Nerida Spina

Nerida Spina is an Associate Professor in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education at QUT, Australia.  Her research is concerned with teachers’ and school leaders’ work in an era of accountability.  She uses sociological methods of research the everyday lives of teachers and leaders, and to understand how contextual and policy factors shape their work.   Nerida’s areas of expertise are in ethical/transformative leadership for inclusive schools, teacher preparation for social justice and policy analysis. She has engaged in research with industry collaboration to inform policy and practice in Australian and international education contexts, including as a consultant to UNESCO on Reaching Out to All Learners.  She is an associate investigator on the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.

Transformative Leadership for Inclusion and Equity

School leaders (school principals, deputy principals, heads of inclusion) find it challenging to build and sustain inclusive culture and practice in their school communities. This presentation will provide a framework drawing on nine tenets of Transformative Leadership to support planning to translate inclusive education policy to systemic school reform and practice. Progressing a systematic approach to inclusive education requires leaders at all levels to influence others, promote and create values that underpin inclusion and equity, and support learning of inclusive pedagogies and approaches that value student and parent voice. Transformative leaders need to lead others to deconstruct frameworks and practice that perpetuate inequity and drive collective efficacy to support new learning and change. You will leave this presentation with a roadmap to drive inclusion and equity in your own school context.