Dr Ali Black is a core member of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre (ITRC) at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC). She is Senior Lecturer in Education and Program Coordinator for the Master of Education program.

Dr Black teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate education programs, specialising in early childhood education, arts-in-education, sustainability education, teacher identity and reflective research practice.

Research Focus

Dr Black is an arts-based and narrative researcher whose work centres on creative, participatory and meaning-centred approaches to knowledge, identity and community. Her areas of expertise include:

• Arts-based research methods (narrative, visual inquiry, autoethnography, “research as writing”)
• Early childhood and sustainability education, including children’s relationships with environment and nature-play pedagogies
• Social cohesion, wellbeing, community connectedness, and building reflective professional and academic identities especially among women in academia and educators navigating their roles with care, creativity and agency

Her research engages with lived experience, gender, identity and community through creative and participatory methodologies, aiming to reimagine traditional academic and educational cultures towards more compassionate, inclusive and relational practices.

Key Research Impact

• Dr Black’s work contributes to reconceptualising education and academic life through arts-and narrative-based research that foregrounds wellbeing, relational knowledge, and community. Her co-edited volume Reimagining the Academy: shifting towards kindness, connection, and an ethics of care (2021) has influenced conversations around academic cultures, gender, care and identity in higher education.
• Her collaborative research into motherhood, gender and academia e.g. (Re)birthing the feminine in academe: Creating Spaces of Motherhood in Patriarchal Contexts (2020) has provided evidence and narrative testimony that helps inform institutional reflection and policy discussion on support for women in academia, work-life balance, and structural inequalities.)
• In the sphere of early childhood and environmental education, Dr Black has contributed to research projects where children are active participants in shaping nature-based and outdoor-learning spaces (e.g. studies with councils or public garden upgrades), arguing strongly for children’s voices in planning child and nature friendly environments. Her 2019 project with the Brisbane Botanic Gardens is one such example.
• Through participatory, arts-based and narrative methodologies, Dr Black advances inclusive and socially responsive research that values lived experience, agency and community voice aligning with the ITRC’s mission to foster culturally responsive knowledge and community-centred practice.

Translation to Practice and Policy

Dr Black’s scholarship and participatory projects translate into tangible social and educational impact by:

• Informing teacher-education curricula and professional development embedding reflexive, arts-based and sustainability-aware pedagogies that respect children’s agency, voice and connection to environment.
• Influencing institutional and academic policies through her critical scholarship on gender, care and academic culture contributing to better understanding of structural barriers, wellbeing needs, and support systems for women and diverse identities in academia.
• Providing community and public-space stakeholders with evidence-based guidance for inclusive, participatory design of children’s environments ensuring children’s perspectives and wellbeing are central in planning.
• Offering a model of research that centres meaning, identity, narrative and relationality supporting social cohesion, community connectedness and capacity building, in line with ITRC’s values.

Recognition and Significance

Dr Ali Black’s work stands out for its commitment to creative, relational, and socially just research. Her publications, leadership in arts-based and narrative research, and her role in teacher education and early childhood settings position her as a significant contributor to both education scholarship and community-oriented practice.

As a core member of the ITRC, Dr Black advances the Centre’s vision of culturally responsive and ethically grounded research, bridging academic inquiry with lived experiences, community voice and social change.