1339032
Adjunct Professor
Kate Williams
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Education
Biography
Kate Williams is an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education, QUT. She leads the Centre for Child & Family Studies (www.research.qut.edu.au/childandfamily), and is Academic Lead (Engagement) for her school. Kate is also a member of the Centre for Child Health & Wellbeing. Kate's research aims to address inequities in health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes that often arise due to early childhood adversity. She is an expert on children’s development of self-regulation and the parenting, educational, and intervention contexts that support such, along with the developmental outcomes associated with children’s self-regulatory functioning. This includes children’s regulation of attention, emotion, executive function, and their sleep behaviours. She is also involved in program evaluation and interested in the measurement of children’s development and wellbeing. Kate is also a Registered Music Therapist and so is interested in the ways that music can be used to support children’s development. Kate's evidence-based intervention, Rhythm & Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR), is delivered by over 1000 adults internationally: www.research.qut.edu.au/ramsr.Kate's research strengths include:
- Intervention design and program evaluation including randomised controlled trials
- Modern approaches to analyses including quantitative and qualitative techniques with a particular specialty in structural equation modeling (SEM)
- Approaches to translating research and theory into practice for the early years community including co-development of practice resources and training materials
- Management and analysis of large longitudinal datasets
- Measurement development and statistical testing
- Strong and ongoing industry partnerships and a track record in gaining research funding.
Personal details
Positions
- Adjunct Professor
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Education
Keywords
early childhood, music, self-regulation, executive function, child development, sleep, evaluation, music therapy, CCC, parenting
Research field
Education systems, Specialist studies in education
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)
Teaching
Kate's teaching philosophy is highly intentional and evidence-based. She has a strong focus on active learning and as such uses a wide range of technologies and learning activities in her classrooms. Kate takes a developmental and critical approach to teaching and learning. She believes that students construct new knowledge for themselves, and with others, by having prior assumptions challenged, and through the integration of new evidence which has been actively and critically analysed by students. Kate also has a strong focus on student belonging, engagement, and inclusion. She has teaching expertise in the following areas:
- Child development
- Early childhood music for development, teaching and learning
- Research design and methodology
- Inclusion and early intervention approaches
Publications
- Quach, J., Nguyen, C., Williams, K. & Sciberras, E. (2018). Bidirectional associations between child sleep problems and internalizing and externalizing difficulties from preschool to early adolescence. JAMA Pediatrics, 172(2), 1–8. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223308
- Williams, K., Barrett, M., Welch, G., Abad, V. & Broughton, M. (2015). Associations between early shared music activities in the home and later child outcomes: Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 31, 113–124. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/81841
- Nicholson, J., Berthelsen, D., Abad, V., Williams, K. & Bradley, J. (2008). Impact of music therapy to promote positive parenting and child development. Journal of Health Psychology, 13(2), 226–238. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/30368
- Williams, K., Berthelsen, D., Nicholson, J., Walker, S. & Abad, V. (2012). The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability. Journal of Music Therapy, 49(1), 23–44. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/40359
- Williams, K., Berthelsen, D., Walker, S. & Nicholson, J. (2017). A developmental cascade model of behavioral sleep problems and emotional and attentional self-regulation across early childhood. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 15(1), 1–21. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/85043
- Williams, K., Nicholson, J., Walker, S. & Berthelsen, D. (2016). Early childhood profiles of sleep problems and self-regulation predict later school adjustment. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 331–350. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/92613
- Williams, K., (2018). Moving to the beat: Using music, rhythm, and movement to enhance self-regulation in early childhood classrooms. International Journal of Early Childhood, 50(1), 85–100. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223572
- Williams, K., Berthelsen, D., Viviani, M. & Nicholson, J. (2018). Facilitated parent-child groups as family support: A systematic literature review of supported playgroup studies. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(8), 2367–2383. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223610
- Howard, S. & Williams, K. (2018). Early self-regulation, early self-regulatory change, and their longitudinal relations to adolescents' academic, health, and mental well-being outcomes. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 39(6), 489–496. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/223906
- Williams, K., Berthelsen, D., Viviani, M. & Nicholson, J. (2016). Queensland supported playgroup evaluation: Final report. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/103681
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Kate, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/k15.williams
Awards
- Type
- Publication Peer-review
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Reviewer for Child Development (Q1), highest ranking child development journal internationally
- Type
- Publication Peer-review
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Reviewer for Early Education & Development (Q1)
- Type
- Visiting an External Institution
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Education University Hong Kong (EduHK). Selected as the first visiting scholar to EduHK as part of the formalised research exchange between QUT and EduHK. Visited EduHK in January 2019 and return visit by colleague Dr Eva Lau completed in March 2019.
- Type
- Examiner or Assessor
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Invited external examiner for PhD thesis in music therapy for University of Melbourne
- Type
- Funded Fellowship
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Awarded the only Discovery Early Career Researcher (DECRA) award in Education in 2017. 16% success rate overall.
- Type
- Reviewer, Assessor or Judge
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Australian Research Council Excellence in Research Australia. Peer Reviewer for ARC ERA 2018.
- Type
- Reviewer, Assessor or Judge
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Australian Research Council. Reviewer for ARC Discovery Project scheme
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology. Outstanding Publication Award for paper in highest ranking paediatric journal internationally (JAMA Pediatrics)
- Type
- Editorial Role
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Associate Editor, Australian Journal of Music Therapy
- Type
- Keynote or Plenary Speaker
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Invited keynote speaker for the Australian Paediatric Music Therapy Symposium
Selected research projects
- Title
- Effectiveness of an Early Childhood Intervention to Promote Healthy Child Development and Prevent Chronic Disease in Families Attending Community Playgroups: A Multi-Centre Cluster Randomised Trial
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- MRF1200764
- Start year
- 2020
- Keywords
- early childhood; exercise; nutrition; parenting; intervention
- Title
- A Rhythm and Movement Intervention for Self-Regulation in Preschool
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DE190101096
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Parental Engagement in Supported Playgroups
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP100200723
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Family Support; Child Wellbeing; Playgroups
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Assessment of Beat Synchronisation within the early years
MPhil, External Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Sally Savage, Dr Lyra L'Estrange, Professor Sonia White
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect in Early Childhood Education: Measuring and Understanding Self-Efficacy, Collective Efficacy and Reporting Experiences (2025)
- Evaluation of a relationships and sexuality education program for primary schools in Queensland, Australia (2024)
- Lived experiences of music therapy: Journeying with practitioners and adolescents in the context of stress and trauma (2024)
- Measuring and Fostering Social-Emotional Competencies in Middle Childhood: An Australian Population Cohort Study (2024)
- Evaluation of the Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation program (RAMSR) (2023)
- Fathers in Australia: A longitudinal study of fathers' parenting and wellbeing, and associations with children's social-emotional development (2023)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Mothers' Perceptions of their Own Smartphone Use in the Family Setting (2022)
- The Relationship Between Secondary Students' Writing Self-efficacy and Writing Achievement (2020)
- Measuring Early Childhood Educators' Self-Efficacy for Mandatory Reporting of Child Maltreatment (2019)
- Music Listening for Student Engagement: Teacher and Student Perspectives (2019)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.