Professor Alex Gunn, Our People, College of Education, University of Otago, New Zealand

Alex Gunn image Professor
DipTchg(ECE) BEd MA EdD

Dunedin Campus
Tel +64 3 479 4261
Email alex.gunn@otago.ac.nz

Biography

After teaching in urban and rural not-for-profit and community based early childhood settings with children aged between birth and school-age, I took a position in early childhood teacher education in Christchurch. I moved to my position at the University of Otago College of Education in 2011 where I teach and research in early childhood education, inclusive education, teacher education, and assessment. I am interested in teachers' beliefs and practices, and in how the things we do in education come to reflect and (re)produce certain norms. Furthermore, I am intrigued by how teachers take up normative understandings in ways that enable and constrain particular subjects, understandings, and ideas.

Teaching Areas

Teacher education
Inclusive education (difference, diversity, and social justice in early childhood education)
Contemporary views on children as learners
Gender and education
Curriculum and pedagogy in early childhood education
Professional practices of teaching
Assessment education
Qualitative research design and implementation

Research Interests

Teacher education
Early childhood education (various aspects, e.g., gender, assessment, inclusion, teachers' practices, policy)
Inclusive education and social justice (particularly queer concerns and heteronormativity)
Educational assessment (sociocultural and narrative approaches)

Key Methodologies and Methods

Qualitative approaches (nVivo user)
Ethnography and genealogy
Queer theory
Practitioner research
Foucaultian discourse analysis
Interview and focus group methods
Cultural historical research and activity theory
Questionnaire method

Currently supervising students in the areas of:

Culturally responsive teaching
Male teachers recruitment and retention
Democratic early childhood education
Home school partnerships for children in residential care
Inclusive early childhood education (disability focus)
Inclusive early childhood education (refugee/immigrant focus)
Constructions of gifted and talented learners in New Zealand education

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Publications

Gunn, A. C., Kelly, M., Offen, B., Ormond, A. P., & Sexton, S. (2023). He ara e rua he whāinga kotahi: Walking dual pathways toward shared goals in initial primary sector teacher education. In W. O. Lee, P. Brown, A. L. Goodwin & A. Green (Eds.), International handbook on education development in Asia-Pacific. (Online ed.) Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-16-2327-1_85-1

Gunn, A. C., White, E. J., & Williams, N. (2022). The status of the image in ECE assessment practice: Insights from the field. New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work, 19(1), 15-28.

Gunn, A. C. (2022). Young children's learning dispositions. In S. C. Faircloth (Ed.), Oxford bibliographies: Education. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/OBO/9780199756810-0290

Reese, E., Gunn, A., Bateman, A., & Carr, M. (2021). Teacher-child talk about learning stories in New Zealand: A strategy for eliciting children’s complex language. Early Years, 41(5), 506-521. doi: 10.1080/09575146.2019.1621804

White, E. J., Rooney, T., Gunn, A. C., & Nuttall, J. (2021). Understanding how early childhood educators ‘see’ learning through digitally cast eyes: Some preliminary concepts concerning the use of digital documentation platforms. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 46(1), 6-18. doi: 10.1177/1836939120979066

Chapter in Book - Research

Gunn, A. C., White, E. J., & Williams, N. (2022). The status of the image in ECE assessment practice: Insights from the field. New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work, 19(1), 15-28.

Journal - Research Article

Gunn, A. C. (2022). Young children's learning dispositions. In S. C. Faircloth (Ed.), Oxford bibliographies: Education. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/OBO/9780199756810-0290

Chapter in Book - Research

Journal - Research Article

Gunn, A. (2022, October). "Why and how kaiako can foreground inclusion, social justice and equity as strengths of curriculum: Learning dispositions and teaching practices that count". Curriculum Te Marautanga Keynote, Me Ako Tonu, [Online]. [Professional Development Seminar].

Other Research Output

Gunn, A. C. (2021, April). Three decades weaving: Promise, practice and policy reflections on working with Te Whāriki in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education [Plenary]. Verbal presentation at the ENNEA International Professional Interdisciplinary Community of Expert Learning Conference in Early & Preschool Education, [Hybrid].

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Gunn, A. C., Bissenden, M., & Kroeger, J. (2020). Trans* affirmative practices in early childhood education: New gender questions for inclusion. In A. C. Gunn, N. Surtees, D. Gordon-Burns & K. Purdue (Eds.), Te aotūroa tātaki: Inclusive early childhood education: Perspectives on inclusion, social justice and equity from Aotearoa New Zealand. (2nd ed.) (pp. 196-213). Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER Press.

Chapter in Book - Research

Gunn, A. C., Hill, M. F., Berg, D. A. G., & Haigh, M. (2020). The promise and practice of university teacher education: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic, 208p. doi: 10.5040/9781350073517

Authored Book - Research

Gunn, A. C., Surtees, N., Gordon-Burns, D., & Purdue, K. (Eds.). (2020). Te aotūroa tātaki: Inclusive early childhood education: Perspectives on inclusion, social justice and equity from Aotearoa New Zealand (2nd ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER Press, 258p.

Edited Book - Research

Gunn, A. C., & Trevethan, H. (2020). Constructing the problem of initial teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand: Policy formation and risk, 2010-2018. New Zealand Annual Review of Education, 24, 5-20. doi: 10.26686/nzaroe.v24i0.6322

Journal - Research Article

More publications...