Katrina MacDonald
Biographic Data
| ID | 5848602 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Katrina MacDonald |
| GIVEN NAMES | Katrina |
| FAMILY NAME | MacDonald |
| SIGNATURE | MACDONALD K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Deakin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0871-1643 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 14 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The affective milieu of school market competition
The affective milieu of school market competition: using affect and governmentality to study market competition
Schools and the city
Attracting and retaining a stable supply of effective teachers is critical to the provision of schooling that meets international commitments to equity, excellence, and inclusion. Initiatives targeting school staff are predicated on the accessibility of schools for the workforce. To this point, the empirical impact of housing and transportation costs on the school education workforce has been relatively poorly understood. Based on a novel approac…
Principals and the careless erosion of employment standards in the context of school autonomy and marketisation
Devolved governance, school autonomy and marketisation impact the employment practices of schools and the working conditions of teachers. However, the employment-related effects on school services staff are under-researched. This study draws on data from interviews with staff at one public high school to analyse school services staff experience of school autonomy and the employment practices of principals in the context of competitive education m…
Housing the Teacher Workforce
Globally, education systems are faced with dual workforce crises: a shortage of teachers and a lack of affordable housing. Attracting and retaining teachers through improved renumeration, working conditions, and quality preparation have been central. However, initiatives to attract and retain teachers mean little if the workforce cannot find appropriate (quality and affordable) housing within commuting distance to their workplaces. The present st…
‘It's like we’re in two different schools’
The articulation of school autonomy into practice nationally, regionally and locally is highly situated in terms of what it enables or impedes with regard to the professional autonomy of principals and teachers. Principal autonomy does not necessarily mean greater teacher professional autonomy. In this paper, we draw on a three-year qualitative study investigating the social justice implications of school autonomy reform in Australia. We present …
Teacher professional autonomy in an atypical government school
Teacher professional autonomy is important to teachers’ work satisfaction, efficiency, well-being, and empowerment. However, it cannot simply be defined as freedom from control because it is relational and contextual. In this paper, we examine the relationality and contextual sensitivity of teacher professional autonomy at ‘Newstall’ College, a senior secondary government school in Australia. The paper draws on a larger study that examined the so…
Principals’ perceptions of school autonomy and educational leadership
This paper examines principals’ perceptions of school autonomy and leadership as part of a 3-year research project looking at the implications of school autonomy on social justice across four states of Australia (Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland). Drawing on interviews with principals and representatives from principal stakeholder organisations in these four state jurisdictions, the paper identifies a number of key issu…
School autonomy reform and social justice
What needs to happen for school autonomy to be mobilised to create more equitable public schools and systems of education
The series of responses in this article were gathered as part of an online mini conference held in September 2021 that sought to explore different ideas and articulations of school autonomy reform across the world (Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, the USA, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand). It centred upon an important question: what needs to happen for school autonomy to be mobilised to create more equitable public schools and systems of educa…
Election or selection? School autonomy reform, governance and the politics of school councils
Neoliberal policies promoting school autonomy reform in Australia and internationally have, over three decades, appropriated earlier social democratic discourses of parental participation and partnership in school governance. Recent school autonomy reforms have repositioned school council/boards within a narrow frame of accountability and management operating in marketized systems of education. This paper considers the perceptions of 12 stakehold…
The spatiality of economic maldistribution in public-school funding in Australia
This paper analyses the composition, distribution, and history of school funding in Australia through a spatial lens (Soja 2010). We explore multi-scalar school funding policy through three layers of economic maldistribution. We sketch the funding disparities between the three school sectors (public, Catholic, and independent) exposing a spatial injustice in policies of school choice; the spatial and economic maldistribution between state jurisdi…
Creating spaces of learning in academia
This paper analyses the move by an Australian university faculty to a new building featuring open plan and alternative workspaces. Through the lens of the theory of practice architectures, the paper examines how the new built spaces both enabled and constrained the professional learning practices of academics. Drawing on a case study of the transition, the paper explores the ways in which the move to the new building disrupted existing ecologies …
How built spaces influence practices of educators’ work
In this era of the global pandemic of Covid 19, built spaces for educating have taken on a special significance. As this special issue was underway in 2021, much of our home country of Australia was living under conditions of hard lockdown as the Delta variant spread. Internationally, we saw similar conditions. Schools and universities operated virtually or at skeletal levels. Learning and teaching were undertaken in the home and the conditions t…
School autonomy, marketisation and social justice
There remains strong political support for school autonomy reform within Australian public education despite evidence linking this reform to exacerbating school and systemic inequities. This paper presents interview data from key education stakeholders gathered from a broader study that is investigating the social justice implications of school autonomy reform across three Australian states. We focus on the concerns these stakeholders raise about…
Robinson Crusoe and the Island of Despair
Educational leadership research has a long history of the use of metaphor as a descriptive and analytical tool. In this paper, I explore the value of metaphorical analysis using tropes from the story of Robinson Crusoe as a way to think with and through the data generated in a case study examining how social justice may be understood and acted upon by principals in socially disadvantaged Australian primary schools. A key aspect of the study was t…
Report on the 1997 field season of the Bayswater Archaeological Research Project, NSW Hunter Valley
Report on the 1997 field season of the Bayswater Archaeological Research Project, NSW Hunter Valley
Stone artefact quarries and reduction sites in Australia
School autonomy, marketisation and social justice
There remains strong political support for school autonomy reform within Australian public education despite evidence linking this reform to exacerbating school and systemic inequities. This paper presents interview data from key education stakeholders gathered from a broader study that is investigating the social justice implications of school autonomy reform across three Australian states. We focus on the concerns these stakeholders raise about…
Election or selection? School autonomy reform, governance and the politics of school councils
Neoliberal policies promoting school autonomy reform in Australia and internationally have, over three decades, appropriated earlier social democratic discourses of parental participation and partnership in school governance. Recent school autonomy reforms have repositioned school council/boards within a narrow frame of accountability and management operating in marketized systems of education. This paper considers the perceptions of 12 stakehold…
Stone artefact quarries and reduction sites in Australia
Report on the 1997 field season of the Bayswater Archaeological Research Project, NSW Hunter Valley
Report on the 1997 field season of the Bayswater Archaeological Research Project, NSW Hunter Valley
Robinson Crusoe and the Island of Despair
Educational leadership research has a long history of the use of metaphor as a descriptive and analytical tool. In this paper, I explore the value of metaphorical analysis using tropes from the story of Robinson Crusoe as a way to think with and through the data generated in a case study examining how social justice may be understood and acted upon by principals in socially disadvantaged Australian primary schools. A key aspect of the study was t…
School autonomy, marketisation and social justice
There remains strong political support for school autonomy reform within Australian public education despite evidence linking this reform to exacerbating school and systemic inequities. This paper presents interview data from key education stakeholders gathered from a broader study that is investigating the social justice implications of school autonomy reform across three Australian states. We focus on the concerns these stakeholders raise about…
Creating spaces of learning in academia
This paper analyses the move by an Australian university faculty to a new building featuring open plan and alternative workspaces. Through the lens of the theory of practice architectures, the paper examines how the new built spaces both enabled and constrained the professional learning practices of academics. Drawing on a case study of the transition, the paper explores the ways in which the move to the new building disrupted existing ecologies …
How built spaces influence practices of educators’ work
In this era of the global pandemic of Covid 19, built spaces for educating have taken on a special significance. As this special issue was underway in 2021, much of our home country of Australia was living under conditions of hard lockdown as the Delta variant spread. Internationally, we saw similar conditions. Schools and universities operated virtually or at skeletal levels. Learning and teaching were undertaken in the home and the conditions t…
Principals’ perceptions of school autonomy and educational leadership
This paper examines principals’ perceptions of school autonomy and leadership as part of a 3-year research project looking at the implications of school autonomy on social justice across four states of Australia (Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland). Drawing on interviews with principals and representatives from principal stakeholder organisations in these four state jurisdictions, the paper identifies a number of key issu…
School autonomy reform and social justice
What needs to happen for school autonomy to be mobilised to create more equitable public schools and systems of education
The series of responses in this article were gathered as part of an online mini conference held in September 2021 that sought to explore different ideas and articulations of school autonomy reform across the world (Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, the USA, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand). It centred upon an important question: what needs to happen for school autonomy to be mobilised to create more equitable public schools and systems of educa…
Election or selection? School autonomy reform, governance and the politics of school councils
Neoliberal policies promoting school autonomy reform in Australia and internationally have, over three decades, appropriated earlier social democratic discourses of parental participation and partnership in school governance. Recent school autonomy reforms have repositioned school council/boards within a narrow frame of accountability and management operating in marketized systems of education. This paper considers the perceptions of 12 stakehold…
The spatiality of economic maldistribution in public-school funding in Australia
This paper analyses the composition, distribution, and history of school funding in Australia through a spatial lens (Soja 2010). We explore multi-scalar school funding policy through three layers of economic maldistribution. We sketch the funding disparities between the three school sectors (public, Catholic, and independent) exposing a spatial injustice in policies of school choice; the spatial and economic maldistribution between state jurisdi…
Housing the Teacher Workforce
Globally, education systems are faced with dual workforce crises: a shortage of teachers and a lack of affordable housing. Attracting and retaining teachers through improved renumeration, working conditions, and quality preparation have been central. However, initiatives to attract and retain teachers mean little if the workforce cannot find appropriate (quality and affordable) housing within commuting distance to their workplaces. The present st…
‘It's like we’re in two different schools’
The articulation of school autonomy into practice nationally, regionally and locally is highly situated in terms of what it enables or impedes with regard to the professional autonomy of principals and teachers. Principal autonomy does not necessarily mean greater teacher professional autonomy. In this paper, we draw on a three-year qualitative study investigating the social justice implications of school autonomy reform in Australia. We present …
Teacher professional autonomy in an atypical government school
Teacher professional autonomy is important to teachers’ work satisfaction, efficiency, well-being, and empowerment. However, it cannot simply be defined as freedom from control because it is relational and contextual. In this paper, we examine the relationality and contextual sensitivity of teacher professional autonomy at ‘Newstall’ College, a senior secondary government school in Australia. The paper draws on a larger study that examined the so…
Schools and the city
Attracting and retaining a stable supply of effective teachers is critical to the provision of schooling that meets international commitments to equity, excellence, and inclusion. Initiatives targeting school staff are predicated on the accessibility of schools for the workforce. To this point, the empirical impact of housing and transportation costs on the school education workforce has been relatively poorly understood. Based on a novel approac…
Principals and the careless erosion of employment standards in the context of school autonomy and marketisation
Devolved governance, school autonomy and marketisation impact the employment practices of schools and the working conditions of teachers. However, the employment-related effects on school services staff are under-researched. This study draws on data from interviews with staff at one public high school to analyse school services staff experience of school autonomy and the employment practices of principals in the context of competitive education m…
The affective milieu of school market competition
The affective milieu of school market competition: using affect and governmentality to study market competition
Sociology (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Pedagogy (9 works) · Autonomy (8 works) · Law (7 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (7 works) · Economics (6 works) · Economic Justice (5 works) · Global Educational Policies and Reforms (5 works) · Public Administration (5 works)