Senior Lecturer
Tel +64 3 479 4993
Google Scholar Sylvia Robertson
ORCID orcid.org/0000-0003-4931-1822
Email sylvia.robertson@otago.ac.nz
Biography
I returned home to Dunedin in 2011 after 18 years teaching and studying in Sydney and the UK. I started working at the College of Education in 2016 as I completed my PhD. Prior to this, I held teaching and leadership roles in diverse primary school settings in New Zealand (Hutt Valley and Wainuiomata), Australia (Sydney) and the UK (Hertfordshire). As I travelled and taught across different countries, in independent and state schools, bilingual settings, all-boys and all-girls and co-educational settings, I became very aware of one constant in education everywhere – change. Thus my research interests include leadership preparation, leadership identity, and management of change. I have published and presented on the leadership self, teacher effectiveness, leadership for social justice, and leadership in high-needs settings.
At the University of Otago College of Education from 2016 to 2019, I taught across a number of different academic and professional practice papers at Bachelor and Masters levels. Currently, I lecture in Education Studies in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. I am Director, University of Otago Centre for Educational Leadership and Administration, and Co-Director, UCEA Centre for the International Study of School Leadership.
Teaching Sectors
- Primary
- Bachelor of Teaching / Bachelor of Arts
- Master of Education and Learning
- Postgraduate supervision
Teaching Areas
- Education Studies
- Professional practice (Primary)
- Educational leadership
Research Interests
- Leadership of change
- Leader identity
- Leadership in high-needs settings
- Leadership for social justice
- Leadership preparation
- Student metacognition