Melinda is currently a PhD scholarship holder researching critical, creative and collaborative thinking in the interdiciplinary primary classroom. She seeks to develop understanding of how curriculum design and teacher enabling moves can enable generative student critical, creative and collaborative thinking. Melinda completed her Master of Education Leadership through the University of Wollongong in 2017. As part of her Masters she onducted collaborative research, presentated and published research focusing on positive school and university partnerships with UOW faculty. The collective capacity of pre-service, beginning, and experienced teachers, school leaders and university lecturers through lesson study, was explored. Melinda advocates that all stakeholders learn from one another in order to contribute to the collective capacity of educators and improved student achievement. She seeks to further research to inform improved teaching and learning, to ultimately enable maximised student improvement, learning, engagement and efficacy.
Teaching and Education Background
Melinda has over eighteen years experience teaching within the primary setting in both regional and metro areas, and the public and private sector in Australia. She is currently registered to teach in Victoria, Queensland and has taught as a Primary Specialist Teacher; Music, Gifted Education, Enrichment Science as well as a generalist Primary Class Teacher. Melinda has also worked as a Gifted Education Mentor (GEM) in the Queensland Education System and briefly as a Tutor at Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus: Music and Creative Arts). She is currently working as a Research Assistant at Deakin University (STEM Education) on an ARC Project: Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Science Learning and as a casual academic, lecturer at Deakin University.
Awards and Scholarships
2020-2023: PhD Scholarship Deakin University
2018: University of Wollongong Outstanding Achievement Award – Post Graduate Studies
2018: Alumni Award University of Wollongong
Publications
Kirk, M. & Lipscombe, K. (2019). When a Postgraduate Student Becomes a Novice Researcher and a Supervisor Becomes a Mentor : A Journey of Research Identity Development. Studying Teacher Education, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/17425964.2019.1587606
Lipscombe, K., Tindall-Ford, S., & Kirk, M. (2019). Leading a top down directive from the bottom up : A school and university partnership. Leading and Managing, 25(1).
Tytler, R., Mulligan, J., Prain, V., White, P., Su, L., Kirk, M., Nielsen, C., & Speldewinde. C. (2021). An interdisciplinary approach to primary school mathematics and science learning. International Journal of Science Education, 43 (12), 1926-2949.