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Associate ProfessorAbbey MacDonald

(she/her)

Associate Professor in Arts Education

Education

Orcid identifier0000-0003-4774-0244 (opens in a new tab)⁠
  • Associate Professor in Arts Education
    Education
  • +61 3 6324 3170 (Work)
  • Faculty of Education, Education, Rivers Edge, Room 223, Inveresk, TAS

SUPERVISION AND TEACHING SUMMARy

A highly accomplished teacher educator, A/Prof MacDonald is internationally recognised as a leader in Australian visual art education. Her teaching is acknowledged locally (UTAS), nationally (The Educator, Australia; The Australian Teacher Education Association), and globally (InSEA) for bringing a sustained commitment to ethical conduct in reflective/reflexive practice, social and cultural engagement, and pedagogical-curricular knowledge creation. 

 

A/Prof MacDonald’s teaching philosophy and pre/inservice teacher professional learning initiatives prioritise relationality, collaboration, and real-world engagement. Her work with industry partners has generated a wealth of knowledge and resources that visual art specific and broader teacher education peers and organisations describe as being highly valued across art, culture and education sectors. Her preservice students benefit from bespoke learning experiences that align powerfully with the teacher professional learning opportunities they encounter and continue to engage in upon graduating. 

A/Prof MacDonald teaches into the Bachelor of Education and Master of Teaching programs, as well as supervision of Higher Degree Research projects across the college. Her expertise in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration means she is well equipped to supervise projects across disciplines and diverse professional settings in Education, Creative Arts and Media and Social Sciences


SUPERVISION & TEACHING

  • UNIT COORDINATED
    EMT694 (opens in a new tab)⁠
    21 Jul 2025 - 24 Sep 2025
    This unit provides an introduction to working with the Arts in educational contexts. In this unit you will develop an understanding of the distinctive value of Arts education, particularly the opportunities that it provides to deliver integrated and creative early childhood and primary learning experiences. By the end of this unit, you will be better able to articulate the value of the Arts in education; engage with the essential elements and processes of each of the five art forms (dance, drama, media arts, music and visual art); apply the Arts organising strands of making and responding across the art form areas; and understand the critical role of the teacher in initiating quality arts education in and across a school curriculum.
  • UNIT COORDINATED
    EMT653 (opens in a new tab)⁠
    24 Feb 2025 - 30 May 2025
    This unit will focus on partnerships as the driver for authentic and quality Arts education. This includes an exploration of partnerships with teachers of other Arts and non-Arts subjects, within school-based co-curricular activities, with respect to the Australian Curriculum cross curricular priorities and general competencies, and with the broader community and Arts industry. In this unit, you will interpret the research evidence for the benefits of Arts education partnerships, and contribute to the ongoing development of Arts education communities of practice in and beyond Tasmania.
  • UNIT COORDINATED
    EMT551 (opens in a new tab)⁠
    22 Jul 2024 - 25 Oct 2024
    As the introductory unit of the secondary Arts education specialisation, this unit focuses on exploring the role of the Arts educator, developing skills in reflective practice in Arts education, and creating an individualised pathway towards your professional practice. The unit will involve interactive online learning activities with peers, and engagement with the work of Arts education specialists in schools. You will investigate the role of the Arts educator through the lens of critically reflective practice. Commencing with your entry level skills and knowledge, and with reference to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, you will highlight areas for focus and articulate a plan to develop these, expanding your skills and knowledge across two disciplines. By the end of this unit, you will have developed: an introductory understanding of the role of the Arts educator, an understanding of critically reflective practice in Arts education, explicit understanding of your own skills and knowledge in two discipline areas, and a clear pathway for your ongoing professional learning.
  • UNIT LECTURER
    EDU103 (opens in a new tab)⁠
    21 Jul 2024 - 25 Oct 2024
    This unit offers an introduction to curriculum frameworks and the associated range of pedagogies involved in teaching and learning. Curriculum documents are not value-neutral; they are constructed by people who have particular viewpoints, perspectives and ideologies about education and schooling, and are implemented in a context that is part of the social, political and economic structures of society (Brady & Kennedy, 2010, p. 3). These viewpoints affect the 'what' of the curriculum (as in, what to teach) as well as the 'how' (as in, how to teach). Through this unit you will develop a capacity to think critically about the way curriculum is constructed and the implications of this construction for your professional practice. This unit, therefore, is a mix of the theoretical and the practical as it is important to come to an understanding that teaching takes place within a broad social, political, and economic context. Throughout this unit, you will examine curriculum models and planning processes, as well as teaching strategies that fulfil particular purposes. You will apply this knowledge of curriculum, planning, and pedagogy to specific classroom contexts. This unit aims to foster innovation, professionalism, collegiality, and ethical and equitable practice in all studen
  • CURRENT DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Tasmanian teachers’ attitudes to teaching Civics and Citizenship
    28 Feb 2023
  • CURRENT DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    This May Inadvertently Cause Mental Comfort: A poetic inquiry into how people build skills for meaning and healing out of living with the effects of past complex traumatic experiences
    20 Jan 2021
  • CURRENT DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Systems to Classrooms - Curriculum Reform, Design and Implications for the Professional Teacher: A Case study focusing on the teaching and learning in English Years 9-12 in The DoE Tasmania
    12 Jul 2019
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Entanglement Matters: Using geometry in visual art practice to unearth STEM insights as a way of contributing to interdisciplinary knowledge
    29 Oct 2018 - 28 Apr 2023
    Suzanne Katherine Crowley
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Walking the Precarious Edge: Rendering connective moments between people and place in and through paint
    26 Feb 2018 - 26 Aug 2022
    Anna Faith Van Stralen
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Becoming Pedagogical: Exploring possibilities for a/r/tographic inquiry as professional learning for generalist primary teachers
    25 Aug 2016 - 3 Jul 2026
    Sarah Brooke
  • COMPLETED MASTERS SUPERVISION
    An Exploration of Multidisciplinary Conceptual and Perceptual Considerations of the Relevance of Gratitude to Cancer Care
    16 Mar 2015 - 17 Oct 2024
    Karen Elaine Stafford
  • COMPLETED DOCTORAL SUPERVISION
    Redeeming 'Slippery' Meaning From the Gap Between the Present and Past: Exploring visual art processes and visual representation
    1 Jul 2011 - 11 Dec 2018
    Eng Keong Juneo Lee
  • UNIT COORDINATED
    Foundations of Arts Education
    This unit will introduce you to key theories and research praxis in arts education. Beginning with an exploration of the philosophical underpinnings of the role and value of arts, culture and education in society, you will examine research evidence of the attributes and affordances of quality arts education for academic, personal and social learning. You will investigate key issues in the historical development of at least two arts education disciplines and subjects (i.e.drama, music, media arts, visual arts) and become familiar with current discourses and debates articulated in key Australian and international arts education and curriculum scholarship. By the end of the unit, you will have developed a foundation understanding of the interrelated fields of arts, culture and education, and familiarity with critical studies and contemporary approaches to scholarship in arts education.