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  • Associate Professor Melanie Brooks

    Associate Professor Melanie Brooks

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Associate Professor Melanie Brooks

Associate Dean (Research)

Staff Member Details
Email: melanie.brooks@ecu.edu.au
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4197-8932

Associate Professor Melanie C. Brooks is Associate Dean (Research) in the School of Education.

Background

Melanie Brooks is Associate Dean (Research) and Associate Professor in the School of Education. Her research examines how school leaders' faith and faith identity, particularly within Islamic contexts, shape educational structures, policies, and practices. She specialises in studying leadership in complex educational settings affected by ideological, geopolitical, and socioreligious dynamics.

A former U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar to the Philippines, Melanie has conducted research across multiple countries including the United States, Australia, Egypt, Indonesia, and Thailand. She currently leads international research collaborations that examine the influence of religion and critical spirituality on educational leadership, policy and day-to-day practices. Her contributions to the field were most recently recognised with a 2025 Excellence in Research in Educational Leadership and Management award from the Australian Council of Educational Leaders in Western Australia.

Before entering academia, Melanie served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand and worked as both a university and high school librarian, as well as a secondary English teacher.

Professional associations

  • 2025 - Present, Senior Scholar Engagement Chair, Critical Muslim Education Research SIG, AERA
  • 2025 - Present, Fulbright Chronicles (Co-Editor)
  • 2025 - Present, Perth Montessori School Board (President)
  • 2025 - Present, Australian Fulbright Alumni Association (Secretary)
  • 2023 - Present, Pertanika Journal of Social Science and the Humanities (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2021 - Present, Tadris: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2020 - Present, Journal of Islamic Studies and Education (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2019 - Present, Journal of Educational Administration and History, (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2017 - Present, Journal of School Leadership, (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2016 - Present, Leadership, Schools, and Change Book Series, (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2009 - Present, Bukidnon State University Research Journal, Bukidnon Philippines (Editorial Review Board Member)
  • 2006 - Present, American Educational Research Association (Member)
  • 2005 - Present, Journal of Education, Prince of Songkhla University, Pattani Thailand (Editorial Review Board Member)

Awards and recognition

National and international research awards

  • 2025 Excellence in Research in Educational Leadership and Management, Australian Council for Educational Leaders, Western Australia
  • 2019 - "Bridge People" Award, American Educational Research Association, Leadership for Social Justice SIG
  • 2016 - Jeffrey V. Bennett Honorable Mention for Outstanding International Research, University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), Center for the International Study of School Leadership
  • 2015 - J. William Fulbright Senior Scholar Grant Recipient
  • 2015 - World Research Advocacy Award, International Association of Multidisciplinary Research

Research areas and interests

  • School leadership, management, and administration
  • Islamic school leadership and Islamic schooling
  • Culturally responsive leadership
  • Religion, critical spirituality, and education
  • Education and ethno-religious conflict
  • Geographical specialisations: Australia, United States, Southeast Asia

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Foundations of Education, United States of America, 2009.

Research Outputs

2024

Books

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, JS., Brooks, M. (2024). Hot Leadership, Cool Leadership: How Education Policies are Implemented (and Ignored) in Schools. Educational Policy: an interdisciplinary journal of policy and practice, 38(7), 1608-1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048241268309.

Creative Arts Research Outputs

2023

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M., Ezzani, MD. (2023). Zainab Salbi: Leadership Begins Within. Great Muslim Leaders: Lessons for Education (225-231). Information Age Publishing.

Journal Articles

  • Ezzani, M., Brooks, M., Young, L., Bloom, A. (2023). Islamic school leadership and social justice: an international review of the literature. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 26(5), 745-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.2009037.
  • Brooks, M., Ezzani, M., Sai, Y., Sanjakdar, F. (2023). Racialization of Muslim students in Australia, Ireland, and the United States: cross-cultural perspectives. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 26(2), 164-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2021.1997977.

2022

Book Chapters

  • Dahal, P., Sanjakdar, F., Brooks, M. (2022). Curricular reform in Nepal and the challenges of learner-centred education. Teaching, learning and leading in the world schoolhouse: Globalization, neoliberalism, and education (219-240). Information Age Publishing. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2022-2026/1636.
  • Albogami, M., Brooks, M. (2022). Job training and satisfaction in Saudi Arabia. Globalization, neoliberalism, and education: Teaching, learning and leading in the world schoolhouse (27-54). Information Age Publishing. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2022-2026/1644.

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, J., Brooks, M. (2022). School leadership between the cross and the crescent: spiritual capital and religious capital in the southern Philippines. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(3), 281-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1982061.
  • Brooks, M., Ezzani, M. (2022). Islamic school leadership: advancing a framework for critical spirituality. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(3), 319-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1930265.

2021

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M. (2021). Islam and the schoolhouse: How principals can understand and support their Muslim students, teachers, and families. The School Leadership Survival Guide (331-347). Information Age Publishing. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/11937.

2020

Book Chapters

  • Berry, JR., Robertson, S., Brooks, M. (2020). Components of linguistically and culturally responsive school leadership. Multiculturalism and multilingualism at the crossroads of school leadership: Exploring leadership theory, research, and practice for diverse schools (213-225). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54750-9_12.

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, M., Brooks, J., Mutohar, A., Taufiq, I. (2020). Principals as socio-religious curators: progressive and conservative approaches in Islamic schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 58(6), 677-695. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-01-2020-0004.
  • Brooks, M., Cutler, K., Sanjakdar, F., Liou, D. (2020). Teaching Jihad: Developing religious literacy through graphic novels. Religions, 11(11), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11110622.

2019

Books

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M., Brooks, J. (2019). Dynamics that Impede and Facilitate Educational Effectiveness in the Philippines. Asia Pacific Education: Leadership, Governance and Administration (103-112). Information Age Publishing Inc.. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/11874.

Journal Articles

  • Ezzani, M., Brooks, M. (2019). Culturally Relevant Leadership: Advancing Critical Consciousness in American Muslim Students. Educational Administration Quarterly, 55(5), 781-811. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X18821358.
  • Brooks, M., Brooks, J. (2019). Culturally (ir)relevant school leadership: Ethno-religious conflict and school administration in the Philippines. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 22(1), 6-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2018.1503819.

2018

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M. (2018). Grassroots Leadership for Ecological Sustainability, Empowerment, and Political Change: Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. Leading Against the Grain: Lessons for Creating Just and Equitable Schools (14-22). Teachers College Press. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/11869.

Journal Articles

2017

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, M. (2017). Southern Filipino school leaders and religious diversity: A typology. International Journal of Educational Management, 31(5), 646-660. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2016-0164.
  • Brooks, M., Ezzani, M. (2017). "Being wholly Muslim and wholly American": Exploring one Islamic school's efforts to educate against extremism. Teachers College Record, 119(6), article number 060305.

2016

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, M., Sungtong, E. (2016). ‘We still have bombings’: school principals and insurgent violence in Southern Thailand. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 19(5), 505-533. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2015.1059489.

2015

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M., Sungtong, E. (2015). The challenge of multicultural education during insurgency: The case of Southernmost Thailand. Comparative International Perspectives on Education and Social Change in Developing Countries and Indigenous Peoples in Developed Countries (189-200). Information Age Publishing.
  • Brooks, M. (2015). Teaching in Cairo: Exploring Gender, Social Class, and Workplace Relationships. Urban Educational Leadership for Social Justice: International Perspectives (257-273). Information Age Publishing.
  • Brooks, M., Brooks, J. (2015). Exploring opportunities and challenges of cross-cultural and international teaching, research, and service for higher education faculty members. Cross-cultural Collaboration and Leadership in Modern Organizations (35-48). Business Science Reference.

Journal Articles

  • Ezzani, MD., Brooks, M. (2015). (Mis)Understanding Islam in a suburban Texas school district. Religion and Education, 42(3), 237-354. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2015.1013408.
  • Brooks, M. (2015). School principals in Southern Thailand: Exploring trust with community leaders during conflict. Educational Management Administration and Leadership, 43(2), 232-252. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213513191.
  • Brooks, M., Jean-Marie, G. (2015). The challenges to and the need for international research in educational leadership. International Journal of Educational Management, 29(7), 874-887. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-05-2015-0069.

2014

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M. (2014). Navigating my career as a trailing spouse. Continuing to disrupt the status quo? Young and new women professors of educational leadership (117-128). Information Age Publishing.

Journal Articles

2013

Book Chapters

  • Sungtong, E., Brooks, M. (2013). Developing from assistant to full principal in a context of social unrest: The case of Southern Thailand. Collective Efficacy: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Leadership (309-324). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3660(2013)0000020017.

Journal Articles

2012

Book Chapters

  • Brooks, M. (2012). myworklifebalance.edu. Juggling Flaming Chainsaws: Academics in Educational Leadership Try to Balance Work and Family (45-50). Information Age Publishing.

2010

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, M. (2010). Religious conversion to Islam and its influence on workplace relationships in American and Egyptian Schools: A case study. Educational Policy: an interdisciplinary journal of policy and practice, 24(1), 83-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904809354319.

2008

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, J., Hughes, R., Brooks, M. (2008). Fear and Trembling in the American High School: Educational Reform and Teacher Alienation. Educational Policy: an interdisciplinary journal of policy and practice, 22(1), 45-62. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807311296.

2006

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, J., Brooks, M. (2006). Some "New" Extensional Devices, 2006. ETC A review of general semantics, 63(1), 62-68.

2005

Journal Articles

  • Brooks, M., Brooks, J. (2005). Whole language or phonics: Improving language instruction through general semantics. ETC: A review of general semantics, 62(3), 271-280.

Research Projects

  • Islamic Schooling in Australia and Indonesia: A Collaborative Documentary Film , Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia-Indonesia Institute, 2022 ‑ 2023, $37,066.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Associate Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Investigating Chinese language teaching for young learners in Australian primary schools: Beliefs and practices

Completed Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Job training satisfaction: Exploring the moderating role of attitudes and expectations in the Saudi Context

Co-principal Supervisor

  • Exploring Nepali secondary English language teachers’ understanding and application of the national curriculum

Assistant Supervisor

  • The experience of refugee women in a perinatal nutrition education program
  • Breaking through the bars: Understanding the K-12 educational experience through the voices of individuals who were incarcerated
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