Staff Research Interests

Show list for:

Bio Name Information
view Jennifer Bowes
Current research projects include:

Child Care Choices Extension Project

Child Care Choices of Indigenous Families

Access and Equity in Early Childhood Education

Exploring the Efficacy of an Integrated Child and Family Service Model in a Disadvantaged Area: Child, Parent and Professional Outcomes

A Multi-modal Investigation of Current and Proposed Structures and Processes Determining and Sustaining Quality in Australian Centre-based Child Care

Current research supervision is on the following topics:

·        Socialisation of emotion in Chinese children in Hong Kong.

·        Family-centred practice in early intervention: How do families of young children with special needs experience family-centred practice?

·        Catering for the needs of intellectually gifted children In early childhood settings: Development of successful intervention strategies.

Recent Research Grants

2003         Child Care Choices of Indigenous Families (Bowes, J., Sanson, A., Wise, S., Ungerer, J., Harrison, L., Watson, J, & Simpson, T.) Department of Community Services, NSW ($888,169)

2004           Longitudinal Extension of the Child Care Choices Project (Bowes, J., Sanson, A., Wise, S., Ungerer, J., Harrison, L., & Simpson, T.) Department of Community Services, NSW ($1,304,360)

2004         The Experiences of Young Children and their Families with Multiple Childcare Arrangements: Development of a New Measure for Children and Parents. (Bowes, J. & Ungerer, J.) MacquarieUniversity Research Development Grants Scheme ($16,717).

2005        Early Childhood Education and Indigenous Children, Gifted Children, Children of Recent Arrivals in Australia and Children with Disabilities (Bowes, J.). Department of Education, Science and Training ($750,000)

2008   A Multi-modal Investigation of Current and Proposed Structures and Processes Determining and Sustaining Quality in Australian Centre-based Child Care (Harrison, L., Press, F., Sumsion, J., Bowes, J. M., & Fenech, M.) ARC Discovery Grant ($257,196.00).

2008 Exploring the Efficacy of an Integrated Child and Family Service Model in a Disadvantaged Area: Child, Parent and Professional Outcomes (Bowes, J. M., Grace, R., Gibson, F., McMaugh, A., & Degotardi, S.) Macquarie University External Collaborative Research Grant in partnership with Uniting Care, Burnside ($77,387.00 total funding).

Recent publications

Bowes, J. M. (2005). Emphasizing the family in work-family research: A review of current research and recommendations for future directions. In S. Poelmans (Ed.), International Research on Work and Family. (pp. 415-438). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Diamond, A., Bowes, J., & Robertson, G. (2006). Mothers' safety intervention strategies with toddlers and their relationship to child characteristics. Early Childhood Development and Care, 176 (3&4), 271-284.

Bowes, J., Fleet, A., Maloney, C., & Stamopoulous, E. (2006). Quality assurance of teacher education programs through benchmarking. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 13 (2), 141-150.

Chan, S. M., Bowes, J., & Wyver, S. (in press). Chinese parenting in Hong Kong: Links among goals, beliefs and styles. Early Child Development and Care.

Bowes, J. & Grace, R. (Eds). (in press). Children, Families and Communities, 3^rd edn., Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

view Sheila Degotardi
My research interests revolve around i) understanding children's sociocultural context, including the characteristics and dimensions of this sociocultural context and the ways in which children's sociocultural context supports and facilitates their development; and ii) how children and adults express their social understanding during their interactions with others.

My current research projects incorporate interests in the following topics:

Characteristics and determinants of adult-child interactions and responsive caregiving in both home and early childhood settings.

Approaches and processes related to infant-toddler pedagogy.

Adult beliefs about children and their play.

The nature and developmental potential of children's engagement in play and social interactions.

Publications:

Degotardi, S. & Pearson, E. (in press). Relationship theory in the nursery: Attachment and beyond. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(2).

Degotardi, S., & Davis, B. (in press). Understanding infants: Characteristics of early childhood practitioners' interpretations of infants and their behaviours. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 28(3).

Degotardi, S., Torr, J., & Cross, T. (2008). "He's got a mind of his own": A framework for determining mothers' beliefs about their infants' minds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(2), 259-271.

Degotardi, S. & Torr, J. (2007). A longitudinal investigation of mothers' mind-related to talk to their 12 to 24-month-old infants. Early Child Development and Care, 177(6-7), 767-780.

Degotardi, S (2006). Book Review: Infants' sense of people: Precursors to a theory of mind. Educational Psychology, 26(6), 853-854

Degotardi, S (2005). Exploring children's play: Development and contexts. In A. Talay-Ongan and E.A. Ap (Eds.) Child development and teaching young children. Sydney, Thomson.

Degotardi, S (2005). Mothers' beliefs, mothers' talk, and their children's theory of mind. Unpublished PhD Thesis, MacquarieUniversity.

Degotardi, S. (2003). Getting to know what they're doing: Observing children's use of their understanding of mind. In C. Tan-Niam, S. Degotardi, and S. Dockett (Eds.) Minds at play: Intersubjectivity, theory of mind and social competence in children's interactions. Singapore: Nanyang Technological University

Degotardi, S & Cross, A (1999). Children's expression of their understanding of mental states: More than speaking their mind. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 1, 46-59.

Dockett, S., Szarkowicz, D., Petrovski, P., Degotardi, S., & Rovers, F. (1999). "I annoy him and he hits me": Interactions of popular, neutral and unpopular children. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 1, 59-71.

Dockett, S. & Degotardi, S. (1997). Some implications of popularity at age four. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood, 1, 21-30.

view Frances Gibson Frances Gibson's research has focused on children born at high risl and children with developmental difficulties, including family adjustment.
view Rosalind Kitson
Rosalind's research interests include transitions, starting school and education in the first years of school. She is interested in practicum and fieldwork experiences of students and the professional pathways of graduate teachers. Research undertaken for her PhD investigated starting school and the program for the first year of school in Brunei Darussalam South East Asia. This was undertaken when she was a lecturer in the department of early childhood at the University Brunei Darussalam.

Much of Rosalind's reseach is framed around cross cultural issues and Indigenous early childhood education, from the perpsectives of children and families as well as the professional pathways and experiences of Indigenous early childhood teachers.

Her current research is focused on Indigenous education and her research interests have reviewed the   Professional Pathways of Indigenous Early Childhood Teachers. This study was funded by Department of Education Science and Training.

The Child Care Choices of Indigenous Families project funded by Department of Community Services is being initiated by research team from two universities, Macquarie University and Charles Sturt Univiersity. This research is exploring Indigenous families prefererences for early childhood education and care.

An area of interest is the visual arts and Rosalind has a Masters degree of art education from the College of Fine Arts, Univeristy of NSW. She is interested in ways to enhance and enrich children's art experiences to extend their interest, understanding and creativity.

view Susan Roberts
Susan's research interests include visual language and literacy in early childhood, young children's use of new media technologies and constructions of childhood in visual discourse. She is currently working on a longitudinal project which explores how young children develop their understanding of computer software. She is also supervising several PhD students whose research topics include children and media harm, and computers in early childhood settings.

view Jane Torr
I am interested in all aspects of early childhood language and literacy development. My research has explored the role of language in children's learning, including the nature of adult-child talk and how this talk affects current and later academic achievement. I am especially interested in children's picture books, and their qualities as multimodal works of art. I have explored how young children interpret the relationship between the written text and the pictures. Another area of interest is the beliefs of mothers and early childhood teachers about children's literacy development.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Journal Articles (C1)

Torr, J. (2008). Mothers' beliefs about literacy development: Indigenous and Anglo-Australian mothers from different educational backgrounds. Alberta Journal of Educational Research 54(1), 65-82.

Degotardi, S., Torr, J. & Cross, T. (2008). "He's got a mind of his own": The development of a framework for determining mothers' beliefs about their infants' minds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 259-271.

Roberts, S., Djonov, E., & Torr, J. (2008, in press). "The mouse is not a toy": Young children's interactions with e-games. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy.

Lim, C., & Torr, J. (2008). Teaching literacy in English language in Singaporean preschools: Exploring what teachers believe works best. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 9(2).

Torr, J. (2007). The pleasure of recognition: Intertextuality in the talk of preschoolers during shared reading and with mothers and teachers. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development 27(1), 77-93.

Degotardi, S., & Torr, J. (2007). A longitudinal investigation of mothers' mind-related talk to their 12- to 24-month-old infants. Early Child Development and Care, 177(6 & 7), 767-780.

Lim, C., & Torr, J. (2007). Singaporean early childhood teachers' beliefs about literacy development in a multilingual context. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education           35(4), 409-434.

Torr, J., & Scott, C. (2006). Learning "special words": Technical vocabulary in the talk of adults and preschoolers during shared reading. Journal of Early Childhood Research 4(2), 153-167.

Torr, J. (2004). Talking about picture books: The influence of maternal education on four-year-old children's talk with mothers and preschool teachers. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 4(2), 156-180.

Griffith, K. & Torr, J. (2003). Playfulness in children's books about bedtime: Ambivalence and subversion in the bedtime story. Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature. 13(1), 11-24.

Torr, J. (2000). Thinking and saying in the classroom: An exploration of the use of projection by teachers and children. Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal, 11(2), 141-159.

Full length Conference Papers (E1)

Torr, J. & Griffith, K. (2003). An analysis of children alphabet books: Exploring the role played by nonsense in the construction of meaning between text and implied reader.In J. McKenzie, D. Darnell & A. Smith (Eds.), Cinderella transformed: Multiple voices and diverse dialogues in children's literature (pp. 8-15). Christchurch, NZ: ChristchurchCollege of Education Press. (Centre for Children's Literature).

Book Chapters (B1)

Torr, J. (2008). Multimodal texts and emergent literacy in early childhood. In L. Unsworth (Ed.), New literacies and the English curriculum: Multimodal perspectives (pp. 47-66). London: Continuum.

Painter, C, Derewianka, B., & Torr, J. (2007). From microfunction to metaphor: Learning language and learning through language. In R. Hasan, J. Webster & C. Matthiessen (Eds.), Continuing discourse on language: A functional perspective (pp. 561-586). London: Equinox.

Torr, J., & Simpson, A. (2003). The emergence of grammatical metaphor: Literacy-oriented expressions in the everyday speech of young children. In A.M. Simon- Vandenbergen, M. Taverniers & L. Ravelli (Eds.), Grammatical metaphor: Views from systemic functional linguistics (pp. 169-184). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Textbook Chapters (B2)

Fleet, A., & Torr, J. (2007). Literacy assessment: Understanding and recording meaningful data. In L. Makin, C.J. Diaz & C. McLachlan (Eds.), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice. (2^nd Ed.). Sydney: Elsevier.

Torr, J. (2005). Language development in early childhood. In A. Talay-Ongan & E. Ap (Eds.) Early Childhood Development. Melbourne: Thompson.

view Shirley Wyver I have two main strands of research, both in the area of child development. The first is an examination of pretend play, particularly its implications for cognitive development. I am not only interested in cognitive outcomes associated with pretend play, but also the processes underlying these changes. Secondly, I have an interest in a range of developmental issues associated with blindness and vision impairment. Recently, I have been investigating some of the problems with claims of high levels of autistic features amongst children who are blind. I am also interested in the impact of blindness and vision impairment on basic cognitive processes and how early interactions and early intervention can minimise the potential adverse consequences of blindness.

Selected Publications
Papers Published in Refereed Journals
Chan, S.M., Bowes, J., & Wyver, S. (in press). Chinese parenting in Hong Kong: Links among goals, beliefs and styles. Early Child Development and Care.
Little, H. & Wyver, S. (in press). Outdoor play: Does removing the risks reduce the benefits? Australian Journal of Early Childhood.
Bundy, A., Tranter, P., Luckett, T., Naughton, G., Wyver, S., G. Spies & Ragen, J. A (in press) Playful Interaction: Occupational Therapy for 'All' Children on the Playground. American Journal of Occupational Therapy.
La Praik, N. & Wyver, S. (2007) Interests, semantic networks and social relationships of children in enrichment and mainstream programs. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 16(2), 26-34.
Andrews, R. & Wyver, S. (2005). Autistic tendencies: Are there different pathways for blindness and Autism Spectrum Disorders?British Journal of Visual Impairment. 23(2), 52-57.
Kowalski, H.S., Wyver, S.R., Masselos, G., & de Lacey, P. (2005). The long-day childcare context: Implications for toddlers' pretend play. Early Years, 25(1), 1-11.
Kowalski, H.S., Wyver, S.R., Masselos, G., & de Lacey, P. (2004). Toddlers' emerging symbolic play: A first-born advantage? Early Child Development and Care, 174(4), 389-400.
Wyver, S.R., & Livesey, D.J. (2003). Kinaesthetic sensitivity and motor skills of school-aged children with a congenital visual impairment. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 21(1), 25-31.
Wyver, S.R., Markham, R. & Hlavacek, S. (2000). Inferences and word associations of children with a visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 94, 217.
Wyver, S.R. (2000). Parental reports of visual diagnosis and visual acuity. Journal of the South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment, 1, 16-17.
Wyver, S.R. & Spence, S.H. (1999). Play and divergent problem solving: Evidence supporting a reciprocal relationship. Early Education and Development, 10, 419-444.
Wyver, S.R., Markham, R. & Hlavacek, S. (1999). Visual items on intelligence tests for children. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 93, 663-665.
Wyver, S.R. & Markham, R. (1999). Divergent thinking of children with a severe visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 93, 233-236.
Wyver, S.R. & Markham, R. (1998). Do children with visual impairments demonstrate superior short-term memory, memorystrategies, and metamemory? Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 92, 799-811.
Wyver, S.R. & Livesey, D.J. (1997). Kinaesthetic acuity and motor skills of preschool children with a congenital visual impairment: Preliminary findings. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 14, 72-79.
Wyver, S.R. & Kowalski, H.S. (1996). Imitation and diversity in play: Preliminary findings. International Play Journal, 4, 9-16.
Markham, R. & Wyver, S.R. (1996). When may a child who is visually impaired child recognize a face? Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 90, 325-332.
Wyver, S.R. & Spence, S.H. (1995). Cognitive and social play of Australian preschoolers. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20, 42-46.
Chapters in Books
Bundy, A., Tranter, P., Naughton, G., Wyver, S. & Luckett, T. (accepted 6 Feb, 2008) Promoting playfulness and reslience: Fitting playgrounds to children. In J. Bowes & R. Grace (Eds.). Children, families and communities: Contexts and consequences (4^th ed.). Melbourne: OxfordUniversity Press.

Leekam, S., & Wyver, S. (2005). Beyond 'modalarity' and innateness: Sensory experience, social interaction and symbolic development in children with autism and blindness. In L. Pring (Ed.).Autism and blindness: Research and reflections(pp. 26-49). London: Whurr.
Book Reviews in Refereed Journals
Wyver, S. (2008) Review of the book Risk and resilience: adaptations in changing times.Educational Psychology, 28(2), 223-224.
Wyver, S. (2008). Review of the book Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth. Educational Psychology, 28(2), 226-227.
Wyver, S. (2006). Review of the book Autism spectrum disorders: Interventions and treatments for children and youth. Autism, 10(1), 118-119.
Wyver, S. (2006). Review of the book Cognition and Intelligence: Identifying mechanisms of the mind. Educational Psychology, 26(6), 848-849.

Bio	Name	Information
view	Jennifer Bowes	Current research projects include: Child Care Choices Extension Project Child Care Choices of Indigenous Families Access and Equity in Early Childhood Education Exploring the Efficacy of an Integrated Child and Family Service Model in a Disadvantaged Area: Child, Parent and Professional Outcomes A Multi-modal Investigation of Current and Proposed Structures and Processes Determining and Sustaining Quality in Australian Centre-based Child Care Current research supervision is on the following topics: · Socialisation of emotion in Chinese children in Hong Kong. · Family-centred practice in early intervention: How do families of young children with special needs experience family-centred practice? · Catering for the needs of intellectually gifted children In early childhood settings: Development of successful intervention strategies. Recent Research Grants 2003 Child Care Choices of Indigenous Families (Bowes, J., Sanson, A., Wise, S., Ungerer, J., Harrison, L., Watson, J, & Simpson, T.) Department of Community Services, NSW ($888,169) 2004 Longitudinal Extension of the Child Care Choices Project (Bowes, J., Sanson, A., Wise, S., Ungerer, J., Harrison, L., & Simpson, T.) Department of Community Services, NSW ($1,304,360) 2004 The Experiences of Young Children and their Families with Multiple Childcare Arrangements: Development of a New Measure for Children and Parents. (Bowes, J. & Ungerer, J.) MacquarieUniversity Research Development Grants Scheme ($16,717). 2005 Early Childhood Education and Indigenous Children, Gifted Children, Children of Recent Arrivals in Australia and Children with Disabilities (Bowes, J.). Department of Education, Science and Training ($750,000) 2008 A Multi-modal Investigation of Current and Proposed Structures and Processes Determining and Sustaining Quality in Australian Centre-based Child Care (Harrison, L., Press, F., Sumsion, J., Bowes, J. M., & Fenech, M.) ARC Discovery Grant ($257,196.00). 2008 Exploring the Efficacy of an Integrated Child and Family Service Model in a Disadvantaged Area: Child, Parent and Professional Outcomes (Bowes, J. M., Grace, R., Gibson, F., McMaugh, A., & Degotardi, S.) Macquarie University External Collaborative Research Grant in partnership with Uniting Care, Burnside ($77,387.00 total funding). Recent publications Bowes, J. M. (2005). Emphasizing the family in work-family research: A review of current research and recommendations for future directions. In S. Poelmans (Ed.), International Research on Work and Family. (pp. 415-438). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Diamond, A., Bowes, J., & Robertson, G. (2006). Mothers' safety intervention strategies with toddlers and their relationship to child characteristics. Early Childhood Development and Care, 176 (3&4), 271-284. Bowes, J., Fleet, A., Maloney, C., & Stamopoulous, E. (2006). Quality assurance of teacher education programs through benchmarking. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 13 (2), 141-150. Chan, S. M., Bowes, J., & Wyver, S. (in press). Chinese parenting in Hong Kong: Links among goals, beliefs and styles. Early Child Development and Care. Bowes, J. & Grace, R. (Eds). (in press). Children, Families and Communities, 3^rd edn., Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
view	Sheila Degotardi	My research interests revolve around i) understanding children's sociocultural context, including the characteristics and dimensions of this sociocultural context and the ways in which children's sociocultural context supports and facilitates their development; and ii) how children and adults express their social understanding during their interactions with others. My current research projects incorporate interests in the following topics: Characteristics and determinants of adult-child interactions and responsive caregiving in both home and early childhood settings. Approaches and processes related to infant-toddler pedagogy. Adult beliefs about children and their play. The nature and developmental potential of children's engagement in play and social interactions. Publications: Degotardi, S. & Pearson, E. (in press). Relationship theory in the nursery: Attachment and beyond. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(2). Degotardi, S., & Davis, B. (in press). Understanding infants: Characteristics of early childhood practitioners' interpretations of infants and their behaviours. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 28(3). Degotardi, S., Torr, J., & Cross, T. (2008). "He's got a mind of his own": A framework for determining mothers' beliefs about their infants' minds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(2), 259-271. Degotardi, S. & Torr, J. (2007). A longitudinal investigation of mothers' mind-related to talk to their 12 to 24-month-old infants. Early Child Development and Care, 177(6-7), 767-780. Degotardi, S (2006). Book Review: Infants' sense of people: Precursors to a theory of mind. Educational Psychology, 26(6), 853-854 Degotardi, S (2005). Exploring children's play: Development and contexts. In A. Talay-Ongan and E.A. Ap (Eds.) Child development and teaching young children. Sydney, Thomson. Degotardi, S (2005). Mothers' beliefs, mothers' talk, and their children's theory of mind. Unpublished PhD Thesis, MacquarieUniversity. Degotardi, S. (2003). Getting to know what they're doing: Observing children's use of their understanding of mind. In C. Tan-Niam, S. Degotardi, and S. Dockett (Eds.) Minds at play: Intersubjectivity, theory of mind and social competence in children's interactions. Singapore: Nanyang Technological University Degotardi, S & Cross, A (1999). Children's expression of their understanding of mental states: More than speaking their mind. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 1, 46-59. Dockett, S., Szarkowicz, D., Petrovski, P., Degotardi, S., & Rovers, F. (1999). "I annoy him and he hits me": Interactions of popular, neutral and unpopular children. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood Education, 1, 59-71. Dockett, S. & Degotardi, S. (1997). Some implications of popularity at age four. Journal of Australian Research in Early Childhood, 1, 21-30.
view	Frances Gibson	Frances Gibson's research has focused on children born at high risl and children with developmental difficulties, including family adjustment.
view	Rosalind Kitson	Rosalind's research interests include transitions, starting school and education in the first years of school. She is interested in practicum and fieldwork experiences of students and the professional pathways of graduate teachers. Research undertaken for her PhD investigated starting school and the program for the first year of school in Brunei Darussalam South East Asia. This was undertaken when she was a lecturer in the department of early childhood at the University Brunei Darussalam. Much of Rosalind's reseach is framed around cross cultural issues and Indigenous early childhood education, from the perpsectives of children and families as well as the professional pathways and experiences of Indigenous early childhood teachers. Her current research is focused on Indigenous education and her research interests have reviewed the Professional Pathways of Indigenous Early Childhood Teachers. This study was funded by Department of Education Science and Training. The Child Care Choices of Indigenous Families project funded by Department of Community Services is being initiated by research team from two universities, Macquarie University and Charles Sturt Univiersity. This research is exploring Indigenous families prefererences for early childhood education and care. An area of interest is the visual arts and Rosalind has a Masters degree of art education from the College of Fine Arts, Univeristy of NSW. She is interested in ways to enhance and enrich children's art experiences to extend their interest, understanding and creativity.
view	Susan Roberts	Susan's research interests include visual language and literacy in early childhood, young children's use of new media technologies and constructions of childhood in visual discourse. She is currently working on a longitudinal project which explores how young children develop their understanding of computer software. She is also supervising several PhD students whose research topics include children and media harm, and computers in early childhood settings.
view	Jane Torr	I am interested in all aspects of early childhood language and literacy development. My research has explored the role of language in children's learning, including the nature of adult-child talk and how this talk affects current and later academic achievement. I am especially interested in children's picture books, and their qualities as multimodal works of art. I have explored how young children interpret the relationship between the written text and the pictures. Another area of interest is the beliefs of mothers and early childhood teachers about children's literacy development. RECENT PUBLICATIONS Journal Articles (C1) Torr, J. (2008). Mothers' beliefs about literacy development: Indigenous and Anglo-Australian mothers from different educational backgrounds. Alberta Journal of Educational Research 54(1), 65-82. Degotardi, S., Torr, J. & Cross, T. (2008). "He's got a mind of his own": The development of a framework for determining mothers' beliefs about their infants' minds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23, 259-271. Roberts, S., Djonov, E., & Torr, J. (2008, in press). "The mouse is not a toy": Young children's interactions with e-games. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. Lim, C., & Torr, J. (2008). Teaching literacy in English language in Singaporean preschools: Exploring what teachers believe works best. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 9(2). Torr, J. (2007). The pleasure of recognition: Intertextuality in the talk of preschoolers during shared reading and with mothers and teachers. Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development 27(1), 77-93. Degotardi, S., & Torr, J. (2007). A longitudinal investigation of mothers' mind-related talk to their 12- to 24-month-old infants. Early Child Development and Care, 177(6 & 7), 767-780. Lim, C., & Torr, J. (2007). Singaporean early childhood teachers' beliefs about literacy development in a multilingual context. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education 35(4), 409-434. Torr, J., & Scott, C. (2006). Learning "special words": Technical vocabulary in the talk of adults and preschoolers during shared reading. Journal of Early Childhood Research 4(2), 153-167. Torr, J. (2004). Talking about picture books: The influence of maternal education on four-year-old children's talk with mothers and preschool teachers. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 4(2), 156-180. Griffith, K. & Torr, J. (2003). Playfulness in children's books about bedtime: Ambivalence and subversion in the bedtime story. Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature. 13(1), 11-24. Torr, J. (2000). Thinking and saying in the classroom: An exploration of the use of projection by teachers and children. Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal, 11(2), 141-159. Full length Conference Papers (E1) Torr, J. & Griffith, K. (2003). An analysis of children alphabet books: Exploring the role played by nonsense in the construction of meaning between text and implied reader.In J. McKenzie, D. Darnell & A. Smith (Eds.), Cinderella transformed: Multiple voices and diverse dialogues in children's literature (pp. 8-15). Christchurch, NZ: ChristchurchCollege of Education Press. (Centre for Children's Literature). Book Chapters (B1) Torr, J. (2008). Multimodal texts and emergent literacy in early childhood. In L. Unsworth (Ed.), New literacies and the English curriculum: Multimodal perspectives (pp. 47-66). London: Continuum. Painter, C, Derewianka, B., & Torr, J. (2007). From microfunction to metaphor: Learning language and learning through language. In R. Hasan, J. Webster & C. Matthiessen (Eds.), Continuing discourse on language: A functional perspective (pp. 561-586). London: Equinox. Torr, J., & Simpson, A. (2003). The emergence of grammatical metaphor: Literacy-oriented expressions in the everyday speech of young children. In A.M. Simon- Vandenbergen, M. Taverniers & L. Ravelli (Eds.), Grammatical metaphor: Views from systemic functional linguistics (pp. 169-184). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Textbook Chapters (B2) Fleet, A., & Torr, J. (2007). Literacy assessment: Understanding and recording meaningful data. In L. Makin, C.J. Diaz & C. McLachlan (Eds.), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice. (2^nd Ed.). Sydney: Elsevier. Torr, J. (2005). Language development in early childhood. In A. Talay-Ongan & E. Ap (Eds.) Early Childhood Development. Melbourne: Thompson.
view	Shirley Wyver	I have two main strands of research, both in the area of child development. The first is an examination of pretend play, particularly its implications for cognitive development. I am not only interested in cognitive outcomes associated with pretend play, but also the processes underlying these changes. Secondly, I have an interest in a range of developmental issues associated with blindness and vision impairment. Recently, I have been investigating some of the problems with claims of high levels of autistic features amongst children who are blind. I am also interested in the impact of blindness and vision impairment on basic cognitive processes and how early interactions and early intervention can minimise the potential adverse consequences of blindness. Selected Publications Papers Published in Refereed Journals Chan, S.M., Bowes, J., & Wyver, S. (in press). Chinese parenting in Hong Kong: Links among goals, beliefs and styles. Early Child Development and Care. Little, H. & Wyver, S. (in press). Outdoor play: Does removing the risks reduce the benefits? Australian Journal of Early Childhood. Bundy, A., Tranter, P., Luckett, T., Naughton, G., Wyver, S., G. Spies & Ragen, J. A (in press) Playful Interaction: Occupational Therapy for 'All' Children on the Playground. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. La Praik, N. & Wyver, S. (2007) Interests, semantic networks and social relationships of children in enrichment and mainstream programs. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 16(2), 26-34. Andrews, R. & Wyver, S. (2005). Autistic tendencies: Are there different pathways for blindness and Autism Spectrum Disorders?British Journal of Visual Impairment. 23(2), 52-57. Kowalski, H.S., Wyver, S.R., Masselos, G., & de Lacey, P. (2005). The long-day childcare context: Implications for toddlers' pretend play. Early Years, 25(1), 1-11. Kowalski, H.S., Wyver, S.R., Masselos, G., & de Lacey, P. (2004). Toddlers' emerging symbolic play: A first-born advantage? Early Child Development and Care, 174(4), 389-400. Wyver, S.R., & Livesey, D.J. (2003). Kinaesthetic sensitivity and motor skills of school-aged children with a congenital visual impairment. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 21(1), 25-31. Wyver, S.R., Markham, R. & Hlavacek, S. (2000). Inferences and word associations of children with a visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 94, 217. Wyver, S.R. (2000). Parental reports of visual diagnosis and visual acuity. Journal of the South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment, 1, 16-17. Wyver, S.R. & Spence, S.H. (1999). Play and divergent problem solving: Evidence supporting a reciprocal relationship. Early Education and Development, 10, 419-444. Wyver, S.R., Markham, R. & Hlavacek, S. (1999). Visual items on intelligence tests for children. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 93, 663-665. Wyver, S.R. & Markham, R. (1999). Divergent thinking of children with a severe visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 93, 233-236. Wyver, S.R. & Markham, R. (1998). Do children with visual impairments demonstrate superior short-term memory, memorystrategies, and metamemory? Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 92, 799-811. Wyver, S.R. & Livesey, D.J. (1997). Kinaesthetic acuity and motor skills of preschool children with a congenital visual impairment: Preliminary findings. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 14, 72-79. Wyver, S.R. & Kowalski, H.S. (1996). Imitation and diversity in play: Preliminary findings. International Play Journal, 4, 9-16. Markham, R. & Wyver, S.R. (1996). When may a child who is visually impaired child recognize a face? Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 90, 325-332. Wyver, S.R. & Spence, S.H. (1995). Cognitive and social play of Australian preschoolers. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 20, 42-46. Chapters in Books Bundy, A., Tranter, P., Naughton, G., Wyver, S. & Luckett, T. (accepted 6 Feb, 2008) Promoting playfulness and reslience: Fitting playgrounds to children. In J. Bowes & R. Grace (Eds.). Children, families and communities: Contexts and consequences (4^th ed.). Melbourne: OxfordUniversity Press. Leekam, S., & Wyver, S. (2005). Beyond 'modalarity' and innateness: Sensory experience, social interaction and symbolic development in children with autism and blindness. In L. Pring (Ed.).Autism and blindness: Research and reflections(pp. 26-49). London: Whurr. Book Reviews in Refereed Journals Wyver, S. (2008) Review of the book Risk and resilience: adaptations in changing times.Educational Psychology, 28(2), 223-224. Wyver, S. (2008). Review of the book Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth. Educational Psychology, 28(2), 226-227. Wyver, S. (2006). Review of the book Autism spectrum disorders: Interventions and treatments for children and youth. Autism, 10(1), 118-119. Wyver, S. (2006). Review of the book Cognition and Intelligence: Identifying mechanisms of the mind. Educational Psychology, 26(6), 848-849.