BEd (Early Childhood & Primary)(Hons Class 1); PhD (Education) Lysa is a Lecturer with the School of Education on the Albury-Wodonga campus. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) (Honours Class 1) both from Charles Sturt University. Lysa teaches in the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood & Primary), the Bachelor of Education (Birth to 5), the Bachelor and Master of Teaching (Primary), and the Bachelor and Master of Teaching (Secondary). Lysa’s disciplinary knowledge in tertiary education spans early childhood education, First Nations education and intercultural education. Lysa has also been involved in curriculum and course development, review and accreditation, and in overseeing and improving the quality of subjects as a Quality Assurance Officer for the School of Education. Prior to joining the team at Charles Sturt University in 2009, Lysa was an early years classroom teacher in a regional Victorian primary school. Lysa’s doctoral thesis recognises the transition to school as a pivotal life point. Informed by bioecological and Cultural Interface theories, narrative analysis of interviews with Aboriginal children, their mothers and educators participating in the Gudaga Goes to School project indicates the ways in which sense of self - ways of being, knowing and doing - contributes to a positive start to school. I have been a lecturer with the School of Education for 13 years and have taught a wide range of curriculum and pedagogy subjects. My current teaching areas include First Nations education, play and learning, early childhood development, teaching diverse learners, educational transitions, and critical studies in education. I am passionate about promoting inclusion and social justice through education, which are central themes to many of the subjects I teach. I have also taught several of the foundational Indigenous Australian Studies subjects developed by the School of Indigenous Australian Studies for CSU students. My teaching is increasingly influenced and guided by First Nations ways of being, knowing and doing and a strong commitment to the Wiradjuri ethos of yindyamarra winhanganha. Teacher-learner relationships and teacher reflexivity are central to my work as a teacher. My research is primarily concerned with facilitating inclusion and social justice. My doctoral study, completed with CSU in 2016, explored transition to school experiences from the perspectives of Aboriginal children and their families living in urban communities in NSW. Working alongside Aboriginal families and researchers, I learned from children, families and teachers about ways of knowing, being and doing as children start school across the Tharawal (Dharawal) community. The research was part of an ARC funded project titled: Gudaga goes to school – An ecological study of school transition and the early years of school for Aboriginal children in an urban community. My Honours research, titled Fostering intercultural understanding: Exploring a values education approach, explored teachers’ perceptions and practice relating to teaching values to foster intercultural understanding in their students. As part of a project research that sought to effectively engage young children as research participants, I have broadened my research interests to explore research methods that facilitate young children’s participation in research as well as the ways in which eliciting children’s experiences can inform inclusive pedagogies. Lysa has also been involved with a range of projects, including Indigenous science education, evaluating transition to school programs, continuity in early childhood curriculum, and developing tools that support educators to observe and reflect on the learning of children aged 0 – 3 years.
Teaching and Research Staff
Dr Lysa Dealtry
Lecturer in Education
Albury / Wodonga
Building 763, Room 113