Gill Rutherford
Senior Lecturer
BA (Victoria) MEd(Alberta) DipTchg PhD (Otago)
Tower, S3.13
University of Otago College of Education
Union Street East
Tel 64 3 479 3804
Email gill.rutherford@otago.ac.nz
Biography
I have had the privilege of knowing and working with disabled children and adults over the last thirty years. A former high school teacher, my work as a tertiary educator since 1995 has focused on inclusive education within teacher education programmes, and on teacher aide education. In 2008, I completed my PhD, Different ways of knowing? Understanding disabled students’ and teacher aides’ school experiences within a context of relational social justice.
Teaching Area
- Inclusive Education
- Disability Studies
- Teacher Aide Education
Research Interests
- Inclusive Education
- Disability Studies
- Disabled students’ experiences of school
- Teacher aides’ role in education
- Inclusive teacher education
Distinctions
- 2010 Otago University Students’ Association Teaching Excellence Awards: Most Inclusive Teacher
- 2009 New Zealand Association for Research in Education Sutton-Smith Doctoral Award
- 2008 PhD thesis formally recognized by Division of Humanities as being of exceptional quality
Recent Publications
Conference Contribution - Other
Rutherford, G. (2010, February). Different ways of knowing? Verbal presentation at the Disability Colloquium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Rutherford, G. (2010, August). 'I wasn't trained to teach kids like that': Why disability studies needs to become an integral part of teacher education. Verbal presentation at the Otago Disability Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Rutherford, G. (2010, August). On the establishment of a Center for Disability Studies at the University of Otago. Verbal presentation at the Otago Disability Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Rutherford, G. (2010, October). ″I loved this assignment!″ Student teachers' thoughts about learning through understanding and telling stories. Verbal presentation at the Teacher Education Forum of Aotearoa New Zealand (TEFANZ) Biennial National Conference, Auckland, New Zealand.
Rutherford, G. (2010, November-December). Doing right by: Teacher aides, disabled students, and relational social justice. Verbal presentation at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference: Making a Difference, Melbourne, Australia.
Rutherford, G. (2008, November). Getting a fair deal? Disabled students' and teacher aides recommendations for educational change that makes a difference for all students. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Association for Research in Education National Conference, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Journal Article - Refereed
Rutherford, G. (2011). ″Doing right by″: teacher aides, students with disabilities, and relational social justice. Harvard Educational Review, 81(1), 95-118.
Rutherford, G. (2009). Curriculum matters for all students? Understanding curriculum from the perspectives of disabled students and teacher aides. Curriculum Matters, 5, 90-107.
Rutherford, G. (2008). ″Yeah, he's just like you″. The role of teacher aides in supporting children's understandings of and relationships with one another. New Zealand Journal of Disability Studies, 13, 81-100.
Other work
Rutherford, G. (2010, May). Just a teacher aide? Understanding the importance of teacher aides' work with disabled students. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Thesis
Rutherford, G. (2008). Different ways of knowing? Understanding disabled students' and teacher aides' school experiences within a context of relational social justice. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago, 279p.