Prof Bruce Burnett - Nat Sch of Education (Faculty of Education and Arts)
Fully accredited supervisor - Can supervise as principal supervisor

Professor Bruce Burnett's teaching and research extend across the area of sociology of education with a particular interest in critical social justice issues within teacher education and the high poverty schooling sector. Bruce was a co-founder of the National Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools (NETDS) program which expanded across 7 Australian universities. His research experience includes lead roles on an ARC Linkage grant and European Commission Horizon 2020 grant targeting equity and access in low SES school settings. In addition, Bruce has led an Australian Council of Deans of Education/More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Teachers Initiative research project and is regularly invited to collaborate nationally and internationally on research associated with teacher education within high poverty contexts. Recent publications include a co-edited Springer publication 'Teacher Education for High Poverty Schools' and an NETDS Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Teacher Education. Bruce is currently a Senior Editor for the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Education Complement: 'ORE: Encyclopaedia of Global Perspectives on Teacher Education'.
Contact
![]() | 07 3861 6285 (Brisbane) |
![]() | Bruce.Burnett@acu.edu.au |
![]() | Staff Directory Profile |
Research Interests
Disadvantage ; Poverty ; Initial Teacher Education ; Social Justice ; quality teaching ;
Methods Expertise
qualitative methods ; Narrative Inquiry ; case study design ; Mixed Method ;
Research Projects
Completed Projects
- Gender equity policies in higher education in Japan (PhD) (Principal Supervisor)
- How Professional Development Impacts on Experienced Teachers' Perceptions of their ICT Practices (Master) (Principal Supervisor)
- Factors influencing academics' development of interactive multimodal technology-mediated distance higher education courses (PhD) (Principal Supervisor)
- Leading toward a growth mindset in an educational climate of accountability (Master) (Co-Supervisor)
Current Projects
- Principals' Perceptions of Quality Teaching (Master) (Principal Supervisor)
Selected Publications
2019
Poverty and schooling: three cases from Australia, the United States, and Spain, in Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education
The Australian national exceptional teaching for disadvantaged schools programme: a reflection on its first 8 years, in Journal of Education for Teaching
Educating Teachers for High-Poverty Schools, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education
2018
The Politics of Quality Teacher Discourses: Implications for Pre-service Teachers in High Poverty Schools, in Australian Journal of Teacher Education
'It's not about punitive': Exploring how early career teachers in high poverty schools respond to critical incidents, in Critical Studies in Education
2017
The Politics of Quality Teacher Discourses: Implications for Pre-service Teachers in High Poverty Schools.Australian Journal of Teacher Education, in Australian Journal of Teacher Education 42 (4.3), 19-43.
2016
'More like the kids than the other teachers': One working class pre-service teachera??s Experiences in a middle-class profession, in Teaching and Teacher Education, 58 (1), 35-42.
2015
Teacher Education for High Poverty Schools, in Springer International Publishing
Teacher Education for High Poverty Schools in Australia: The National Exceptional Teachers for Disadvantaged Schools Program, in Teacher Education for High Poverty Schools. (pp. 73-94). New York: Springer International Publishing
Destabilising privilege: Disrupting deficit thinking in White pre-service teachers on field experience in culturally diverse, high poverty schools, in Understanding Sociological Theory and Pedagogical Practices. (76-89). Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press
2011
Multiculturalism, education for sustainable development (ESD) and the shifting discursive landscape of social inclusion, in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(1), 43-56.
Other information
Current/Ongoing grants include:
1) ARC LINKAGE GRANT (LP140100613) Exceptional teachers for disadvantaged schools: A longitudinal study of graduates at work in low socio-economic status schools: Which investigates how NETDS graduate teachers enact quality teaching in low socio-economic schools. Research provides education departments, schools and teacher educators with crucial knowledge in relation to facilitating a??quality teachinga?? within challenging high poverty settings.
2) EUROPEAN COMMISSION HORIZON 2020: MARIE SK??ODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS (RISE) GRANT: Collaboration between 7 International partner research groups and 1 non-academic institution (Drom Kotar Mestipen) with a global scope to address educational and social exclusion in schools and learning communities.