher at Deakin University whose scholarship examines institutional inequality, power and systems change. Working across education, gender-based violence and public systems, her research investigates how institutions construct legitimacy, distribute authority and shape whose knowledge and experiences are recognised and valued.

Drawing on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), Change Laboratory methodology, feminist scholarship and participatory approaches to research, Kellie's work examines how institutional practices reproduce inequality and harm, while exploring opportunities for collaborative and transformative change. A central concern of her scholarship is understanding how institutional structures, professional practices and relationships influence people's experiences of inclusion, recognition, agency and justice.

Kellie's research encompasses three interconnected areas: institutional partnerships and transformation in education; inequality and the status of applied and vocational learning; and institutional responses to family and domestic violence. Her doctoral research, completed at Deakin University in 2023, examined the contradictions, boundaries and relational practices shaping collaboration between universities and schools in initial teacher education. This work established a foundation for her ongoing research into institutional change, trust and the transformation of professional practices.

Through the Deakin Applied Learning Lab, Kellie leads collaborative research examining the structural and institutional conditions shaping the status, quality and recognition of applied and vocational learning. Her work challenges established hierarchies of educational knowledge and investigates how leadership, policy and organisational practices influence educational opportunity and parity of esteem. Working with schools, government and education partners, this research connects theoretical inquiry with the co-design of approaches to systemic improvement.

Kellie also leads The Second Violence, an interdisciplinary research program examining how institutional responses to family and domestic violence can compound the harms experienced by victim-survivors. Drawing on feminist scholarship, lived experience and institutional systems analysis, this work investigates the ways credibility, authority and responsibility are constructed within institutional encounters. Her research conceptualises secondary institutional harm as a significant public health and social justice concern, contributing to wider conversations about institutional accountability, gendered power and systems reform.

Alongside her research, Kellie has an extensive record of academic leadership, educational innovation and externally funded partnerships. As former Course Director of Deakin's Master of Applied Learning and Teaching, she led significant course development and renewal. She has provided academic leadership across major Victorian Department of Education initiatives supporting teacher workforce development, vocational education and professional learning. Her collaborative work extends internationally through educational partnerships and research engagement in Europe and Asia.

Kellie's scholarship has been published in peer-reviewed national and international journals, including the Australian Journal of Teacher Education, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education and Public Health in Practice. She also contributes to public and policy conversations through conference presentations, media commentary and publications in The Conversation. Her work reflects an ongoing commitment to research that not only critically examines institutional inequalities but contributes to the collective knowledge and practices needed to transform them.