DrClaire Charles

I have a longstanding interest in how schools and universities are sites where broader cultural and social challenges related to gender, sexualities, popular culture, colonisation, race, and class are negotiated, and how education can improve social justice. I have made a key and distinctive contribution to feminist sociology of education theorising the kinds of subjects young people and teachers are becoming within education programs aimed at addressing social justice, showing the ambivalent and complex nature of education for improving society. I have developed this program of research around 3 key educational sites:

• Social justice teacher education programs
• Elite educational settings including private schools and elite merit-based scholarship programs in higher education
• Education programs for the prevention of gender-based violence

Methdologically I aim to explore creative research methods such as arts-based elicitation, and affective mappings of researcher bodies.

Current projects

I am CI on the ARC discovery project ‘Addressing gender-based violence in volatile and polarising times’ (2026-2028) working with Deakin colleagues Professor Amanda Keddie and Dr Lena Molnar, and Monash colleagues Dr Stephanie Wescott and Professor Steven Roberts. We are investigating how diverse young Australians respond to and interpret discourses and campaigns about gender-based violence to understand the factors that lead to engagement and disengagement, with the ultimate goal of informing the refinement and improvement of education initiatives in this space.

I lead a new 2026 project ‘Building respectful relationships in/with elite all boys’ schools’ for which I have built and international team including Professor Adam Howard (Colby College, USA) and Deakin colleagues Professor Claire Maxwell, Dr Claire Stonehouse and Christine Shannon. My leadership of this project supports the next generation of researchers by appointing Christine Shannon (current doctoral student) as the RF. The project builds on my 2021 pilot project in which I interviewed 13 alumni of Australian elite all boys’ schools about what they learnt about masculinity at school and their perspectives about gender equity. In the earlier project I built a highly productive team including a doctoral student, an ECR and MCR and achieved significant impact including media coverage and 7 quality outputs which attracted citations immediately. The new project further builds on my national and international recognition as a researcher shaping the field of sociology of elite schooling and my leadership of this program of research is attracting new Masters research paper students and doctoral students.

Recently completed projects

Gender and consent education in schools: Due to my expertise in gender and schooling, I was approached by Body Safety Australia (BSA) in 2024 to evaluate their consent education program for primary school students. I led the design of a project and the generation of data alongside teachers, students and program facilitators in a Victorian primary school. I was supported in this work by Deakin colleagues Amanda Keddie and with research assistance from Dr Roz Ward, who subsequently was awarded a prestigious Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2026. The evaluation report was submitted in March 2026 and is now informing BSA’s refinement of their education program.

Relational and arts-based pedagogies for relationships and sexuality education: In 2025 I was REDI mentor on a project led by Deakin colleague Dr Claire Stonehouse investigating the impact of relational and arts-based pedagogies in pre-service teacher education for relationships and sexualities education, with research assistance from Roz Ward. We have two publications currently under review on the findings from this project, in which we argue for the value of relational and embodied learning to teach relationships and sexuality education – particularly for teacher confidence to deliver this crucial area of the Australian curriculum.