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Dr Mary Mooney
Dr Mary Mooney works in the areas of drama education, critical and creative pedagogy. Mary is an associate member of the Centre for Educational Research at the University of Western Sydney (UWS), which is concerned with education in the larger context of social, economic and policy issues that impact upon individuals, families, communities and institutions, particularly from Greater Western Sydney. Mary also works as the UWS coordinator for the Australian Universities Quality Agency.
Whilst working at UWS Mary has been an Associate Head of School, Course Convenor, Head of Program and a staff representative on a variety of School, College, University and industry committees. Mary has also worked at the University of New South Wales as a Course Development Adviser and Coordinator of Production. In the 1980s Mary lectured in drama and arts education at Brisbane CAE on the Mt Gravatt Campus, McAuley College and the Queensland College of Art. Prior to this, Mary was a Years 1-12 Drama Curriculum Consultant with the Queensland Department of Education. Mary has taught Drama in secondary schools and was a generalist primary teacher. Mary has also worked with a contemporary dance company, a clown troupe, theatre-in-education and as a Director of Junior Theatre.
Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
Teaching
Drama and arts education, critical and creative pedagogy.
Research Higher Degree supervision
Drama education, creative practice, creative arts education, effective teaching, positive behaviour for learning, embodied learning, learning ecology, middle years education, screen culture, youth culture, case study, creative research, grounded theory, performance-based enquiry/ethnography.
Research
Digital and performative youth arts, creative learning practices, cultural practices of young people, positive behaviour for learning, effective teaching, middle years boys education.
Selected Publications
Mooney, M. (2009) “Composing screen drama narratives.” S. Gannon, M. Howie & W. Sawyer (Eds) Re-viewing English: Charged with Meaning. Puney: Phoenix Education.
Mooney, M., Dobia, B., Yeung, A., Barker, K., Power, A. & Watson, K. (2008) Positive Behaviour for Learning: Investigating the transfer of a United States system into the NSW Department of Education and Training Western Sydney Region schools. Sydney: University of Western Sydney.
Mooney, M. (2005) “Morphing into new spaces: Transcoding Drama”. Drama Australia Journal NJ., Vol 29.
Mooney, M. & Nicholls, J. (Eds) (2004) Drama Journeys: Inside Drama Learning. Currency Press, Sydney.
Mooney, M. (2004). “Morphing into screen drama”. In The state of our art: NSW perspectives on educational drama. (Eds) C. Hatton & M. Anderson. Currency Press and EDA, Sydney.
Mooney, M. (2004) “Fast forward to screen drama”. In Drama Journeys: inside drama learning. (Eds) M. Mooney & J. Nicholls. Currency Press, Sydney.
McCallum, J., Nicholls, J. & Mooney, M. (2004) “Appreciating Drama”. In Drama Journeys: inside drama learning. (Eds) M. Mooney & J. Nicholls. Currency Press, Sydney.
Mooney, M. (2000). “Home and Away: an intercultural drama experience”. NJ Drama Australia Journal, 24,(2), 51-58.
Professional Activities
2009 (June) Convenor of the 2009 NSW Teacher Education Council Conference hosted by UWS, June 2009 and opened by the NSW Education Minister the Hon. Verity Firth.
2006 (Oct) National Tertiary Drama Education Research Symposium Co-convenor, Catching and Riding the Research Wave: Creating Productive Research Partnerships held at Currency Press, Sydney.
2006 (Sep-Oct) Co-convenor with Pauline Cain, Drama Australia Conference, NIDA, Sydney
1998 Conference Co-Convenor with Steve Wilson, UWS National Lifelong Learning Forum, Learning throughout life: towards a learning society, Sydney.
1993-1998 NSW Board of Studies Senior Examiner for HSC Drama
