Dr Rachael Dwyer is a core member of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre (ITRC) at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) and serves as a Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy within the School of Education & Tertiary Access. Her background includes years of experience as a music-specialist teacher in primary schools, and extensive involvement in teacher education.

Research Focus

Dr Dwyer’s work centres on arts and music education, narrative/arts-based research methods, and equity and inclusion in teacher education. Her research addresses how teachers’ values and beliefs shape educational practice, how arts/music pedagogy can foster social change, and how culturally responsive and decolonising pedagogies can make education more inclusive.

Her research also explores diversity in the teaching workforce examining the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) teachers, and how school environments might better support teacher retention and inclusion.

Key Research Impact

• Dr Dwyer’s integration of arts-based and narrative research with music and arts education has advanced understandings of how arts pedagogy can contribute to social justice, inclusion, and cultural recognition in schools. Her work demonstrates the potential for arts education to support equity and community engagement, not just as a curriculum add-on but as a fundamental component of inclusive schooling.
• Through her scholarship and teacher-education work, she influences how preservice and in-service teachers engage with values, beliefs, and identity encouraging reflective practice and socially conscious teaching. This helps foster a more culturally responsive and socially aware teaching workforce.
• Her leadership in developing and contributing to research on teacher workforce diversity supports efforts to better understand barriers faced by CALD teachers, and to recommend strategies to make schools more inclusive workplaces.

Recent Grants and Projects

• In 2024, Dr Dwyer was awarded funding for the project ‘Singing Indigenous Languages Collective: Connecting communities through song creation across Australia’, a cross-institution initiative that seeks to revitalise and celebrate Indigenous languages via collective song creation.
• She leads the ITRC’s “Cultural Practices” theme (alongside colleagues), which supports community-engaged and creative-arts research positioning arts education and cultural work as central to transcultural and social justice aims.

Translation to Practice and Policy

Dr Dwyer’s research and teaching expertise contribute to:

• Inclusive arts and music education - shaping curricula and pedagogies that recognise diverse cultural backgrounds and promote equity in arts access.
• Teacher-education reform - embedding arts-based, reflective, socially aware practices in preservice teacher training, supporting the development of educators attuned to cultural diversity and social justice.
• Workforce diversity and equity initiatives - informing policy-relevant discussions about representation, support and inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse teachers in Australian schools.
• Cultural revitalisation and community engagement - via projects like Singing Indigenous Languages Collective, working with Indigenous communities to support language, culture and artistic expression in schools and beyond.

Recognition and Significance

Dr Dwyer has built an international profile in music teacher education and arts-based research, bridging scholarship, advocacy and teaching. Her role in key arts-based and culturally responsive projects reinforces UniSC’s commitment to inclusive, socially engaged scholarship.