xixBarbara Nielsen was a classroom teacher for 20 years and a primary school prin-
cipal before becoming interested in researching learning difficulties in literacy. She
was appointed the lecturer in English curriculum studies at Flinders University
while completing the writing up of this PhD research. Because of her rich experi-
ences in schools, she was subsequently also appointed as coordinator of profes-
sional experience for all preservice teachers at Flinders University, a position she
has held for 5 years. In this position, she has extended her research interests to
explore best practices in professional experience for preservice teachers.
Mia O’Brien is a senior lecturer and coordinator of initial teacher education in the
School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University. She has led two
ARC-funded research projects and two OLT-funded teaching and learning projects,
which collectively focus on understanding the development of pedagogical exper-
tise in the context of innovative teaching and learning practices. In her current role,
she leads the design, implementation and research of preservice teacher learning
through professional experience placements within undergraduate and postgraduate
initial teacher education programs.
Catherine Reid is a lecturer in language and literacy education in the Melbourne
Graduate School of Education (MGSE), the University of Melbourne. Catherine
teaches in a number of preservice and postgraduate teacher education programs, and
in one of her former roles, she was responsible for the oversight and coordination of
the secondary professional practice programs. Her research interests include school-
university partnerships, models of evidence-based teaching and learning and litera-
cies across the curriculum. Prior to joining MGSE, Catherine taught in a number of
secondary schools across metropolitan Melbourne.
Doreen Rorrison is a critical theorist with an eclectic mix of educational experi-
ences. She held a range of teaching and leadership roles in both public and private
sector secondary and R-12 schools from 1974 to 1999 and taught at Flinders
University and what was soon be known as the University of South Australia in the
1980s and again in the early 2000s. In the 1990s, she also worked in educational
radio and completed a master of teaching at Flinders University. From 2002 to 2010,
Doreen lectured and coordinated a range of programs at Charles Darwin University
and Charles Sturt University as well as completed her doctor of philosophy, spend-
ing a year at a campus in Ontario, Canada, and for 6 months as chair at the
Department of Didactic Sciences and Early Childhood Education, at the Stockholm
Institute of Education. More recently, as a retired academic, Doreen has worked as
a sessional lecturer at Curtin University, is a visiting scholar at the University of
Adelaide and is an adjunct of Charles Sturt University.
Trudy-Ann Sweeney is a senior lecturer and associate dean (teaching and learn-
ing) in the School of Education at Flinders University in South Australia. Her teach-
ing and research interests include technology-enhanced assessment and the use of
educational technologies to transform student-learning outcomes. Through this
About the Authors