Our people

Dr Jenny Martin

Associate Professor in Science Education and Education Studies
National School of Education

Areas of expertise: student and teacher agency; teacher education; science curriculum and pedagogy; sustainability education; positioning theory; cultural historical activity theory; discursive psychology; participatory methods; formative intervention.

Phone: 03 9953 3286

Email: jenny.martin@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1460-4441

Jenny brings her relational expertise as an experienced teacher in schools and higher education to her education research program. Her research program is concerned with promoting ethical change in our societies and institutions for the wellbeing of individuals and the planet. Understanding student agency in the learning process and teacher professionalism has been the focus of her published works, which span science education, teacher education and educational leadership.

Select publications

Edited Books

• J. Nuttall, A. Kostogriz, M. Jones, & J. Martin (Eds.) (2017) Teacher Education Policy and Practice - Evidence of Impact, Impact of Evidence. Dordrecht: Springer.

Book monographs

• Nuttall, J., Wood, E., Henderson, L. & Martin, J. (2024). Learning-rich leadership for quality improvement in early education: Theorizing change through cultural-historical interventions in practice. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Book chapters

• Nuttall, J., Henderson, L., Wood, E. A., & Martin, J. (2023). Reconceptualizing pedagogical leadership for quality in early childhood education: From individual dispositions to systemic creativity. In C. Ringmose and L. S. Hansen (Eds.), Educational quality through organizational development in early childhood education and care. (pp. 221-237). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39419-5_13
• Bencze, L., Carter, L., Groleau, A., Krstovic, M., Levinson, R., Martin, J., Martins, I., Pouliot, C., & Weinstein, M. (2019). Promoting students' critical and active engagement in socio-scientific problems: Inter-/Trans-national perspectives. In E. McLoughlin, O. Finlayson, S. Erduran & P. Childs (Eds.), Bridging Research and Practice in Science Education. Contributions from Science Education Research, (pp. 171-188). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17219-0_11
• Martin, J. & King, D. (2019). Maintaining Our Critical Work: Stories of Curriculum Making in Initial Teacher Education. In J. Bazzul & C. Siry (Eds.) Critical Voices in Science Education Research: Narratives of Academic Journeys. (pp. 115-126). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65608-3_2
• Carter, L., Castano-Rodriguez, C., & Martin, J. (2019). Embedding ethics of care into primary science pedagogy: Reflections on our criticality. In J. Bazzul & C. Siry (Eds.) Critical Voices in Science Education Research: Narratives of Academic Journeys. (pp. 59-72). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99990-6_7
• Martin, J. & Carter, L. (2018). "Finding ways to fill the void": Preservice teachers struggling with their own consumption. In G. Reis, M. P. Mueller, R. A. Luther, L. Siveres & R. Oliveira (Eds) Sociocultural Perspectives on Youth Ethical Consumerism. (pp. 19-32). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65608-3_2
• Carter, L. & Martin, J. (2017). "I had to take action straight away". Pre-service teachers' accounts of pro environmental engagement. In J. L. Bencze (Ed.) Science & technology education promoting wellbeing for individuals, societies & environments. (pp. 523-537). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55505-8_24
• Martin, J. Keast, S., & Anders, L. (2017). Becoming professionally agentic: researching pedagogical reasoning in initial teacher education. In J. Nuttall, A. Kostogriz, M. Jones, and J. Martin (Eds.) Teacher Education Policy and Practice - Evidence of Impact, Impact of Evidence. (pp. 67-82). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4133-4_5

Journal articles

• Martin, J., Nuttall, J., Wood, E., Henderson, L. (2025). Positioning Theory as a Framework for Understanding the Facilitation of Professional Development for Pedagogical Leaders. The Australian Educational Researcher 52(1), 45-74. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s13384-024-00700-9
• Martin, J., Owens, A., Bayes, S., Tofari, P., Lynch, C., Brown, N., Mountford, B., Warne, E. (2024). Understanding supervisory practice and development in the pre-HDR space: An ethogenic approach. Higher Education Research and Development 44(1). http://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2393116
• Henderson, L., Nuttall, J., Wood, E. & Martin, J. (2022). The potential of 'leading identity' as an analytic concept for understanding Educational Leadership development in early childhood education. Teachers and Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2022.2137140
• Martin, J., Xu, L. H. & Seah, L. H. (2021). Discourse analysis and multimodal meaning making in a science classroom: Meta-analytic insights from three theoretical perspectives. Research in Science Education, 51, 187-207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-020-09961-7
• Martin, J., Nuttall, J., Henderson, L., Wood, E. (2020). Educational Leaders and the project of professionalisation in early childhood education in Australia. International Journal of Educational Research 101, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101559
• Martin, J. (2020). Researching teacher agency in elementary school science using positioning theory and grammar of agency. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 31(1), 94-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560x.2019.1666628
• Martin, J. (2019). Primary teacher agency: Employing interactive ethnography to overcome "reluctance" to teach science. Research in Science Education 49(5), 1279-1299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-017-9654-y
• Castano Rodriguez, C., Barazza, L., & Martin, J. (2019). Rethinking equity: standpoints emerging from a community project with victims of violence and abuse in Argentina. Cultural Studies in Science Education 14(2), 393-409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09920-3
• Thomas, T., Jacobs, D., Hurley, L., Martin, J., Maslyuk, S., Lyall, M., Ryan, M. (2019). Students' perspectives of early assessment tasks in their first year at university. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(3), 398-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1513992
• Martin, J. (2018). Ontology matters: A commentary on contribution to cultural historical activity. Cultural Studies in Science Education, 13 (3), 639-647. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-017-9809-1
• Martin J. (2016). The grammar of agency: Studying possibilities for student agency in science classroom discourse. Learning Culture and Social Interaction, 10, 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2016.01.003
• Rajala, A., Martin, J., & Kumpulainen, K. (2016). Agency and learning: Researching agency in educational interactions. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 10, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2016.07.001
• Martin J. & Carter, L. (2015). Preservice teacher agency concerning education for sustainability (EfS): A discursive psychological approach. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 52(4), 560-573. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21217
• Arnold [now Martin], J. (2015). A commentary on curricular choices: Questioning collectives and agencies. Cultural Studies in science Education 10(2), 437-444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-014-9592-1
• Arnold [now Martin], J. & Clarke, D.J. (2014). What is agency? Perspectives in science education research. International Journal of Science Education 36(5), 735-754. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.825066
• Arnold [now Martin], J. (2012). Science students' classroom discourse: Tasha's umwelt. Research in Science Education 42(2), 233-259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-010-9195-0

Refereed Conference Papers

• Martin, J. & Carter, L. (2018). Researching preservice teachers' environmental agency in times of post truth and denial. Proceedings of the AARE International Conference, Canberra.
• Arnold [now Martin], J. & Clarke, D.J. (2012). The use of video technology to enhance researcher capacity to meet scientific and moral criteria for evaluation of discursive psychological studies in education. Proceedings of the Joint AARE APERA International Conference, Sydney.
• Clarke, D.J., Xu, L. H., Arnold [now Martin], J.L., Seah, L, H., Hart, C., Tytler, R., Prain, V. (2012). Multi-theoretic approaches to understanding the science classroom. ESERA 2011: Ebook Proceedings of The ESERA 2011 Conference, Lyon.

Theses

• Arnold [now Martin], J. (2012). Addressing the balance of agency in a science classroom. (PhD dissertation). Melbourne, Australia: The University of Melbourne.
• Arnold [now Martin], J. (2004). Researching teacher agency in primary science: A discursive psychological approach. (MEd thesis). Melbourne, Australia: The University of Melbourne.

Reports

• Castano Rodriguez, C., & Martin, J. (2015). Final Report Ethics of Care in Science: a collaboration between Catholic Education Melbourne, Australian Catholic University and Holy Child Primary School, Dallas. Catholic Education Melbourne.

Projects

• Learning-rich Leadership for Quality Improvement in Early Education. Research Fellow (2018-2020). Australian Research Council, Discovery Scheme.
• Inspiring all Australians in Digital Literacy and STEM - Embracing the Digital Age, National Innovation and Science Agenda: Building the Evidence base for Improved STEM Learning: Principals as STEM Leaders. Chief Investigator (2018-2019). Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
• The Ethics of Care: An Exploration of Teaching and Learning in Science. Chief Investigator (2015). Catholic Education Melbourne.
• Causal Connections in Science Classrooms: An investigation of causal relations between complex classroom practices and science learning using high-capacity new research technologies and multiple theory-testing. PhD (2008-2010). Australian Research Council, Discovery Scheme.

Higher Degree Research supervision

• Catherine Haines. (In progress). Designing Teacher Professional Development: Mapping the Development and Experience of Independent School Leaders. PhD Thesis.
• Julie Plows. (Under examination). Assessing the Arts of Learning of Two-year-olds within Teacher-led Early Childhood Education and Care Environments in Aotearoa New Zealand. PhD Thesis.
• Graham Stevens (2024). Bridging the Gap: An Investigation into Initial Teacher Education Partnerships through the 'Teachers Teaching Teacher's' Model. EdD Thesis.
• Rachel Foster. (2023). Exploring Sector Specific Needs and Expectations of ECE Positional Leaders from a Lived Experience Perspective. EdD Thesis.
• Michael Easey (2019). A Study of Higher Level Upper-Secondary Mathematics Course Choice. PhD Thesis.

Appointments (last 5 years)

• Associate Professor in Science Education and Education Studies, Australian Catholic University.
• Chair of Research, National School of Education, Australian Catholic University.
• Senior Lecturer in Science Education and Education Studies National School of Education, Australian Catholic University.
• Research Fellow DP180100281, Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University.

Editorial roles (last 5 years)

• Lead Editor Cultural Studies in Science Education

International journal peer review panels

• Review of Education Research
• SAGE Open
• Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
• Teaching and Teacher Education
• Studies in Science Education
• Research in Science Education
• Learning, Culture and Social Interaction
• Cultural Studies in Science Education
• Australian Education Researcher
• The New Educator
• Teacher Educator
• Journal of the Learning Sciences