BEd (Hons) UniSA, Conducting (Diploma) Hungary, Masters (Deans Award) CSU, PhD (GTPA Scholarship) CSU. Monique is a dedicated and compassionate educator, researcher, and leader with extensive experience in curriculum development, program leadership, and student diversity initiatives. She began her career teaching in an Indigenous community in Western Australia and later specialised in K–12 music education across IB and Independent schools. Now a Lecturer at CSU, she designs and delivers teacher-education programs grounded in inquiry-based and arts-informed pedagogies. Her work reimagines education as relational and transformative, fostering critical thinking, social-emotional learning, and creative collaboration. She believes in the centrality of student voice, emotional wellbeing, and culturally responsive practice, nurturing self-aware, ethical, and empowered learners prepared for lifelong inquiry. Monique holds a PhD in Education: Philosophy & Research (Charles Sturt University), a Master of Arts in Education Philosophy (Creativity), a Diploma in Choral Conducting (Kodály Institute, Hungary), and a Bachelor of Arts in Education. Monique began her teaching career in an Indigenous community in Western Australia before specialising in K–12 music education across IB and Independent schools in Australia, following a Diploma in Choral Conducting from the Kodály Institute (Hungary). She now lectures in Creative Arts at CSU, designing and delivering undergraduate teacher-education subjects in Visual Arts and interdisciplinary learning. Her teaching integrates curriculum design, research-informed practice, and innovative assessment, with a strong focus on inquiry-based and practice-led learning. Drawing on aesthetic theory and postmodern scholarship, she approaches education as relational and transformative, resisting reductive, neoliberal framings of schooling. A dedicated and compassionate educator, Monique has held leadership roles including Head of Music (K–6) at Newington College and Head of Music (K–12) at Fintona Girls’ School, where she led curriculum development, staff mentoring, program innovation, and large-scale performance initiatives. Across all contexts, she centres student voice, emotional wellbeing, and culturally responsive pedagogy. She is committed to fostering critical thinking, social-emotional development, and creative collaboration, viewing the arts as essential to developing self-aware, ethical, and empowered learners prepared for lifelong inquiry. I undertake original, high-level qualitative research, gathering extensive data from creative sources—including artists, innovators, creators, leaders, entrepreneurs, and teachers—to generate new insights that foster expansive ways of thinking. This work supports the growth and development of teachers, students, administrators, and educational leaders. I prepare and deliver presentations at conferences and workshops, and compose papers for submission to peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings. I also develop knowledge and skills in aesthetic education and provide training in research techniques and methodologies. Central to my work is cultivating strong, positive relationships with internal and external collaborators. Monique’s research interests focus on aesthetic experience and creative agency within teaching and learning. She views this work as essential to redefining the ontological positions that shape educational practice and the systems that sustain it.
Teaching and Research Staff4576341
Dr Monique Füss