Dr Jane Merewether, Associate Lecturer Ashah Tanoa and Dr Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett took home awards from three separate categories at the Western Australian Institute of Education Research (WAIER) Awards for 2022.
The Early Career Award
Dr Merewether was presented the Early Career Award, which recognises her excellence early in an her academic/research career and to encourage continuing contributions to research.
Jane Merewether (right) with WAIER Vice-President Dr Paul Gardner (left).
She won this award for her research, ‘Noticing soil in early childhood: Cultivating the arts of attention in the Anthropocene.’
“Soil is crucial for the Earth to continue but is often overlooked or ignored by humans.
My research investigates how we can establish a care for soil from an early age, informed by the philosophy and practices of the educational project of Reggio Emilia." Dr Jane Merewether
“The project is grounded in the idea that if we are to care for soil, we need first need to notice it.”
WAIER-Fogarty Foundation Postgraduate Student Research Prize
Ms Tanoa won the WAIER-Fogarty Foundation Postgraduate Student Research Prize for her research ‘"Let's yarn about uni": Conversations around the Indigenous student university experience’.
Ashah Tanoa (right) with Fogarty Foundation CEO Megan Enders (left).
Her research investigates ways to support Indigenous student success to help them thrive at university.
32% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students leave within their first year at university. Of these students, 18.4% never return.” Murdoch Associate Lecturer Ashah Tanoa
Ms Tanoa explains in her thesis that the first year of university is a vulnerable time for all students, especially those from non-traditional backgrounds and there is limited data around why students do leave.
"My research will capture the lived experiences of Indigenous students who left university within their first year. This research has immense potential to inform support programs for Indigenous students at university as well as reframe notions of ‘failure’ and success during undergraduate studies.”
Postgraduate Award
Murdoch Alumna Dr Jackson-Barrett, won the Postgraduate Award for her thesis, ‘On country learning: Towards a culturally responsive pedagogy for Aboriginal education’.
Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett (right) with WAIER Vice-President Dr Paul Gardner (left).
Her research investigates how On Country Learning (OCL) is a transformative and culturally responsive method to teaching.
It shows this method builds on the strengths of Aboriginal students, their families and communities and in doing so speaks back to deficit colonialist discourses about Aboriginal people, cultures and histories.
Murdoch University Deputy Vice Chancellor Education and Equity Professor Kylie Readman congratulated the winners on their efforts.
Congratulations to Dr Merewether, Ms Tanoa and Dr Jackson-Barrett for their exceptional research work and for your success at the Western Australian Institute of Education Research Awards.” Professor Kylie Readman, Murdoch University Deputy Vice Chancellor Education and Equity Professor