Prof Susan Danby

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PhD (University of Queensland), MEd (Loyola University), BEdSt (University of Queensland), DipT (Brisbane College of Adv. Ed.)

Fields of Expertise

  • Education Systems
  • Linguistics
  • Sociology
  • Health Communication
  • Pragmatics

Qualifications

  • PhD (Interaction and Social Order  in Preschool), 1998, The University of Queensland, Australia
  • Master of Education (Early Childhood), 1989, Loyola University, USA
  • Bachelor of Educational Studies, 1983, The University of Queensland, Australia

Current Positions 2012 – 2017 Australian Research Council Future Fellow School of Early Childhood, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology  2016 – 2018 Australian Research Council College of Experts School of Early Childhood, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology 2016 – present Professor/Co-Program Leader Childhoods in Changing Contexts, Queensland University of Technology

Selected Project Experience 2012 – 2016 Investigating mobile technologies in young children’s everyday worlds, Chief Investigator, Australian Research Council, FT120100731, $889,426 2014 – 2015 Helping young children find their voice: Apps, e-therapy, and technical innovation to treat language disorders in children, Chief Investigator, QUT Engagement Innovation Grant, $30,000 2011 – 2013 Interacting with knowledge, interacting with people: Web searching in early childhood, Chief Investigator, Australian Research Council, DP110104227, $464,971 2007 – 2009 The impact of technological modality on troubles telling and advice giving on a national children’s helpline, Chief Investigator, Australian Research Council, DP0773185, $175,000 Awards and Fellowships 2016 Keynote speaker,  Varieties and Methodological Challenges in Educational Ehnography International Workshop, University of Zurich, Switzerland. 2009 QUT Nominee for Postgraduate Program, Australian Learning and Teaching Awards 1999 1998 Early Childhood Australia Doctoral Thesis Award Australian Association for Research in  Education Doctoral Thesis Award Professional Affiliations (memberships) Australian Association for Research in Education American Educational Research Association Early Childhood Australia International Institute of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis International Society for Conversation Analysis Australian Institute for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis International Pragmatics Association Recent Publications

Please refer to QUT for full publication list- http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Danby,_Susan.html Ekberg, S., Danby, S., Davidson, C., & Thorpe, K. J. (accepted, 23 September 2015). Identifying and addressing equivocal trouble in understanding within classroom interaction. Discourse Studies. Davidson, C., Danby, S., Given, L. M., & Thorpe, K. (accepted September 2015). Facilitating young children's use of the Web in preschool. International Journal of Early Childhood. Danby, S., Davidson, C., Theobald, M., Houen, S., & Thorpe, K. (in press, 2015). Playing with technology: Young children making sense of technology as part of their everyday social worlds. In D. Pike, S. Lynch, & C. A'Beckett (Eds.), State of Play: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Play: Springer. Danby, S., Davidson, C., Given, L. M., & Thorpe, K. (in press, 2015). Composing an email:  Social interaction in a preschool classroom. In S. Garvis & N. Lemon (Eds.), Technology and young children. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. Davidson, C., Danby, S., Given, L. M., & Thorpe, K. (2014). Talk about a YouTube video in preschool: The mutual production of shared understanding for learning with digital technology. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 39(3), 76-83. Thorpe, K., Hansen, J., Danby, S., Davidson, C., Zaki, F. M., Grant, S., . . . Given, L. M. (2015). Teachers, Teaching and Digital Technologies: Reports from the Early Childhood Classroom. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 32, 174-`182. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.04.001 Danby, S., Davidson, C., Theobald, M., Scriven, B., Cobb-Moore, C., Houen, S., . . . Thorpe, K. (2013). Talk in activity during young children’s use of digital technologies at home. Australian Journal of Communication, 40(2), 83-99. Spink, A., Danby, S., Mallan, K., & Butler, C. W. (2010). Exploring young children’s web searching and technoliteracy. Journal of Documentation, 66(2), 191-206. Biography Professor Susan Danby’s areas of expertise are in early years language and social interaction, childhood studies, and early literacy. Her methodological expertise is in qualitative approaches, including ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. She has published in the following areas: qualitative research, classroom discourse, helpline talk, gender, classroom interaction, early childhood education pedagogy, talk and interaction, children's work and play, teacher-student interactions. Susan Danby has a number of research projects, including an  Australian Research Council Future Fellowship investigating young children's experiences of mobile technologies in home and school contexts, and Australian Research Council (ARC) Discoveries (20011-2013: young children's interactions with digital technologies and knowledge building; 2007-2009: helpline interactions on a national children’s helpline; 2006-2008: social worlds of twins and friendships) and one investigating young children's participation in everyday decision-making (2004-2006). These cross-disciplinary ARC Discoveries reside in Education, Linguistics and Psychology, and the national priority areas of Early Years and E-health. Her research explicates the everyday social and interactional practices of children, showing their complex and competent work as they build their social worlds within school settings, homes and communities. Susan Danby’s doctoral thesis won the 1999 Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Doctoral Thesis Award ,and the 1999 Australian Early Childhood Association (AECA) and Telstra’s Doctoral Thesis Award. Susan Danby’s teaching leadership is recognised in higher education pedagogy and doctoral course design. In 2007, the Faculty of Education has invited her to lead a faculty-wide review of the postgraduate courses in the Faculty of Education and she led the development of the revised Master of Education. She coordinates, leads and teaches in University-wide postgraduate research student development programs and actively mentors early career academic staff. She has a strong record of postgraduate student completions, with over 10 doctoral completions. She has been a member of university governing committees (QUT Council, QUT Academic Board, QUT Research Degrees Committee) responsible for policy and implementation in research and university governance. Professor Danby is a current member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts.

Additional information

Type
Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship
Reference year
2016
Details
Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2012-2016): Project Title: Investigating mobile technologies in young children?s everyday worlds External Reference : FT120100731 Years Awarded: 2012 - 2016 Total Funding Awarded: $889,328
Type
Membership of Review Panels on Prestigious Grant Applications
Reference year
2016
Details
Appointed to ARC College of Experts (2016-2018). Australian Research Council (2007-2015) reviewer for ARC Discovery, Linkage, DECRA, Future Fellow and Laureate applications in the national priority areas of Early Years, E-Health and Healthy Start to Life, spanning education, psychology, health, language and communication, social sciences, qualitative theories and metholodgies. Invited reviewer of grant application for the Dutch Research Council (2014).
Type
Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
Reference year
2016
Details
ERA Peer Reviewer (2012, 2015) in Education and Human Society (EHS).
Type
Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
Reference year
2016
Details
My PhD students are recognised with international and national awards: Australian Association for Research in Education Graduate Student Paper Award (Houen, 2014); Early Childhood Australia Thesis Award (Busch, 2012); The International Conference on Conversation Analysis Associate De Gruyter Poster Award, Germany (Busch, 2010); American Sociological Association Ethnomethodology & Conversation Division Graduate Paper (runner-up), USA (Theobald, 2009).
Type
Advisor/Consultant for Industry
Reference year
2016
Details
My professional experiences as a teacher and education coordinator in Australia and the USA in government, not-for-profit organisations and social services agencies provided foundational experiences in industry. My social justice agenda was framed within these experiences, and continues in my current work. Recent organisations I have conducted collaborative research studies with include Kids Helpline/BoysTown; Education Queensland (co-authored a report which led to preparatory schooling in Queensland - 2003-2004); Catholic Education; Royal Children's Hospital; Lady Cilento Hospital (investigating palliative paediatric consultations with family members where a child has a life-limiting condition); The Gowrie; Creche and Kindergarten Association; CHI.L.D/Let's Talk Developmental Hub (investigating face-to-face and e-therapy delivery with young clients); Queensland Commission for Children and Young People (co-authored a report); Queensland Health (co-authored a report); Queensland Departm
Type
Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
Reference year
2016
Details
Editorial Boards: Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (international journal published by Sage); Childhoods Today (international journal); Linguistics and Education (international journal); Children & Society (international journal).Previous editoral member of: Australian Journal of Language and Literacy.Co-guest editor of special issues for: Twin Research and Human Genetics (December 2005: "The social worlds of twins"); Child Indicators Research (2010); Children & Society (2010).I am regularly invited to contribute to special issues, for example: Australian Educational Researcher (first special issue on early childhood, 2005); Research on Language and Social Interaction (first special issue on helplines, 2007); Australian Journal of Communication (first special issue of Australian research on social interaction using ethnomethodology/conversation analysis, 2009); Journal of Pragmatics (2015).
Type
Keynote Speaker/Expert Panel Member/Invited Speaker for a Conference
Reference year
2016
Details
Invited to present keynotes in many national and international forums, including: Varieties and Methodological Challenges in Ethnographic Research in Education Workshop (presented at University of Teacher Education Zurich workshop, 2016 - workshop funded by Swiss Research Council); European Sociological Association RN20 Midterm Conference (Crakow, 2016); AIEMCA Plenary Speaker (Melbourne, 2016); Enhancing Early Years Research and Practice Series, Strathclyde Knowledge Exchange Scheme and School of Education (University of Strathclyde, 2015); Playful Learning Centre (University of Helsinki, 2015); COST/ECIL/DigLitEY Conference (University of Tallinn, Estonia, 2015 - presentation funded by EU); Early Start Conference, Early Start Research Institute (University of Wollongong, 2015); LEAPS (QUT/Queensland Health/C&K Association, 2015); Department of Child Studies (Linkoping University, 2015); Plenary Speaker (Imagining Childhoods International Conference, Alice Springs); Invited Symposium
Type
Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
Reference year
2016
Details
PhD thesis recognised as being the first in the Early Education discipline to bring understandings of peer's social interactions of preschool-aged children (through the Early Childhood Australia PhD thesis award (1998) and AARE Doctoral Thesis Award (1998)). Recipient of QUT Outstanding Academic Contribution Award (Teaching) (2004 - for work in Education) and the QUT Faculty of Education Research Supervision Award (2015).QUT nominee for: Teaching Excellence (Social Sciences) (Carrick Awards, 2006, 2007); Programs that Enhance Learning (Carrick Awards, 2008); Postgraduate Program (Australian Learning and Teaching Council Awards, 2009).
Type
Visiting Professorships/Fellowships
Reference year
2016
Details
Invited international scholar to the Department of Child Studies, Linkoping University, Sweden, for the 20th jubilee of the Department. Invited presentation, Department of Child and Youth Studies, Stockholm University, Sweden.Invited expert in higher education research, policy and practice at University of Technology Sydney; University of Otago, Sweden; Australian Catholic University; Linkoping University, Sweden. I have regularly been invited to speak at international institutions on aspects of career development and successful research writing for grants and publications (e.g. Otago University, 2009-2013). Repeat invitations as international visiting scholar and external assessor attest to my strong personal and professional networks, excellent communication skills and working effectively with others.
Type
Assessor, Examiner or Supervisor Role
Reference year
2016
Details
Invitations to examine national and international theses from: University of Queensland; Griffith University; Monash University; Victoria University of Wellington, NZ; University of Stockholm, Sweden; Uppsala University, Sweden; University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.External assessor of academic promotions and probations for: Griffith University; Australian National University; Universiti Sains Malaysia.External assessor for the University of Otago (Stockholm, Sweden) Doctor of Education program (2009-2013).
Title
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child (ACDC)
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
CE200100022
Start year
2021
Keywords
early childhhood; longitudinal study; digital engagement; professional development; digital practice
Title
Extraordinary Yet Mundane Talk: Children Navigating Palliative Care
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
DP180101941
Start year
2018
Keywords
Title
Investigating mobile technologies in young children's everyday worlds
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
FT120100731
Start year
2012
Keywords
Early Childhood; Preschool; Children; Early Childhood Contexts; Play; Family
Title
Interacting with Knowledge, Interacting with People: Web Searching in Early Childhood
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
DP110104227
Start year
2011
Keywords
Preschool Early Childhood Social Interaction Knowledge Searching
Title
Compromised or competent? A longitudinal study of twin children's social competencies friendships and behavioural adjustment
Primary fund type
CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
Project ID
DP0666254
Start year
2006
Keywords
Twins; Early Childhood Education; Social and Emotional Wellbeing; Preschool