Griffith University

PhD, MA (Research), BEd, DipT
Convenor, Master of Drama Education (Mt Gravatt and Hong Kong)
Convenor, Master of Drama Education (Hons)
Contact details for Associate Professor Julie Dunn

Research expertise

Julie Dunn's research work focuses on play and drama in actual and virtual worlds and she is particularly interested in the point of intersection between these worlds and dramatic ones. She has published widely in the area of dramatic play, with a specific area of interest being how the dramatic qualities of play develop with experience. Within the context of early childhood and primary education, Julie has investigated connections between child-structured dramatic play and adult-structured drama education, with a major component of this work being the possibilities these approaches offer for literacy development, including oracy.

An additional area of interest for Julie is the impact drama strategies can have within the field of additional language learning. She is currently supervising two doctoral students engaged in research in this area, while her current ARC Linkage research project (led by Professor Michael Balfour) sees her working with recently arrived refugee children to support their language acquisition through play and drama. Julie is also keenly interested in and actively researching the impact that drama strategies can have on learner engagement.
Julie was the 2005 winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Dissertation Award and her book "Pretending to Learn" (co-authored with John O'Toole) was winner of a 2003 Excellence in Educational Publishing Award.

Current teaching areas

At post-graduate level Julie is the Program Convenor of the Master of Drama Education and Master of Drama Education (Honours) Mt Gravatt and Hong Kong offerings. She also convenes the Graduate Certificate of Drama Education (Mt Gravatt offering). At under-graduate level Julie is responsible for all the primary education courses offered by the drama area, as well as two BA Applied courses – Process Drama and Facilitating Drama Workshops.  A major part of her undergraduate work is her convenorship of Communicative Performance which is offered across three campuses.

Julie has a large PhD and Masters supervision load, with 7 students at doctoral level and 2 at Masters level. 

Current Supervisions

PhD

• Chan, Yuk Lan (Phoebe): The teacher/actor in Theatre in Education
• Harden, Annette: The use of dramatic pedagogies in the development of reading and writing across the preparatory year of schooling
• Owen, Maureen: Addressing Bullying in Schools: Strategies, structures and scaffolding
• Piazzoli, Erika: Process Drama for teaching additional languages:  exploring aesthetics and intercultural language learning
• Piek, Rowena: Arts Education in Queensland: What is valued, by whom and why?
• Rothwell, Julia: Playing a role: The use of process drama in the development of intercultural literacy for young, beginner foreign language students. (QUT – external associate supervisor)
  

EdD

• Palethorpe, Lisa: Leadership in Early Childhood

Master of Drama Education (Honours)

• Thorner, Ginny: Perceptions of giftedness in drama education contexts
• Marino, Sarah: Developing written literacy through drama
  

PhD completions

• Morrison, Morag: Shouts and Whispers: Re-engaging disaffected girl through peer teaching drama
• Phillips, Louise (QUT): Young children’s active citizenship: storytelling, stories, and social actions
• Wong, Kit-Mei (QUT): Early Childhood Art Education in Hong Kong: A Phenomenographic Study
  

Publications

Co-authored books

• O'Toole, J. & Dunn, J. (2004). Dramaforlb i skolen en brugsbog for lrere  Translated by Stockholm, C., V. Clausen, C., Thrane, L., Heidemann, L., and Jorgensen, G. Drama Press: Viborg.
• O'Toole, J. & Dunn, J. (2002). Pretending to Learn - Helping Children Learn through Drama, Sydney: Pearson Education Australia.

Book chapters

• Dunn, J. & Stinson, M. (in press) Dramatic play and drama in the early years: Re-imagining the approach. In Wright, S. (Ed) Children, Meaning Making and the Arts. (2nd edition) Sydney: Pearson.
• Dunn, J. (2010) ‘Child-structured socio-dramatic play and the drama educator: what’s our role?’ In S. Schonman (Ed). Key Concepts in Theatre and Drama Education. Sense Publications.
• Dunn, J. and O’Toole, J. (2009). ‘When Worlds Collude: Exploring the relationship between the actual, the dramatic and the virtual’. In Anderson, M., Carroll, J. & Cameron, D. (Eds.) Drama Education with Digital Technology. London: Continuum Books.
• Dunn, J. (2008). ‘Drama and Literacy in the Early Years’ In Marsh, J. and Hallet, E. (Eds) Desirable Literacies: Approaches to Language and Literacy in the Early Years. London: Paul Chapman.
• Dunn, J. (2003). Linking Drama Education and Dramatic Play in the Early Childhood Years. In Wright, S. Children, Meaning Making and the Arts. Pearson Education: Sydney.
• Dunn, J. (2002). Enhancing Dramatic Activities in the Early Childhood Years. In Wright, S. (Ed.) The Arts, Young Children and Learning. Allyn and Bacon: Boston.    
  

Refereed journal articles

• Dunn, J. (2010) Video in drama research: Formalising the role of collaborative conversations in the analysis phase. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, Vol. 15, no. 2, 193-208.
• Dunn, J. (2009). Keeping it Real: An examination of the metacommunication processes used within the play of one group of preadolescent girls. Play and Culture Series, Vol. 9, University of America Press.
• Dunn, J. and O’Toole, J. (2008). Learning in Dramatic and Virtual Worlds: What do the students say about complementarity and future directions? Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 42, no. 4
• Dunn, J. (2008). Playing around with improvisation: an analysis of the text creation processes used within preadolescent dramatic play. Research in Drama Education, vol.13, no.1, Routledge, pp. 55-70.
• Dunn, J. (2006). Revisiting Dramatic Worlds in Play, Youth Theatre Journal, American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Vol 20, (pp. 42-57)
• Dunn, J. (2006). The Imagination at Work in the Play of Preadolescent Girls, Applied Theatre Researcher, No 6.
  

Refereed Conference Proceedings

• Dunn, J. (2010) Dramatic engagement: A reflective Memo. Paper presented at the Critical Studies in Drama in Education International Symposium, University of Auckland, October 26-27.
  
• Dunn, J. (2009)  Formalising the role of talk in the Data Collection Process. Paper presented at the 5th International Drama/Theatre Education Research Institute, University of Sydney, July 20-24.
• Dunn, J. (2008) The Playwright Function in Improvised Texts. Paper presented at the 6th World Drama Congress (IDEA), Hong Kong Centre for Performing Arts, Hong Kong, July 8-16.
• Dunn, J. (2007)  Insider Trading or Corporate Takeover? Clarifying the relationship between drama in schools and Applied Theatre. International Symposium on Applied Theatre, University of Sydney, October 11-12
• Prestridge, S., Dunn, J. & Lang, W. (2006). Building an International Collaborative Learning Community within a Virtual Space. Learning on the Move Mobile Learning Conference, QUT, Brisbane, September 26.
  
• O'Toole, J., Dunn, J. & Turner, J. (2005). When Worlds Collide, Exploring the relationship between the real, the dramatic and the virtual. Playing and Learning in Virtual Environments, Selected Papers from the 2nd International Conference of the League of Worlds Association.
  
• Dunn, J. (2002). Dramatic Worlds in Play Creating and Sustaining Illusions of Realness. In Rasmussen, B. & Ostern, A. (Eds.) Playing Betwixt and Between. The IDEA Dialogues 2001 Selected Papers from the 4th World Congress of Drama/Theatre and Education Bergen 2001. Bergen: IDEA Publications.
  

Government reports

• Piscitelli, B., Renshaw, A., Dunn, J. & Hawke, D. (2004). Education, Enculturation and The Arts: Fuelling an Innovation Culture. Education and the Arts Partnership Initiative, Australia Council, Education Queensland and Queensland University of Technology: Brisbane.

Non-refereed journal articles

• Dunn, J. (2005). Building drama worlds. Four steps to creating literacy rich dramatic play environments. Every Child. Vol.11,  No. 2.
• Dunn, J. (2004). Becoming the surgeons in curriculum reform, Australian Drama Education Magazine. (This is the framing article for the 2004 edition of the magazine and was contributed by invitation.)
• Dunn, J. (2002). The Green Children Connecting Drama, Productive Pedagogies and Multiliteracies, Primary Matters, Brisbane: Drama Queensland. Vol 2.
• Dunn, J. (2002). Giants and Lighthouse Keepers: Drama, dramatic play and multiliteracies, Educating Young Children. Learning and Teaching in the Early Childhood Years, Vol 8, No.2.
  

Project materials

• Dunn, J. & Veurman-Betts, J. (2007). Reels Rescue Support Materials, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane.
• Dunn, J. & McArdle, F. (2006). Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood Teacher and Parent Support Materials. QPAT: Brisbane
• Dunn, J. & Brennan, C. (2006). National Treasures Support Materials, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane.
  

Newspaper articles

• Dunn, J. (2003). Oracy through Dramatic Play. Invited contribution to Education Views, Brisbane: Education Queensland.

Keynotes/presentations at international conferences

• (2009) The Power of Drama. Keynote presented at the Play, Drama and Literacy in the Early Years International Conference, May 15-16, National Pingtung University of Education, Taiwan.
  
• (2009) Creating literacy rich dramatic play contexts. Keynote presented at the International Conference on Early Childhood Language Teaching and Practice Conference, Cheng Shiu University, May 19-20, Kaoshiung, Taiwan.
• (2009) Linking drama and children’s Literature. Keynote presented at the International Conference of Drama Education and Application, National University of Tainan, May 17-18, National University of Tainan, Taiwan.
• (2007). Insider Trading or Corporate Takeover? Clarifying the relationship between drama in schools and Applied Theatre. International Symposium on Applied Theatre, University of Sydney, October 11-12
• (2007). The Playwright Function in Improvised Forms. Paper presented at IDEA the 6th World Congress of International Drama/Theatre and Education Association, Hong Kong. July 16-22. 
• (2007). Linking learners, Linking Literacies. Paper presented at the United Kingdom Literacy Association 43rd International Conference, Swansea University, Wales. July 6-8. 
• (2006). Arts Education: Reflecting on the Need for Balance.  Invited Keynote New Zealand Art Educators Association Annual Conference, Christchurch, NZ, July 10-12, 2006
• (2006). Exploring Rain: Developing Transdisciplinary Middle Years Arts Units, New Zealand Art Educators Association Annual Conference, Christchurch, NZ, July 10 - 12, 2006
• (2005). Revisiting Dramatic Worlds in Play. Oral defence presented at the American Alliance for Theatre Education Conference, Chicago, USA, July 28-31.

Keynotes/presentations at Australian conferences

• (2010) “Giving voice to speaking and listening in the new Australian Curriculum”. Literacy and Numeracy Week Conference, Brisbane Catholic Education Centre, Brisbane.
• (2009) “Playing Around with Literacy: Creating Literacy Rich Drama and Play Experiences for Young Children”. Walking on Words Early Childhood Literacy Conference, Ballarat University, Sept 13-14.
• (2008) ‘Playing around with drama and literacy’.  Keynote delivered at the Inspiring Creativity in Children 0-12 Conference, November 7. Nan Tien Temple, Berkeley, Woolongong, NSW.