Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Amanda Heffernan is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership in the Faculty of Education at Monash University.
Her research focuses on the contemporary challenges of principals’ work, and what that means for how we can better attract, support, and keep school leaders within the profession.
She has a particular interest in leadership in complex school settings, including those in rural and remote areas, and the skills and knowledges that are needed to successfully lead those schools.
Amanda is a former public-school principal who now works with future and current leaders, policymakers, and international researchers to highlight the important and complex work of educational leadership today.
In 2019, Amanda was awarded the Hedley Beare Award for Educational Writing for her book The Principal and School Improvement: Theorising Discourse, Policy, and Practice.
Amanda’s PhD thesis, awarded by the University of Queensland in 2017, explored the evolution of the principalship during a period of rapid school reforms. It won the ‘Research in Educational Leadership and Management Award’ for exceptional academic achievement in advanced studies in educational leadership, as selected by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders.
In 2016, Amanda was named a ‘New Voice Scholar’ in the area of Educational Leadership Research by the Australian Council of Educational Leaders. She was one of the 2015 recipients of the Australian Association for Research in Education’s Postgraduate Student Researcher Award for her paper exploring the way principals’ practices have changed since the 2008 introduction of NAPLAN testing. This paper was later named a finalist for Springer’s Best Paper award for the Australian Educational Researcher.
In 2018, Amanda was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research at the Institute of Education, University College London. She also published her first sole-authored book, The Principal and School Improvement: Theorising Discourse, Policy and Practice.
Amanda is serving as the Conference Co-Chair for the Australian Association for Research in Education for the years 2019-2021.
Research area keywords
- Leadership
- policy analysis and effects on systems, staff and students
- school reform
- School improvement and accountability
- Educational Leadership Studies
- policy enactment
- school principals
- educational leadership
- Rural Education
- School leadership
- Reimagining educational leadership
Network
Projects
- 4 Finished
-
Autonomy, Accountability, and Principals’ Work: An Australian Study
Australian Secondary Principals Association Inc
3/04/19 → 30/11/19
Project: Research
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Attracting and Retaining Australia’s Principals
Australian Secondary Principals Association Inc
9/08/21 → 28/02/22
Project: Research
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The Effects of Peer Supervision Groups on Principal Wellbeing and Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education
Leif, E., Allen, K. & Heffernan, A.
16/07/21 → 1/04/22
Project: Research
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Competence Enhancement for School Principals & School Supervisors
Heffernan, A., Rosenbluh, I. & Cheong, S.
26/09/17 → 3/10/17
Project: Consultancy
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The Principal and School Improvement: Theorising Discourse, Policy, and Practice
Heffernan, A., 2018, Springer. 179 p. (Educational Leadership Theory)Research output: Book/Report › Book › Research › peer-review
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The 'punk rock principal': a metaphor for rethinking educational leadership
Heffernan, A., 2019, In: Journal of Educational Administration and History. 51, 2, p. 117-132 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
Power and the ‘autonomous’ principal: autonomy, teacher development, and school leaders’ work
Heffernan, A., 2 Oct 2018, In: Journal of Educational Administration and History. 50, 4, p. 379-396 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
6 Citations (Scopus) -
The academic exodus: the role of institutional support in academics leaving universities and the academy
Heffernan, T. A. & Heffernan, A., 2019, In: Professional Development in Education. 45, 1, p. 102-113 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
9 Citations (Scopus) -
Exploring a school improvement initiative: leadership and policy enactment in Queensland’s independent public schools
Heffernan, A., 2019, Challenges for Public Education: Reconceptualising Educational Leadership, Policy and Social Justice as Resources for Hope. Wilkinson, J., Niesche, R. & Eacott, S. (eds.). 1st ed. Abingdon UK: Routledge, p. 73-86 14 p. (Local/Global Issues in Education).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
Prizes
-
Emerging Scholar Award - International Journal of Leadership in Education
Heffernan, Amanda (Recipient), Apr 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Division A Outstanding Dissertation Award Honourable Mention
Heffernan, Amanda (Recipient), Apr 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Research in Educational Leadership and Management Award
Heffernan, Amanda (Recipient), 30 Aug 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
'New Voice' in Educational Leadership Research Scholarship
Heffernan, Amanda (Recipient), 29 Sep 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Australian Association for Research in Education Postgraduate Student Researcher Award
Heffernan, Amanda (Recipient), Nov 2015
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Journal of Educational Administration and History (Journal)
Amanda Heffernan (Associate editor)
Apr 2018 → Oct 2019Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
-
International Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education
Amanda Heffernan (Member of programme committee)
2018 → …Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
-
International Journal of Leadership in Education (Journal)
Amanda Heffernan (Associate editor)
Jul 2017 → Jun 2020Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
-
University College London
Amanda Heffernan (Visiting researcher)
25 Sep 2018 → 24 Oct 2018Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Visiting an external academic institution
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Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (Journal)
Amanda Heffernan (Associate editor)
Apr 2020 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
Press / Media
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What do Australians really think about teachers and schools?
Amanda Heffernan, David Bright, Fiona Longmuir & Bertalan Magyar
2/11/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
-
Learning from disruption: Why we should rethink the place of NAPLAN in our schools
Fiona Longmuir, Jane Wilkinson & Amanda Heffernan
10/05/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
-
Assessing gender inequity in academia for International Women’s Day: opinion
Kelly-Ann Allen, Kerryn Butler-Henderson, Andrea Reupert, Fiona Longmuir, Ilana Rosenbluh, Emily Berger, Christine Grove, Amanda Heffernan, Nerelie Freeman, Sarika Kewalramani, Shiri Krebs, Levita D'Souza, Grace Mackie, Denise Chapman & Marilyn Fleer
5/03/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
-
The principalship in Australia today: autonomy, accountability, and workload
Andrew Pierpoint & Amanda Heffernan
1/09/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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New-world education: What's needed to lead schools into the future
Amanda Heffernan & Fiona Longmuir
21/04/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature