Associate Professor
Megan Gibson
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Early Childhood & Inclusive Education
Biography
An Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood at Queensland University of Technology, Dr Megan Gibson is a respected researcher in her field. Her background as an early childhood educator with experience in teaching and leadership positions, culminated in her role as Director of an industry-leading childcare centre in Brisbane. Megan’s award-winning doctoral research examined the professional identities of early childhood educators. This work combined with her extensive professional experience have laid the foundations for her ongoing program of research in the attracting, preparing and retaining the early childhood workforce. She proudly leads the Professional research priority for the Centre for Child and Family Studies. Megan is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council-funded study: Exemplary early childhood educators at work , a 5-year study of National significance, now in its final year. Megan has also built a body of early childhood workforce research in Tasmania, working collaboratively with Gowrie Training and Consultancy Tasmania, where is holds the position of Research Associate. Megan is regularly sought after to create and deliver professional developments programs, including through the Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange, where she was engaged to develop a National series of workshops on ‘environment as third teacher’. Megan is committed to dissemination, including a co-authored book, 9 book chapters, 12 journal articles, 4 research reports and 18 professional publications. She holds Editorial Board positions on two Q1 International journals – Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood and Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. In her current role at QUT, Dr Gibson co-ordinates the Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) program and is responsible for teacher education units on leadership, professionalism and health and wellbeing. Megan holds a number of invited appointments:
- ELACCA National ECEC Workforce Expert Advisory Panel (2020-)
- Research Associate, Gowrie Training and Consultancy, Lady Gowrie Tasmania (2018 -)
- Australian Early Childhood Teacher Education Network, National (2017 - )
- QUT ECAQ Early Childhood Alumni chapter committee (2019- )
Above all else, Megan is an early childhood teacher, who is passionate about building and sustaining the early childhood workforce.
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Early Childhood & Inclusive Education
Keywords
child care, early childhood education, preservice teacher education, professional identities
Discipline
Other Education, Specialist Studies in Education
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)
- M Ed (Queensland University of Technology)
- B Ed (EC) (The University of Melbourne)
- Dip T (EC) (Brisbane College of Adv. Ed.)
Professional memberships and associations
- Australian Early Childhood Teacher Education Network (AECTEN)
- Early Childhood Australia (ECA)
- Reggio Emilia Australian Information Exchange (REAIE)
- Social Justice in Early Childhood (SJIEC)
- American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Teaching
Megan brings her experiences from teaching in a range of early childhood contexts, as well as her research focus, to her teaching. She has worked across a number of undergraduate and postgraduate units, including:
- Leadership and management in early childhood
- Child health, safety, wellbeing and movement education
- The early childhood professional
- Early childhood curriculum and pedagogy
- Professional experience
Each semester Megan values engaging in the University Partner role, where she supports and supervises students on professional experience placement, whilst forging partnerships with schools and early childhood centres.
Experience
Megan is a proudly a registered teacher with the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT). As an early childhood educator, with some 20 years of teaching experience, Megan has worked across a range of diverse early childhood contexts, including:
- lower primary
- kindergarten/preschool
- long day care.
In her most recent role, as the Director of Campus Kindergarten, University of Queensland, Megan led this unique community through significant organisational evolution. Notable elements of this change were in the areas of education for sustainability, the arts, pedagogical documentation and organisational structure.
Publications
- Gibson M, McFadden A, Williams K, Zollo L, Winter A, Lunn J, (2020) Imbalances between workforce policy and employment for early childhood graduate teachers: Complexities and considerations, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 45 (1) p82
- Harrison L, Wong S, Press F, Gibson M, Ryan S, (2019) Understanding the work of Australian early childhood educators using time-use diary methodology, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 33 (4) p521
- Gibson M, McFadden A, Zollo L, (2018) Discursive considerations of child care professional experience in early childhood teacher education: contingencies and tensions from teacher educators, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 39 (4) p293
- Gibson M, (2017) Childcare educators 'glorified babysitters'?, Belonging Early Years Journal p45
- Press F, Wong S, Harrison L, Gibson M, (2017) Understanding what great early childhood educators do: New Australian research, Cascades: C&K Building Waterfalls Quarterly Magazine p15
- Gibson M, (2015) 'Heroic victims': Discursive constructions of preservice early childhood teacher professional identities, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 36 (2) p142
- Gibson M, McArdle F, Hatcher C, (2015) Governing child care in neoliberal times: Discursive constructions of children as economic units and early childhood educators as investment brokers, Global Studies of Childhood, 5 (3) p322
- Wong S, Harrison L, Press F, Sumsion J, Gibson M, Woods A, (2015) The construction of a taxonomy of early childhood educators' work, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 40 (3) p79
- Press F, Wong S, Gibson M, (2015) Understanding who cares: creating the evidence to address the long-standing policy problem of staff shortages in early childhood education and care, Journal of Family Studies, 21 (1) p87
- Gibson M, (2013) 'I want to educate school-age children': producing early childhood teacher professional identities, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 14 (2) p127
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Megan, explore their research on ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Appointment to State/National/International Reference Group or Government Committees
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Early Learning and Care Council Australia (ELACCA). National ECEC Workforce Expert Advisory Panel (2020-)
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Editorial Board for Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood (CIEC) Q1. Appointed March 2020.
- Type
- Fellowships
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Women in Research Award. Accelerating research growth: Publications and funding. Funding body: QUT Women in Research ($13 291)
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Gibson, M. et al. (2020) The Flourishing Tasmanian Child: Phase 2: The Flourishing Physical Child: Building a community action plan for the Geeveston Funding body: Australian Early Development Census ($19 970)
- Type
- Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Invited Keynote address for The Sector National conference, ECEC Innovation Forum: The Future of Professional Learning: A research based vision.
- Type
- Appointment to State/National/International Reference Group or Government Committees
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Invited member of National advisory group for ECEC Workforce Roundtable. Event held in Sydney, February 2020. Attended by over 40 academic researchers from across 17 universities and 12 stakeholders from government and peak associations.
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Inaugural Co-Chair National Australian Early Childhood Teacher Education Network (AECTEN) Roundtable, September 2019, Hobart. Attended by over 20 teacher educators from across 16 higher education institutions.
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- Gibson et al. (2019-2020) Building sustainable workforce foundations. Funding body: Early Childhood Australia. Skills Tas. Phase 1 Project Lead. ($143 584, total three Phases)
- Type
- Appointment to State/National/International Reference Group or Government Committees
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Non-Executive Director. Creche and Kindergarten Association Limited. Appointed May 2015. Inaugural Chair, Early Years and Innovation Committee (2019-); Nominations Committee (2019-)
Research projects
- Title
- Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work: A Multi-Level Investigation
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP160100532
- Start year
- 2016
- Keywords
Supervision
Current supervisions
- TEAMS PRODUCING CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY IN LONG DAY CARE
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Lyndal O'Gorman - From Reggio with love! A study of how leadership density has developed paradigm shifts in teaching and learning at one Queensland school and resulted in building capacity in deep and transfer learning, critical and creative thinking.
Professional Doctorate, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Maryanne Theobald