Dr Cris Townley

Research Fellow

Biography

Cris is a Research Fellow in TeEACH, the WSU SAGE Deputy Research Lead, and teaches in the School of Medicine and the School of Education. Cris takes a collaborative, intersectional approach, that recognises the multiplicity of identities lived by children, young people and families, and requires listening to their voices. Cris works collaboratively with partners, from research design to engaging with findings, to ensure that research supports change through informed policy and practice. Examples of Cris’ work are an exploration of Acknowledgement of Country practices in early childhood services, and design of online learning using a collaborative action research framework to support educators; research funded by the James Martin Institute through community hubs in the Northern Rivers and South West Sydney exploring social infrastructures that facilitate community resilience; co-design of a theory of change for multi-agency service integration reform; and initiation of a Paul Ramsay Foundation project to inform what supports young people to thrive in school, and finish school well. Cris has co-authored gender equity research at Western Sydney on academic promotion, trans and gender diversity, and HDR candidature policy and practice for women with caring responsibilities.

Research Interests

• Service integration
• Community building
• Supporting families with trans and gender diverse children
• Supporting educators in inclusive practices in early childhood education and care, and schools

Qualifications and Recognition

• PhD on identity, belonging and social support in Australian community playgroups at the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW.
• Masters’ Degree in the Sociology of Gender Divisions from Essex University, UK.
• BA Hons and a Cert. Ed in Mathematics and Education, Cambridge University, UK.

Research and Publications

https://research-report.uws.edu.au/wpubs/Portal.asp

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