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Dr Melodie Bat

Director of Humanities

Indigenous Education, Indigenous Teacher Education, Workforce Development, Remote Education


  • Name: Dr Melodie Bat
    Position: Director of Humanities
    Research focus: Indigenous Education, Indigenous Teacher Education, Workforce Development, Remote Education
    Phone: 0427 226 561
    Email: melodie.bat@batchelor.edu.au
    Qualifications: PhD in Education, Charles Darwin University, Darwin. MEd (Hons) Charles Darwin University, Darwin. Grad Dip Ling University of New England Armidale. Dip Ed, University of New England, Armidale, B Com University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld.
    Professional memberships and associations
    • ATEA: Australian Teacher Education Association
    • AARE: Australian Association for Research in Education

  • RESEARCH INTERESTS

    Dr Melodie Bat is a systems thinker and innovator working in the field of Indigenous education. Her work and professional networks span the sectors and jurisdictions of Indigenous education in Australia and form the basis of a strong collaborative and intercultural approach. Melodie’s career has evolved from classroom teacher to manager to academic but the common thread has always been her ability to organise the chaos.

    Melodie is very well respected for both her educational leadership and her learning design work. Her Masters degree in education was one of the first early literacy research projects undertaken in remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities; and her Doctoral research into teacher education at Batchelor Institute provided a timely contribution to the national conversation on quality in Indigenous tertiary education. Melodie’s work as a private consultant has included course evaluations, curriculum design and thinking work in Indigenous tertiary education across both VET and Higher Ed sectors, a knowledge base which she has brought into the VET management role which she is currently undertaking.

    AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS & FELLOWSHIPS

    • Editor, The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, Volume 42, Special Issue 02, December 2013
    • ACER award for PhD thesis: Most outstanding student in the field of education: CDU graduation 2011
    • NT Libraries use of my work to generate their ‘Walk to School’ project
    • Inclusion in 'Learning Lessons' review as example of best practice implementation of project work in early childhood. 'Targeting Early Literacy – Family and School' project.

    PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

    2013 – Present Senior Lecturer, Community Services - Batchelor Institute
    2012 – 2013 Senior Research Fellow, The Northern Research CDU/CRC-REP
    2010 – 2013 Education Consultant – Pracademic Solutions
    2010 – 2011 Senior lecturer, Teacher Education - Batchelor Institute
    2001 – 2008 Resource Production Officer, Lecturer and Course Coordinator, Teacher Education Batchelor Institute
    1994 – 2001 Teacher, Teacher-Linguist, Project officer and Manger, NT Department of Education

    INSTITUTE COMMITTEES

    • Continuous Improvement Group
    • Vocational Education Training (VET) Leadership Group
    • Desert People’s Centre (DPC) Senior Management Group
  • CRC:REP Remote Education Systems Project
    Guenther, J. & Bat, M. (Eds) (2013) 'Red dirt thinking on remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education’, Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, Volume 42, Special Issue 02, December 2013
    Bat, M., Guenther, J. (2013). Red dirt thinking on education: a people-based system. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, Volume 42, Special Issue 02, December 2013, pp. 123-135.
    Guenther, J, Bat, M; Osborne, S. (2013). Red Dirt Thinking on Educational Disadvantage. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, Volume 42, Special Issue 02, December 2013, pp. 100 -110.
    Guenther, J, Bat, M. (2013). Towards a Good Education in Very Remote Australia: Is it Just a Case of Moving the Desks Around? The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, Volume 42, Special Issue 02, December 2013, pp. 145 – 156.
    Bat, M. (2013). Remote Australia needs remote teachers. Paper presented at the ATEA Conference: Knowledge makers and notice takers: teacher education research impacting policy and practice, Brisbane.
    Guenther, J & Bat, M. (2012). Moving the desks around: What does a ‘good’ education in remote Australian communities look like? International Rural Network Forum, Whyalla.

    THESES

    Bat, M. (2010). Learning from the journeys: quality in Indigenous teacher education in Australia. Doctor of Philosophy, Charles Darwin University, Darwin.
    Bat, M. (2004). A Tarp, A Troopie & A Teddy Bear: fostering early literacy practices in targeted remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia. Unpublished Masters thesis, Charles Darwin University.

    BOOK CHAPTERS

    Bat, M. & Shore, S. (2013). Listening Properly. In print. Eds. Anthony Cree
    White, N., Ober, R., Frawley, J., & Bat, M. (2009). Intercultural leadership: Strengthening leadership capabilities for Indigenous education. In N. Cranston & L. Erich (Eds.), Australian school leadership today. Bowen Hills, Qld: Australian Academic Press.

    BOOK INCLUSIONS

    Laycock, A., Walker, D., Harrison, N., & Brands, J. (2009). Supporting Indigenous researchers: a practical guide for supervisors. In C. R. C. f. A. Health (Ed.). Darwin.

    MONOGRAPHS

    Bat, M., Shore, S. (2013). Listening differently: an exploration of the grey literature on Aboriginal teacher education in the Top End of the Northern Territory, Monograph produced for the MATSITI funded project: 'Pathways for Yolŋu Teachers: rethinking initial teacher education (ITE) on country'. Darwin, NT, School of Education, Charles Darwin University.

    PAPERS

    Bat, M, Kilgariff, C, Doe, T. (2014). Indigenous tertiary education — we’re all learning: Both-ways pedagogy in the Northern Territory of Australia. HERD journal. (In print).
    Bat, M & Fasoli, L. (2012). Action research as a both-ways curriculum development approach: supporting self-determination in the remote Indigenous child care workforce in the Northern Territory of Australia. Action Research Journal. Sage Publications.
    Bat, M. (2011). Learning from the journeys: Quality in Indigenous teacher education in Australia. Paper presented at the AIATSIS conference, Canberra.
    Bat, M. (2011). The how and the why of it: what are the essential elements in a quality Indigenous teacher education program in Australia? Paper presented at the ATEA Conference: Valuing Teacher Education: Policy, Perspectives and Partnerships, Melbourne.
    Bat, M., Lammon, R., Bennell, C., & Zaro, S. (2009). Ethical moves: Innovation in qualitative research: An example of an ethical and effective cross-cultural research methodology using video. Paper presented at the AARE National Conference: Inspiring Innovative Research in Education, Canberra.
    Bat, M. (2008). Our next moment: putting the collaborative into participatory action research. Paper presented at the AARE Nation Conference, Brisbane.
    Bat, M. (2007). Keeping up with Princess Diana in the late 90s: a story of denied literacy in remote Central Australian Indigenous communities. Literacy and Numeracy Studies, 15(2).
    Bat, M., & Doe, T. (2006). In real time. The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, 7(4), 1-8.
    Bat, M, Ober, R, Doe, T, Kilgariff, C, Oldfield, J, Harrison, A, with input from Gillespie, K, Wilkes, M & Cowan, W. (2011). A teaching and learning practice framework for Batchelor Institute: a proposal for staff, internal discussion paper, Batchelor Institute.
    Ober, R & Bat, M. (2008). Paper 3: Both-ways: Self-empowerment: researching in a both-ways framework. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous issues, no. 33.
    Ober, R & Bat, M. (2008). Paper 2: Both-ways: philosophy to practice. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous issues, no. 32, pp. 56–79.
    Ober, R & Bat, M. (2007). Paper 1: Both-ways: the philosophy. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous issues, no. 31, pp. 64–86.
    Bat, M. (2005). When you can’t even buy a bedtime story. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous issues, no. 27, pp. 43–62.
    Supporting author for: Plummer, M; Djitmu, R; Moore, D; Brogan, G; Zaro, S & Fourmile N. (2006). Indigenous pedagogy—across the round table. BiiteN 15: Reflections by educators, no.15, pp. 4–7. Paper presented at World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education, New Zealand.
    Editor 1999/2000: ALEA Indigenous education special interest group newsletter. Conference presentation: Remote area Central Australian Indigenous early literacy education—the ethics and practicalities of working as a non-Indigenous educator: 1999, Australian Literacy Educators Association/Australian Early Childhood Association

Administration

NTIBNSupply-nation

FREECALL NUMBERS

General Enquiries: 1800 677 095

Travel Enquiries: 1800 815 262

ABN: 32 039 179 166
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