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  • Dr Christina Gray at the School of Education, Edith Cowan University

    Dr Christina Gray

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Dr Christina Gray

Senior Lecturer

Staff Member Details
Telephone: +61 8 9370 6149
Email: c.gray@ecu.edu.au
Campus: Mount Lawley  
Room: ML16.119  
ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8464-1961

Christina is the Coordinator of Dance and Drama Education in the School of Education.

Background

She is a passionate advocate for quality Arts education and has extensive teaching experience nationally and internationally. Recently, Christina and colleagues have focused on positive later-career teachers and how they maintain their positive outlook. In 2019, the team extended research into the United States, including prominent universities and performing arts schools in Pennsylvania and New York. In recognition of her research, Christina won the 2021 School of Education research award for ‘overall performance in teacher education’.

Professional associations

  • DramaWest (Professional Association for Drama Educators in Western Australia)
  • Drama Australia.

Research areas and interests

  • Drama and Arts education
  • Belonging and connection
  • Initial teacher education
  • Teacher beliefs
  • Teacher career trajectories
  • Narrative methodologies

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Murdoch University, 2016.
  • Master of Education, Edith Cowan University, 2007.
  • Bachelor of Education, Edith Cowan University, 1995.
  • Bachelor of Arts in Education (Secondary), Edith Cowan University, 1991.

Research Outputs

2025

Journal Articles

  • Gray, C., Paris, L., Lowe, G., Perry, A., Warwick, L. (2025). Belongingness, trust and connection: Arts teachers in Western Australian schools create safe learning spaces. Issues in Educational Research, 35(2), 590-610. https://doi.org/http://www.iier.org.au/iier35/gray-2.pdf.
  • Lambert, K., Gray, C. (2025). ‘Survival mode’: Navigating the first five years of teaching performing arts in neoliberal education assemblages. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 2025(Article in press), 17 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2025.2460012.
  • Macdonald, M., Booth, S., Lambert, K., Gray, C., Kessaris, T., Beard, T. (2025). Finding their Place: How Teachers can Become Part of their Rural Communities. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 2025(Article in press), 16 pages. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v35i1.767.
  • Harris, M., Rhodes, D., Gray, C., Vernon, L. (2025). Beyond the city limits: perceptions of pre-service teachers undertaking professional experience in regional, rural and remote schools. The Australian Educational Researcher, 2025(Article in press), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-025-00809-5.
  • Gray, C., Lambert, K., Macdonald, M., Harris, M., Beard, T., Jackson, K., Booth, S. (2025). “A bull stole my bike”: Teachers’ experiences of belonging in regional, rural and remote Australian communities. Issues in Educational Research, 35(1), 160-180.
  • O'Rourke, J., Gray, C. (2025). Where’s my tweed jacket with leather elbow patches? The challenges of aging gracefully in higher education. Educational Gerontology: an international journal, 2025(Article in press), pp. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2025.2490781.

2024

Book Chapters

  • Sanbrook, C., Gray, C., Lowe, G., Johnston, O. (2024). “Paleo for the Mind” Pre-Service Teacher Mental Health Challenges During a Pandemic Practicum: How Evolutionary Biology Can Inform Mental Wellness. Pedagogies of Practicum: Post-Pandemic Reflections on Innovation in Practice Teaching (355-375). Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b22164.

Journal Articles

2023

Journal Articles

  • Gray, C., Lambert, K., Green, T. (2023). “Being grateful for the crumbs”: Empathy, stress and vulnerability experienced by teaching-mothers in the performing arts in Australian schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 134(2023), article number 104298. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104298.
  • Jefferson, S., Lowe, G., Gray, C., Prout, P. (2023). The search for marigolds: Positive veteran teachers and why social support matters. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 29(2), 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2151430.
  • Paris, L., Lowe, G., Gray, C., Perry, A., Warwick, L. (2023). Teaching the Arts in Testing Times: A Western Australian Perspective on COVID Impacts. Australian Journal of Education, 67(1), 46-61. https://doi.org/10.1177/00049441221137074.

2022

Journal Articles

  • Lambert, K., Gray, C. (2022). Hyper-performativity and early career teachers: interrogating teacher subjectivities in neoliberal educational assemblages. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 43(6), 929-943. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2021.1933912.
  • Gray, C., Egeberg, H., Green, T. (2022). Turning stage fright into stage might: Pre-service drama teachers developing ideas about pedagogy, authenticity and relationships. Australian Journal of Education, 66(2), 140-153. https://doi.org/10.1177/00049441221090006.

2021

Journal Articles

  • Gray, C., Lowe, G., Prout, P., Jefferson, S. (2021). ‘Just like breathing’: A portrait of an 85-year-old veteran teacher. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 27(6), 571-586. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2021.1977275.
  • Prout, P., Wolgemuth, J., Gray, C., Lowe, G., Thorpe, V., Killam, R. (2021). I was wondering: Reflections on collaborative practice by five researchers in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Reflective Practice, 22(5), 614-626. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1938998.
  • O'Rourke, J., Main, S., Gray, C., Lovering, C. (2021). Observations of children with disability during arts-based multisensory story and rhyme activities: Is it all just chimes and perfumes?. Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education, 45(2), 237-251. https://doi.org/10.1017/jsi.2021.8.
  • Gray, C., Lowe, G., Prout, P., Jefferson, S. (2021). Growing through life’s bumpy moments: key experiences transforming the careers of positive veteran performing arts teachers. NJ Drama Australia Journal, 44(2), 106-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/14452294.2021.1886287.

2020

Journal Articles

  • Prout, P., Lowe, G., Gray, C., Jefferson, S. (2020). Examined lives: The transformative power of active interviewing in narrative approach. Qualitative Report: an online journal dedicated to qualitative research since 1990, 25(1), 14-27. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/7612.
  • Lowe, G., Prout, P., Gray, C., Jefferson, S. (2020). Reappraising the AITSL Professional Engagement Domain: Clarifying Social Capacity Building for School Leaders to Enhance Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction and Career Longevity. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(9), 62-78. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n9.4.
  • Gray, C., Lambert, K., Jefferson, S. (2020). Fish out of water: Investigating the 'readiness' and proficiency of beginning drama teachers in Western Australia secondary schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(2), 65-80. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n2.4.
  • Gray, C., Lambert, K. (2020). Being the adult you needed as a kid: Why the AITSL standards are not the best fit for drama teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 48(5), 555-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1685645.
  • Lambert, K., Gray, C. (2020). Performing ‘teacher’: Exploring early career teachers’ becomings, work identities and the [mis-]use of the professional standards in competitive educational assemblages. Pedagogy Culture and Society, 28(4), 501-523. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2019.1663247.

2019

Journal Articles

  • Gray, C., Lowe, G. (2019). "Learning the ropes": Pre-service arts teachers navigating the extracurricular terrain. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 44(4), 78-90. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v44n4.6.
  • Gray, C., Lowe, G., Prout, P., Jefferson, S. (2019). “I feel very fortunate to still be doing what I love”: Later career performing arts teachers still keen and committed. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 20(7), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.26209/ijea20n7.
  • Lowe, G., Gray, C., Prout, P., Jefferson, S., Shaw, T. (2019). Still keen and committed: Piloting an instrument for identifying positive veteran teachers. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 25(4), 418-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2019.1621829.
  • Lowe, G., Gray, C., Prout, P., Jefferson, S., Shaw, T. (2019). Positive veteran teachers: Who are they, and where are they to be found?. Issues in Educational Research, 29(3), 823-840. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/6556.
  • Gray, C., Wright, P., Pascoe, R. (2019). "They made me feel like a teacher rather than a praccie": sinking or swimming in pre-service drama education. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 47(2), 193-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2018.1504279.
  • Prout, P., Lowe, G., Gray, C., Jefferson, S. (2019). An elixir for veteran teachers: The power of social connections in keeping these teachers passionate and enthusiastic in their work. Qualitative Report: an online journal dedicated to qualitative research since 1990, 24(9), 2244-2258. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/7240.

2018

Journal Articles

  • Gray, C., Pascoe, R., Wright, P. (2018). "I felt that I could be whatever I wanted": Pre-service drama teachers' prior experiences and beliefs about teaching drama. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 19(10), 25 p.. https://doi.org/10.18113/P8ijea1910.

2017

Journal Articles

  • Gray, C., Wright, P., Pascoe, R. (2017). Raising the curtain: Investigating the practicum experiences of pre-service drama teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 42(1), 36-53. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2017v42n1.3.
  • Gray, C., Wright, P., Pascoe, R. (2017). There's a lot to learn about being a drama teacher: Pre-service drama teachers' experience of stress and vulnerability during an extended practicum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67(October 2017), 270-277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.015.

2012

Journal Articles

  • O'Rourke, J., Cooper, M., Gray, C. (2012). Is Being “Smart and Well Behaved” a Recipe for Happiness in Western Australian Primary Schools?. International Journal of Psychological Studies, 4(3), 139-152. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v4n3p139.

Research Projects

  • YourTool Kit.Com – Co-Designing Impact Primary Prevention Project, Department of Communities (WA), Grants for Women Program, 2025 ‑ 2026.
  • The impact of class ability grouping on excellence and equity of educational outcomes, Edith Cowan University, Early-Mid Career Researcher Grant Scheme 2022 (Stream 1), 2023 ‑ 2024, $39,609.
  • Investigating the 'readiness' and proficiency of beginning Arts teachers in Western Australian secondary schools., Edith Cowan University, ECU Early Career Researcher Grant - 2018, 2017 ‑ 2019, $10,000.
  • Arts-based pedagogy: Engaging children with additional needs through multi-sensory storytelling, Sensorium Theatre Inc, Sensorium Theatre Inc - Grant, 2017 ‑ 2018, $10,000.

Research Student Supervision

Current Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Where are they? An investigation into Performing Arts teachers in leadership positions in secondary schools.
  • Master of Education, Leadership Beyond the Studio: Investigating Secondary School Dance Teachers' Striving for Leadership Positions

Associate Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The use of drama-based simulations to develop pre-service teachers' emotional intelligence

Completed Supervisions

Principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, A Tale of the Well-ness Monster: Examining the Mental Wellness Needs of Pre-service Teachers During the Assistant Teacher Program
  • Master of Education, Drama, Education, Artistry: Australian Practitioners Fostering Connection Across Cultures and Disciplines in China

Co-principal Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Growing phonological and morphological knowledge and improving spelling outcomes in year 2 primary school children through explicit instruction and contextualised dictation
  • Master of Education, A primary school internship model: Graduate teacher performance as perceived by employing principals

Associate Supervisor

  • Master of Education, Regional, Rural and Remote: Examining the Enablers and Barriers that a Professional Experience Presents for the Primary Pre-Service Teacher
  • Doctor of Philosophy, A study on the impact of music looping technology intervention upon pre-service generalist teachers' self-efficacy to teach music in primary schools

Assistant Supervisor

  • Doctor of Philosophy, When Autism Strikes
  • Master of Education, Influence of a drama based education program on the development of empathy in year ten, Western Australian students
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Finding marigolds: A study into the shared characteristics of positive veteran Western Australian teachers and the role of social support in sustaining their commitment to teaching
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