Tracy Treasure

Program Coordinator (Early Childhood), Lecturer
B.Ed (ECE) (Hons)

Email: tracy.treasure@nd.edu.au
Phone: 9433 0980

  • Biography

    Tracy joined Notre Dame as an early childhood lecturer in 2011 and is currently the Program Coordinator for the B.Ed (Early Childhood and Care: 0-8 years), the Graduate Certificate in Early Childhood and the Master of Education (Early Childhood). Tracy has been the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2017), and part of the RELATE team which received the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Initiatives that Enhance Student Learning (2016) and in 2019 received the Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for outstanding contribution to student learning. Tracy has taught in early childhood and primary settings and early learning centres, as a classroom teacher, room leader and as a 'Getting it Right Literacy Specialist'. She has a strong interest in child development, play and children's social and emotional wellbeing.

    Tracy is currently undertaking a PhD in the area of play in early childhood at The University of Notre Dame Australia. She has published work on her research studies involving social-emotional learning and presented at local, national and international conferences. Tracy is also a member of the Notre Dame RELATE (Researching Early Learning and Teacher Education) team and has been involved in a number of projects and publications relating to teaching in early learning centres, teacher professional status and the demise of play in early childhood settings.

  • Teaching areas

    Tracy has over fifteen years tertiary teaching experience that has been predominately been in the area of early childhood education and care. She has taught a number of courses in both the early childhood undergraduate and postgraduate programs including, but not limited to, the following:

    Undergraduate courses

    • Play as Pedagogy
    • Understanding and Guiding Children's Behaviour
    • Child Development
    • Holistic Care for Young Children
    • Professionalism, leadership & management in early childhood
    • Teaching Methods
    • Pedagogical documentation in early childhood

    Postgraduate courses

    • Early Childhood Curriculum Development
    • Integration in Early Years Settings
    • Trends in Early Childhood Development and Education

  • Research expertise and supervision

    Tracy's current PhD research is focused on play and play-based learning in Pre-primary and Year 1 school settings. Her research to date has specifically focused on children's social and emotional development; play-based pedagogies; professional identity and teacher status; and the division between early childhood education and care.

    Completed research projects

    • 2020-2022: AISWA Project: Socratic Circle: Educational Leaders engaging with the Early Years evidence base.
      As one of the chief investigators for this project, Tracy was involved in all aspects of the research project from acting as a support facilitator for the capacity building Professional Development sessions, to sourcing high-quality tailored research publications and resources. The project aimed to develop the philosophical capacity of EC leaders through facilitated engagement to early years' research and using the AITSL frameworks to research how this process supports participants to grow professionally.
    • 2018-2022: Irish Comparative Project of Pre-service Teacher Perspectives of Childcare.
      This comparative project investigated the way in which pre-service teachers perceive the childcare sector and mirrored the research completed at the University of Notre Dame as described in the project Pre-service Teacher Perspectives of Childcare. Colleagues in Ireland approached the RELATE team with interest in the research we had conducted with our pre-service early childhood teachers and sought to replicate the study with their own pre-service teachers.
    • 2014-2019: Pre-service Teacher Perspectives of Childcare.
      The research within this project investigated the perceptions and expectations held by pre-service teachers at the University of Notre Dame regarding the early learning sector both generally and in relation to their requirement to complete a an early learning centre practicum within the early childhood degree. The findings present the views of pre-service teachers both before and after their exposure to practice within early learning following a ten week (early learning centre) practicum.
    • 2013-2016: Portland-Fremantle Professional Status Project.
      This research project explored comparative perspectives of teachers' professional status. The project aimed at comparing perspectives of early childhood teachers' professional status across early childhood, primary and secondary cohorts, and also comparing Australian and American perspectives regarding professional status of early childhood teachers. Research was conducted at the University of Portland, Oregon, and the University of Notre Dame Fremantle campus.
    • 2009-2011: Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in Higher Education.
      This action research project which was undertaken on one of the University Courses I wrote, coordinated and taught (Children's Social and Emotional Development: 0-8 years) at Curtin University. The study investigated the coping mechanisms and strategies for retention of our pre-service teachers who might have otherwise withdrawn from the course due to personal issues that impact on their academic performance. The results of this project were disseminated at three international conferences.
    • 2006-2008: ARC Linkage International Research Project.
      Tracy was a project manager and research associate for an ARC Linkage International Project titled, Cost effective smart identification of early attentional problems associated with literacy and numeracy indicators in preschool children. The project was conducted in collaboration with Murdoch University, the Western Australian Catholic Education Office and the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) in the UK. The findings of the research were presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in 2009.
    • 2004-2005: Australian Government Quality Teacher Program (AGQTP).
      As a research assistant and data analyst, Tracy collaborated with the Department of Education (WA) on an Australian Government Quality Teacher Program (AGQTP) project titled: Developing school teacher understanding of the connectedness of evidence based school prevention and intervention programs and newly developed behaviour management tools to the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF). The results of this project were disseminated at local conferences and were used to facilitate a number of workshops for the training of school staff and psychologists in the PATHS program.

  • Books

    • Robinson, C., Treasure, T., O'Connor, D., Neylon, G., Harrison, C. & Wynne, S. (2018). Learning  through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts. Australia:  Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780190304829.

  • Book chapters

    • Treasure, T. (2018). Theories of play: Historical to contemporary. In C. Robinson, T. Treasure, D. O'Connor, G. Neylon, C. Harrison, & S. Wynne (Eds.), Learning through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts (pp. 22-42). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.
    • Treasure, T. (2018). What is play? In C. Robinson, T. Treasure, D. O'Connor, G. Neylon, C. Harrison, & S. Wynne (Eds.), Learning through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts (pp. 3-21). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.
    • Treasure, T. (2018). Why play is the way in early childhood contexts. In C. Robinson, T. Treasure, D. O'Connor, G. Neylon, C. Harrison, & S. Wynne (Eds.), Learning through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts (pp. 43-68). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.
    • Neylon, G., & Treasure, T. (2018). International perspectives on play-based approaches. In C. Robinson, T. Treasure, D. O'Connor, G. Neylon, C. Harrison, & S. Wynne (Eds.), Learning through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts (pp. 279-308). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.
    • Robinson, C., Treasure, T., & O'Connor, D. (2018). Diversity considerations in play. In C. Robinson, T. Treasure, D. O'Connor, G. Neylon, C. Harrison, & S. Wynne (Eds.), Learning through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts (pp. 227-256). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    • Robinson, C., O'Connor, D., & Treasure. T. (2021). Education or care? Childcare or school? Pre-service teacher perspectives of teaching in the childcare sector. Issues in Educational Research, 31(4), 1231-1248.
    • O'Connor, D. Treasure, T. Robinson, C. McCormack, M. O'Rourke, V. (2017). Is play disappearing? Instances of no-play in children's neighbourhoods: Implications for learning, development and curriculum. ICERI2017 Proceedings, pp. 5045-5054. ISSN: 2340-1095 doi: 10.21125/iceri.2017.1323.
    • O'Connor, D. Treasure, T. Robinson, C. McCormack, M. O'Rourke, V. (2017). Child's play the developmental benefits of the play choices of modern children: Implications for school curricula. ICERI2017 Proceedings, pp, 5006-5015. ISSN: 2340-1095. doi: 10.21125/iceri.2017.1328.
    • O'Connor, D., McGunnigle, C., Treasure. T. & Davie. S. (2015). Educator identities. Emerging issues within personal and professional identities: changes experienced by Australian pre-service teachers following professional exposure to educational practice within childcare settings. In Early Childhood Development and Care, 185(1), Routledge, Taylor and Francis. 0300-4430 (Print), 1476-8275 (Online) DOI 10.1080/03004430.2014.993626.

  • Conference papers

    • O'Connor, D., Robinson, C., Treasure, T., & Cranley, L. (2019). Play-based learning in Western Australian schools: Contributing to the process from policy to practice. ICERI2019 doi: 10.21125/iceri.2019.0149.
    • O'Connor, D., McGunnigle, C., Davie, S., Treasure, T., Cranley, L. & Waggoner, J. (2016). Who am I in the eyes of the World? A comparative study of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of early childhood educators' professional status in their community. Australian and American perspectives. ICERI: Seville.
    • McGunnigle, C., O'Connor, D., Treasure, T., Cranley, L. & Davie, S. & Waggoner, J. (2015). It's okay, I'm a…teacher. Is professional status important to teachers? EduLearn 15: Barcelona. ISBN: 978-84-606-8243-1. ISSN: 2340-1117.
    • O'Connor, D., McGunnigle, C., Treasure. T. & Davie. S. (2014). Teachers who care and carers who educate. Professional status issues and differences in pay and conditions are resulting in a tale of division within our Early Childhood Community. ICERI: Seville ISBN 978-84-617-2484-0.
    • O'Connor, D., McGunnigle, C., Treasure. T. & Davie. S. (2014). Shall we play us and them or all together now? Leadership opportunities for cohesiveness and unity within a fractured Western Australian Early Childhood Education Sector. ICERI: Seville ISBN 978-84-617-2484-0.
    • O'Connor, D., McGunnigle,C., Treasure. T. & Davie. S. (2014). We are all educators...or are we? Changes in Perceptions of the Childcare Sector by Australian Pre-Service Teachers following Professional Exposure to Educational Practice within Childcare Settings. EduLearn: Barcelona ISBN 978-84-617-0557-3.
    • Treasure, T. M. (2010). Social emotional learning in higher education. Enhancing Learning Experiences in Higher Education: International Conference, Hong Kong.
    • Jenkins, H. J., Treasure, T. M., & Fraser, B. J. (2008). Early intervention strategies to support year one teachers of students at risk of developing learning and attentional disorders. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting 2009. San Diego: AERA All Academic.

  • Professional affiliations

    • Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Accreditation Panel Chair
    • Australian Early Childhood Teacher Education Network (AECTEN) WA Branch

  • Community Engagement

    • Professional Development for local Schools and Early Learning Centres

  • Awards

    • 2019 Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning
    • 2019 Education Publishers Awards Australia (EPAA) for Learning through play: Creating a play-based approach within early childhood contexts
    • 2017 Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching
    • 2016 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Initiatives that Enhance Student Learning