ProfessorAndrea Nolan

Andrea is Professor of Early Childhood Education in the School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University. She is a member of Deakin University's Strategic Research Centre (SRC) - Research for Educational Impact (REDI). Andrea is the founder and Chair of the Victorian Early Childhood Research Consortium (VECRC), a group of 90 cross-disciplinary researchers from a number of Victorian universities with some interstate university attendees who come together to support research capacity building in early childhood.

Andrea has worked on a number of State, National and international projects concerning language and literacy development, program evaluation, transitions to school and the professional learning of teachers/educators. Since 2007, Andrea has produced a significant body of research focusing on the capabilities of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce with a specific interest in the professional learning of educators and their practice. She has researched professional identities and educator practice, mentoring, inter-professional work, and reflective practice.

Currently she is using the capability approach and Bourdieusian theory to draw out implications for the professional learning of the ECEC workforce. This work has been reviewed as making a valuable contribution to the discourse of ECEC professionalism and professional learning internationally. A significant concentration of her most recent research and publications explores the concept of mentoring and how this can be harnessed to enhance professional learning for the ECEC sector. This work has received national and international recognition.

Educator practice has been a complementary theme to her research where she has focused on young children's language and literacy development, transition to school practices, and practice that improves outcomes for children and families experiencing disadvantage. Andrea has acted as Chief Investigator on a number of projects that have influenced early childhood practice. The reputation of her work has resulted in invitations to publish and  commissioned contributions.

Of particular note is that Andrea is a recipient of four ARC grants (LP190100387, LP160101759, DP150104534, LP0990128), a MRFF Maternal Health & Healthy Lifestyles grant, a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant, and numerous government/not-for-profit projects securing over $11,000,000 in research funding since 2003.

Research Groups
* Victorian Early Childhood Research Consortium (Chair)
* Fellowship Advisory Committee Chair, Association of Graduates in Early Childhood Studies
* OMEP Australia
* Member of the Diversity and Social Justice in Education Research Strand, REDI Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University
* Member of the Transforming Professional Lives, Learning and Leadership (TPLLL) Research Group, School of Education, Deakin University

* Associate Member of the Early Years Research Lab, Southern Cross University (2022+)