Rate My Professor Linda Newman

Honorary Associate Professor Linda Newman serves in the School of Education within the Faculty of Education and Arts at the University of Newcastle. With more than 40 years of experience in early childhood education, she began her career as a childcare centre director in the 1970s, where she developed outreach programs to support children with special needs in mainstream settings. Newman holds a Doctor of Education and a Master of Education (Honours) from the University of Western Sydney, a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) from the Hunter Institute of Higher Education, and a Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) from the Sydney Kindergarten Teachers College. Her professional journey includes positions as a TAFE teacher in vocational education, lecturer in early childhood degrees at the University of Western Sydney, and joining the University of Newcastle in 2009. She has held administrative roles such as Chair of the Early Childhood Program Management Committee, Convenor of the Master of Early Childhood Education, foundation Chair of the Early Childhood Teacher Education Council, and Chair of the Early Childhood Teacher Education Council Australia from 2010 to 2016. After 30 years of full-time university work, she transitioned to her current honorary position to pursue additional paid and voluntary commitments, including independent directorship of the Western Sydney University Early Learning Ltd. Board, Chair of its Research Committee, co-leadership of practitioner research projects, and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Early Childhood Inclusion Group.

Newman's research focuses on early childhood education, professional ethics, practitioner action research, pedagogical leadership, curriculum and pedagogy, community capacity building through teacher research, early literacy and numeracy, and intentional teaching. Her doctoral research resulted in the development of the Ethical Response Cycle, outlined in co-authored books including Working with Children and Families: Professional, Legal and Ethical Issues (2005, with Lois Pollnitz) and Professional, Ethical and Legal Issues in Early Childhood (2002, with Lois Pollnitz). Other significant publications encompass Practitioner Research in Early Childhood: International Issues and Perspectives (2015, with Christine Woodrow), Strengthening Quality Through Critical Reflection and Action Research (2018, with Nicole Leggett, Mary Duffy-Fagan, and Kate Higginbottom), and chapters such as Practitioner Research as Sustainable Professional Practice (2023). She has contributed to international projects like Futuro Infantil Hoy in Antofagasta, Chile, for community engagement in early childhood centres, and capacity-building collaborations with South African universities including Fort Hare, Western Cape, and North-West for Grade R teacher education. Awards include the Practitioner Research Award from the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (2017), nomination for UniJobs Lecturer of the Year (2019), and the Jean Denton Memorial Scholarship (2007).