Amelia Ruscoe

National Discipline Lead, Early Childhood

PhD (Edith Cowan University),  MECEd (Griffith University),  BEd (Queensland University of Technology),  BEd (Prim) (Queensland University of Technology)

Email: amelia.ruscoe@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Dr. Amelia Ruscoe is an early childhood educator and researcher dedicated to advocating for inclusive, socially just policy development and universal educational access. Over the past 15 years, she has had the privilege of collaborating with industry and university partners on research projects spanning literacy, health literacy, visual pedagogies, and school transitions.


    Amelia completed her PhD at Edith Cowan University in 2021, where her research explored how policy and curriculum affect young children during their first year of compulsory school. Guided by a desire to bring children's unique insights into decisions that impact them, her work focuses on developing collaborative, child-centered methodologies that give young learners a voice.


    As an educator, she is committed to supporting the early childhood sector by designing research-driven programs that prepare future graduates to be confident and classroom-ready. Whether sharing insights with local and international communities, contributing to practitioner journals, or working alongside research teams, Amelia’s central goal remains helping build supportive, encouraging environments where young children can thrive from the very start of their educational journeys.

  • Teaching areas

    • Early childhood Curriculum and Policy
    • Language and Literacy
    • Early childhood transitions and leadership
    • Visual Arts

  • Research expertise and supervision

    Amelia Ruscoe’s research centres on supporting children’s engagement, health, and wellbeing during early childhood and school transitions. Her core expertise lies in developing visual-dialogic methodologies, such as Dialogic Drawing and LIVE Threads, which she uses to centre children's voices while maintaining strong early childhood ethics in educational research.


    Reflecting a commitment to holistic outcomes, she regularly engages in cross-disciplinary research collaborating with colleagues in medical and health sciences to bridge early years learning with broader health and wellness literacy. Dedicated to academic mentorship, she also serves as a lead supervisor for post-doctoral students, guiding advanced research in applied pedagogy and child-centred research frameworks.

  • Book chapters

    • Ruscoe, A. (2026). Drawing as visual pedagogy. In E. J. White, F. Westbrook, G. Quiñones, & S. S. Madsen (Eds.), Visual pedagogies for the early years: Presence, potential, and possibility (pp. 27–49). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004762428-004

  • Journal articles and proceedings

    Peer-reviewed journal articles:

    • Ruscoe, A. (2026). Learning, play, and the shifting expectations of childhood: Insights from young children in Australian schools. The Australian Educational Researcher, 53, Article 73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-026-00996-9
    • Ruscoe, A., Cook, E. J., O'Brien, E. K., Costello, L., Kirk, G., Sambell, R., Rayfield, T., Devine, A., & Wallace, R. (2026). Applying the Ottawa Charter to evaluate health literacy outcomes of the Little Aussie Bugs course for Australian early childhood educators. Health Promotion International, 41(4), daag087. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daag087
    • Ruscoe, A., Lavina, L., Barblett, L. & Boylan, F. (2025). Funds of knowledge and the transition to school: A scoping review. Review of Education. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70092 Q1
    • Barblett, L., Ruscoe, A., Lavina, L. and Boylan, F. (2025). Co-developing a children’s transition charter for the transition to school: Opening participatory spaces to hear children’s voices. Children and Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12964 Q1
    • Wallace, R., Ruscoe, A., Costello, L., Kirk, G., Sambell, R. & Devine, A. (2025). Little Aussie Bugs: Piloting educational resources to support health literacy at Early Childhood Education and Care. Early Education and Development. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaf053 Q1
    • Ruscoe, A. (2024). Responding to children’s voices: the new frontier in education policy reform. Aust. Educ. Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-024-00761-w  Q1
    • Ruscoe, A., & Baker, P. (2024). Designing Bespoke Visual Mediation Tools Using ‘Viscourse’ for Intergenerational Research: Visiblising Pedagogies. Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy. https://doi.org/10.1163/23644583-bja10055  Q3
    • Boylan, F., Barblett, L., Levina, L. & Ruscoe, A. (2023) Transforming transitions to primary school: Using children’s funds of knowledge. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2023.2291354 Q1
    • Ruscoe, A. (2022). Dialogic drawing: A method for researching abstract phenomenon in early childhood. Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy, 7 (1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1163/23644583-bja10036 Q3
    • Ruscoe, A., Barblett, L., Barratt-Pugh, C. (2021). Discourses of power: Policy and curriculum demands in the first year of compulsory school. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 0 (0). https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949121990905 Q1
    • Barratt-Pugh, C., Ruscoe, A. & Fellowes, J. (2020). Motivation to write: Conversations with emergent writers. Early Childhood Education Journal, 49, 223-234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01061-5 Q1
    • Ruscoe, A., Barblett, L. & Barratt-Pugh, C. (2018). Sharing power with children: Repositioning children as agentic learners. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 43(3), 63-71. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.23965/AJEC.43.3.07 Q2

  • Conference papers

    International Keynotes and Public Address:

    • Cambridge University, UK, June 2025. Researching potentialities at the visual-dialogic nexus in early childhood: Voice | Transitions | Engagement | Viscourse. Public Address.
    • Winchester University, UK, June 2025. Across the Ditch: Comparing Early Childhood Education and Visual Pedagogies in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. In collaboration with Dr Fiona Westbrook, Auckland University of Technology. Public Address.
    • Association of Visual Pedagogies (AVP) in collaboration with Philosophy of Education Society Australasia (PESA) conference, Christchurch, NZ, December 2023. Using democratic research methods in early childhood to emancipate young children’s voices. Invited keynote.
    • AVP International Conference, Christchurch, NZ, June 2023. De/colonisation in the semiotic landscape of school through five-year-old eyes. Invited lecture.

    National Keynotes and Public Address:

    • Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA) Conference, WA, March 2024. Leading priorities for early childhood learning engagement. Invited Presenter.
    • CEWA Conference, WA, March 2024. Leading priorities for early childhood learning engagement, Workshops to benefit children: Did you know children love to draw? Invited presenter.
    • CEWA Conference, WA, March 2024. Leading priorities for early childhood learning engagement, Workshops to benefit children: Did you know your classroom talks to children? Invited presenter.
    • ECA Conference, WA, October 2023. Priorities with punch: Investing in early childhood. Invited lecture.
    • WAIER Conference, WA, August 2022. Curriculum and policy impact in Pre-primary, Western Australia. Invited lecture.
    • ECU Book Launch, Joondalup, September 2022. The Little Aussie Bugs Book Series. Plenary presentation.
    • ECA Conference, Canberra, October 2022. Power plays in early childhood: Discursive impact in the first year of school. National PhD Thesis Award keynote address.x

    International Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations:

    • Philosophy of Education Society Australasia (PESA) conference, Perth, WA December 2025. Reclaiming Flourishing: An Aristotelian Response to Contemporary Wellbeing Discourses in Education. Panel Discussion, In collaboration with Benade, L. & Robinson, C. (Abstract accepted)
    • International Arts in Early Childhood conference, Wollongong, NSW, July 2025. Drawing as a ‘gateway’ pedagogy for listening to young children. Conference Presentation.
    • Association of Visual Pedagogies (AVP) International conference, Lancaster, UK, June 2025. Using Dialogic Drawing to ‘see’ engagement in learning in early childhood. Conference Presentation.
    • European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) conference, Brighton, UK, September 2024. Educators as part of the ‘cognoscenti’: researching together to change school policy decisions about children’s transition to school.  Conference Presentation.
    • International Leadership Research Forum - Early Childhood (ILRF EC) Conference, Finland, September 2024. Children at the table: Reviving democra4c pedagogical leadership. Conference Presentation.
    • AARE Conference, Adelaide, November 2022. Dialogic Drawing. Ray Debus award commendation recipient presentation to methodologies SIG.
    • ECEERA Conference, Croatia, September 2021. ‘It’s a trap’: Reports from the impact zone. TED style talk.
    • ECEERA Conference, Croatia, September 2021. Using visual mediation tools to explore intergenerational perspectives in the first year of compulsory school. Presentation.

    National Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations:

    • Early Childhood Australia, Perth, WA October 2025. Using Dialogic Drawing to Monitor Engagement: Placing Children at the Centre. Conference Presentation.
    • Australian Journal of Early Childhood Symposium, Perth, WA October 2025. Dialogic Drawing as a ‘generative’ pedagogy for engagement during transition to school. Conference Presentation.
    • Association of Australian Research in Education, Sydney, December 2024. From discourse to 'viscourse': Leveraging the visual-dialogic nexus to liberate young children's voices. Conference Presentation.
    • Association of Australian Research in Education, Sydney, December 2024. Transforming Transitions II: Empowering children’s Funds of Knowledge. Conference Presentation.
    • AJEC Conference, (online), February 2024. Is giving children a voice in pedagogical discussion empowering or threatening? Provocation presentation.
    • AARE Conference, Melbourne, November 2023. Using children’s’ voices to co-develop a transition to school charter, Presentation.
    • AATE ALEA National Conference, Canberra, July 2021. Evaluating the effectiveness of a Responsive Assessment Model (RAM) using Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) for improving undergraduate knowledge of phonics in early childhood. Presentation.
    • AJEC Conference, Melbourne, March 2019. Investigating multiple perspectives: Using visual mediation tools for intergenerational research. Methodologies SIG presentation.

  • Original creative works

    Others on request:

    • Wallace, R. & Ruscoe, A. (2022). My healthy teeth. ECU. ISBN 978-0-6454385-6-7
    • Wallace, R. & Ruscoe, A. (2022). My healthy tummy. ECU. ISBN 978-0-6454385-7-4
    • Wallace, R. & Ruscoe, A. (2021). When we are sick. ECU. ISBN 978-0-6489318-6-7
    • Wallace, R. & Ruscoe, A. (2021). When we are hungry. ECU. ISBN 978-0-6489318-5-0

  • In the media

    School Transitions & Student Wellbeing (Transforming Transitions Project)

    • ABC Radio National (2025): Featured interview on Life Matters regarding the critical importance of the first day of school.
    • The Educator (2025): National coverage detailing the practical implications of transition research for policy makers and educators.
    • ECU Newsroom (2025): Feature article titled "Building students’ confidence begins at kindergarten." Power, Perspective, & Affordance in Early Childhood (Doctoral Research)
    • National Radio Networks (2021–Present): Doctoral thesis insights amplified across 6PR, ABC NW, 2MCE, and 68 other stations focusing on student voice and early childhood power dynamics. Commercial Literacy Programs in Schools
    • The Conversation (2023): Lead article titled "Chances are your child's school uses commercial programs to support teaching," syndicated across 450 global platforms. Early Childhood Leadership & Policy (First Year of School Project)
    • Every Child Magazine (2023): Practitioner-focused articles titled "Getting priorities right in the first year of school" and "Supporting engagement: What children need us to know."
    • Australian Educational Leader (2024–2025): Leadership publications including "Five recommendations for early childhood leaders in New voice perspectives" (2024) and "

  • Professional affiliations

    • Vice President, Association of Visual Pedagogies (2025 ongoing); Secretary (2023-2025)
    • Editorial Board Member: Video Journal of Education and Pedagogy (2025-ongoing)
    • Executive member: European Early Childhood Education Research Association, Museums and community education SIG (2024 ongoing)
    • Conference Committee Member, Philosophy in Education Society of Australasia (2025 ongoing)

  • Community engagement

    • Office of Early Childhood, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Children’s Consultation Tool lead author and consult (2026)
    • Office of Early Childhood, Department of Premier and Cabinet Stakeholder Forums (2025; 2026)
    • Productivity Commission – Early Childhood Workforce (2023)
    • Australian Curriculum Review – English (2021)

  • Awards

    • 2024 – New Voice Scholar in Early Childhood
Australian Council for Educational Leadership
Awarded for leadership and research excellence in early childhood education
    • 2022 – Doctoral Thesis Award
Early Childhood Australia
Recognised for outstanding doctoral research in early childhood education
    • 2022 – Ray Debus Award for Doctoral Research in Education (Special Commendation)
Australian Association for Res