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    Dr Christine Cunningham

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Dr Christine Cunningham

Senior Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Telephone: +61 8 6304 6807
Email: c.cunningham@ecu.edu.au
Campus: Mount Lawley  
Room: ML17.225  
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1216-9623

Dr Christine Cunningham is an experienced Senior Lecturer in the School of Education.

Current teaching

Unit Coordinator for:

  • EPA6156 Leading for Improvement
  • EPA6320 Leading for Improvement (online)
  • EPA6157 Leading Staffing
  • EPA6330 Leading Staffing (online)

Background

Dr Christine Cunningham has a PhD in educational leadership from Murdoch University, she is a trained secondary teacher and experienced school principal. Dr Cunningham has also been a Councillor and Deputy Mayor of the City of Canning.

Professional associations

Dr Cunningham has been elected to two positions for three years:

  • Academic Staff Member to ECU’s University Council (Oct 2024-Sept 2027)
  • ECU’s Branch President of our National Tertiary Education Union (Oct 2024-Sept 2027)

Research areas and interests

  • Educational administration, management and leadership (FOR: 390403); and
  • Comparative and cross-cultural education (FOR: 390401).

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Professional Studies with Second Class Honours, Murdoch University.
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Education, The University of Western Australia.
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Murdoch University, 2010.

Research Outputs

2024

Journal Articles

  • Zhang, W., Wang, L., Cunningham, C., Liu, Z. (2024). Education for profit in the era of Xi: Biopower, resistance and China's double reduction policy. Globalization Societies and Education, 2024(Article in press), 15 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2024.2381193.

2023

Journal Articles

  • Striepe, M., Thompson, P., Robertson, S., Devi, M., Gurr, D., Longmuir, F., Taylor, A., Cunningham, C. (2023). Responsive, adaptive, and future-centred leadership in response to crisis: Findings from Australia, Fiji, and New Zealand. School Leadership and Management, 43(2), 104-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2023.2171005.
  • Fogarty, S., Cunningham, C., Striepe, M., Rhodes, D. (2023). The provision of vocational education and training within contemporary political socio-economic conditions: a review of the literature. International Journal of Training Research, 2023(Article in press), 18 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/14480220.2023.2263671.
  • Cunningham, C. (2023). School leadership, female empowerment and China’s Rise. Management in Education, 37(2), 104–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0892020621999676.

2022

Journal Articles

  • Cunningham, C., Hill, S., Zhang, W. (2022). Gender equality and educational leadership in Chinese schools. Power and Education, 14(1), 66-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/17577438211058965.
  • Striepe, M., Cunningham, C. (2022). Gatekeepers, guides and ghosts: intermediaries impacting access to schools during COVID-19. Ethnography and Education, 2022(Article in Press), 18p. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2022.2049332.
  • Cunningham, C., Zhang, W., Striepe, M., Rhodes, D. (2022). Dual leadership in Chinese schools challenges executive principalships as best fit for 21st century educational development. International Journal of Educational Development, 89(March 2022), Article number 102531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102531.
  • Striepe, M., Cunningham, C. (2022). Understanding educational leadership during times of crises: A scoping review. Journal of Educational Administration, 60(2), 133-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2021-0057.

2021

Journal Articles

  • Harvankova, L., Cunningham, C., Striepe, M. (2021). “Mummy is meeting a teacher, play on the iPad”: Reflecting on educational leadership during COVID-19 lockdown in Australia. Management in Education, 2021(Article in Press), 5p.. https://doi.org/10.1177/08920206211054645.
  • Cunningham, C., Zhang, W., Barstow, C. (2021). Moral education in China and its critique. The Social Educator, 39(1), 3-13. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/10208.
  • Fittock, S., Cunningham, C., Striepe, M. (2021). System leadership in Australian and Swedish education: What’s social justice got to do with it?. Access: critical perspectives on communication, cultural and policy studies, 41(2), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.46786/ac21.5999.
  • Zhang, W., Striepe, M., Cunningham, C. (2021). School leadership during the COVID-19 Crisis: A preliminary case study from China. Alternation: international journal for the study of Southern African literature and languages, 28(1), 225-250. https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2021/v28n1a9.

2020

Journal Articles

  • Fittock, S., Cunningham, C., Campbell-Evans, G. (2020). The Socialisation of WA Early Career Principals. Leading and Managing, 26(2), 14-31. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/9827.
  • Nguyen, T., Cunningham, C., Paolino, A. (2020). An Investigation into Chinese Influence on the Current Curriculum of Bachelor of Business English Degrees at Vietnamese Universities. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10(10), 1179-1190. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1010.01.
  • Loxton, J., Cunningham, C., Knaus, M. (2020). An investigation of Early Childhood Staff and Their Transition to the New Western Australian Humanities and Social Sciences Curriculum. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(7), 45-59.

2019

Journal Articles

  • Cunningham, C. (2019). An investigation into school inspection policies in Western Australian state education performed by the Expert Review Group. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 18(1), 39-58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-018-9227-5.
  • Cunningham, C., Wandei, E. (2019). Critical reflections on postgraduate andragogy from the points of view of a Kenyan student and an Australian academic. Reflective Practice, 20(3), 305-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2019.1598350.

2017

Journal Articles

  • Barwood, D., Penney, D., Cunningham, C. (2017). A paradox or a culture of acceptance? The idiosyncratic workforce delivering health education in lower secondary government schools in Western Australia. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 8(3), 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1080/18377122.2017.1362955.

2016

Journal Articles

  • Barwood, D., Cunningham, C., Penney, D. (2016). What we know, what we do and what we could do: Creating an understanding of the delivery of health education in lower secondary government schools in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(11), 15-30. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2016v41n11.2.

2014

Journal Articles

  • Cunningham, C. (2014). Decision-Making Processes and Educational Leadership in Australia. Leading and Managing, 20(1), 11-31.
  • Lyle, J., Cunningham, C., Gray, J. (2014). The New Australian Curriculum, Teachers and Change Fatigue. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(11), 45-64. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n11.4.
  • Cunningham, C., Jackson, S. (2014). Leadership and the Australian Greens. Leadership, 11(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715013498407.
  • Cunningham, C. (2014). Educational Leadership: What can China teach the West about inclusive decision making practices?. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 11(9), 773-789. https://doi.org/10.17265/1548-6591/2014.09.005.
  • Cunningham, C., Coy, N. (2014). Understanding the need for fine-grained assessment. Australian Educational Leader, 36(3), 6-9.

2013

Journal Articles

  • Cunningham, C. (2013). The Australian Baccalaureate: A preliminary study. Curriculum Perspectives, 33(3), 46-57.

2012

Journal Articles

2011

Books

  • Cunningham, C. (2011). Corrupted Principles and the Challenges of Critically Reflective Leadership. Peter Lang Publishing.

Research Projects

  • Research Project to Measure the Effectiveness of the Department of Education Western Australia Classroom Management Strategies (CMS) Foundation Program, Department of Education WA, Grant, 2015 ‑ 2016, $5,575.
  • A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and Australian Masters of Education Students' Insights into Leadership Models, Edith Cowan University, ECU Early Career Researcher - Grant, 2012 ‑ 2013, $22,555.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Problematising national education goals
  • Master of Education, Going 'full time': An exploration of vocational ballet training in Perth, Western Australia
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Experiences of ELICOS leaders during COVID-19 in Victoria
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Providing vocational education and training in Western Australian secondary schools

Associate Supervisor

  • Master of Education, Leadership Beyond the Studio: Investigating Secondary School Dance Teachers' Striving for Leadership Positions
  • Doctor of Philosophy, An ethnographic study of Initial Teacher Education professionals' embodied policy work in Health and Physical Education in Western Australia and Wales

Completed Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, What we know, what we do and what we could do: Creating an understanding of the delivery of health education in lower secondary government schools in Western Australia
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Home and Away: The Effects of Patriotic Education on Chinese International Students in Australia Through a Critique of Identity Theories and Policy Myth Making
  • Doctor of Philosophy, A critique of the Vietnamese Bachelor of Business English
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Moving towards communication-oriented language teaching at the primary English level: A Vietnamese perspective
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Inspiring Social Justice: Teacher educators’ experiences of Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Pedagogies in Initial Teacher Education units
  • Master of Education, The socialisation of early career principals in Western Australia
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Investigating the Efficacy of Teaching Practicum Supervision in Bhutan
  • Master of Education, Early childhood hass matters: An investigation of early childhood staff and their transition to the new Western Australian humanities and social sciences curriculum in 2017
  • Master of Education, Content and Frames of ©WeChat and Chinese State Media A critical literacy reflection of the narratives during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic

Co-principal Supervisor

  • Master of Education, The reality of reform: Teachers reflecting on curriculum reform in Western Australia

Associate Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Headteachers in Difficult Circumstances: A Study of School Leaders in Post-Conflict, Post Disaster Nepal
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Muslim women in Australia and the netherlands: A multimodal enquiry into television documentary representations
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Searching for Equity in Positivity: A two-year case study of the effectiveness of the implementation of Positive Education in a West Australian public secondary school following a Year 7 cohort to Year 8.
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