ACU Researcher

Dr Kim Rowston

Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Education and Arts

Areas of expertise: design and digital technologies education; curriculum and pedagogy; initial teacher education; teacher self-efficacy and professional learning; artificial intelligence in education; screen use and digital wellbeing; parental mediation of children’s technology use; educational technology integration; Indigenous education, engagement and flourishing; research translation and education policy

Phone: +61 2 9701 4747

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Strathfield Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4414-0895

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Full)

Dr Kim Rowston is a Senior Lecturer in Design and Digital Technologies in the School of Education at Australian Catholic University (ACU), and National Course Coordinator for postgraduate Primary and Early Childhood and Primary initial teacher education programs. Drawing on 20 years of secondary school teaching experience, she brings a strong practice-based perspective to interdisciplinary educational research, teacher education and educational leadership.

Her research examines how teachers, students, parents and school communities understand, adopt and negotiate digital technologies. Her interests include teacher self-efficacy, career-change teachers, technology integration, artificial intelligence in education, digital wellbeing, screen-use practices and the relationships between educational beliefs, pedagogy and learning environments. She is particularly interested in translating research into practical, equitable and evidence-informed guidance for schools and communities.

Dr Rowston is a Chief Investigator on major collaborative projects, including the ARC-funded Deadly Teaching: Enhancing Indigenous School Attendance and Well-being (Primary), and contributes to the NSW Department of Education’s Best Practice in Screen Use for Education program as ACU lead investigator. Her research collaborations also address Indigenous student pathways and flourishing, parental mediation of adolescent digital experiences, and school leader wellbeing. She is a Research Affiliate of ACU’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education. She supervises higher degree researchers and collaborates with government, university, school and community partners. 

Beyond ACU, Dr Rowston serves on the Council of The Hills Grammar School and contributes to national initial teacher education quality assurance through Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership accreditation processes. She is actively engaged with the Australian Technologies Teacher Education Network and sector discussions on curriculum innovation, responsible AI use and future-focused education.

Website

Google Scholar

Academia profile

LinkedIn profile

Screens in Education Research Partnership

Select publications

Peer-reviewed journal articles

• Blannin, J., Lee, J., Mason, T., Rowston, K., Abril, J., Bower, M., & Redmond, P. (2025). Examining the determinants of teacher self-efficacy to teach digital technologies in Australian schools. Journal of Education for Teaching, 52(2), 380-393. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2025.2577209
• Dicke, T., Ferber, K., Devine, E., Collie, R., Granziera, H., Parker, P., ... & Basarkod, G. (2026). Association of Teacher Well-Being With Student Motivation and Achievement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 38(1), 123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10216-6
• Gordon, C. S., Brake, N., Hammond, S. P., Picton, I., Notley, T., Rowston, K., ... & Dicke, T. (2026). Adolescent flourishing in a digitally connected world: A qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis. Educational Research Review, 100808.
• Rowston, K., Bower, M., & Woodcock, S. (2022). Career-changers’ technology integration beliefs and practice in initial teacher education: A summative cross-case analysis. International Journal of Educational Research, 116, 102079.
• Rowston, K., Bower, M., & Woodcock, S. (2022). The impact of prior occupations and initial teacher education on post-graduate pre-service teachers’ conceptualization and realization of technology integration. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 32(5), 2631–2669.
• Rowston, K., Bower, M., & Woodcock, S. (2021). Reciprocal causation and the effect of environmental determinants upon the technology beliefs and practice of career-change pre-service teachers. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 30(2), 323–344.
• Rowston, K., Bower, M., & Woodcock, S. (2020). The lived experiences of career-change pre-service teachers and the promise of meaningful technology pedagogy beliefs and practice. Education and Information Technologies, 25(2), 681–705.

Book chapters

• Rowston, K., Murphy, P., & von Mengersen, B. (2025). Students as Creative Designers using Technology. In M. Bower & B. von Mengersen (Eds.), Creative Technologies Education: Students as Digital Designers. Routledge.
• Ellis, D., Rouse, R., Rowston, K., Puddicombe, C., von Mengersen, B., & Levins, M. (2025). Role of Making in Technologies Education. In M. Bower & B. von Mengersen (Eds.), Creative Technologies Education: Students as Digital Designers. Routledge.
• Bower, M., Wang, T., Falloon, G., Murphy, P., Mason, J., Mason, T., Rowston, K., Cameron, L., Lee, J., & Wang, T. (2025). Technologies Education: Lessons learnt and future directions. In M. Bower & B. von Mengersen (Eds.), Creative Technologies Education: Students as Digital Designers. Routledge.

Conference contributions

• Rowston, K., McMaugh, A., & Lockyer, L. (2016). Graduate-entry pre-service teachers: The relationship between their experience using technology in their previous occupations and their technological pedagogical beliefs. AARE Conference.
• Cameron, L., & Rowston, K. (2014). Using technology to facilitate the integration of the theory and the practice of pre-service teacher education. SITE International Conference, 852–859.
• AARE 2026: Best Practice in Screen Use for Education symposium accepted for presentation (November–December 2026; prospective at the time of this update). 

Projects

Major competitive and externally funded research

• ARC-funded Deadly Teaching: Enhancing Indigenous School Attendance and Well-being (Primary). Chief Investigator; awarded $1,479,777. Collaborative research addressing Indigenous engagement, attendance and wellbeing.
• NSW Department of Education – Best Practice in Screen Use for Education: Empowering Students, Teachers, and School Communities for Digital Learning (2024–2026). ACU lead 
• investigator within an 11-university partnership; research, stakeholder consultation and translation into practitioner resources. Awarded $426,943. https://screensineducation.org/
• Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) – Deadly Secondary Teacher Education (2024–2025). Chief Investigator; $149,929.
• Australian Catholic Primary Principals Association / Principals Australia Research Foundation-related project – Understanding the Impact of Offensive Behaviours on School Leaders (2024). Chief Investigator; $80,000.
• ACU Faculty of Education and Arts Discovery Research Grant (2025) – Supporting Parents in Adolescents’ Online Security and Privacy Education: Randomised Controlled Trial. Chief Investigator; interdisciplinary study with school partners; Awarded $7,996.
• ACU FHS competitive internal grant (2023) – Deadly Language Programs: What Works and Impact on Primary School Community. Chief Investigator; $10,000.
• ACU FEA Conference Travel Grant (2026)

Current research programs and partnerships

Australian Technology Teacher Educator Network (ATTEN), Screens use for Education:

• Observed screen activities and pedagogy, stakeholder perspectives, special education settings, and evidence-based guidance for school communities.

The Hills Grammar School, Future Now Task Force

ACU's Institute for Positive Psychology and Education:

• Parental mediation and adolescent digital flourishing: online safety and privacy education, parental beliefs, relationships and ecological constraints.
• Indigenous education and flourishing: Indigenous school engagement, teacher education pathways, university outreach, doctoral completion and culturally responsive collaborations through.

Australian Technology Teacher Educator Network (ATTEN):

• Initial teacher education and emerging technologies: preservice teachers’ espoused and enacted beliefs about AI; ethical AI-supported pedagogy, teacher self-efficacy and Technologies curriculum.

Awards

• 1995 – Early Career Teacher Award, Teachers’ Guild of NSW
• 2024 – Recognition for Exceptional Teaching at ACU 

Appointments and affiliations

Academic appointments and leadership

Faculty Education and Arts (FEA), present:

• National Course Coordinator, postgraduate Primary and Early Childhood and Primary initial teacher education programs, ACU
• Senior Lecturer, School of Education, ACU (since 2023)
• Research Affiliate, Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, ACU (since 2023)
• ACU FEA Faculty Board (elected member since 2024)

2023-2025

• FEA and FHS Faculty Probation Committee

2019–2025

• NSW Course Coordinator, postgraduate Primary and Early Childhood and Primary initial teacher education programs, ACU

2012-2023

• Lecturer, School of Education, ACU (since 2023)

External appointments and professional affiliations

The Hills Grammar School Board Member (2023-present):

• participation in governance and strategic Future Now Taskforce

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL):

• initial teacher education accreditation panel service (2025)

• panel chair professional development (2026).

Australian Technologies Teacher Education Network (ATTEN):

• member; learning and teaching subcommittee; contributions to national curriculum and AI consultation.

The Teachers’ Guild of NSW

Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE)

Editorial roles

Peer reviewer for education and educational technology research

• Computers & Education
• Asia-Pacific Journal of Education
• Canadian Journal of Learning and Teaching
• Journal of Education for Teaching

Public engagement

• 2026 – NSW Department of Education Best Practice in Screen Use for Education: partnership research dissemination and parent, teacher and school leader seminars.
• 2026 – Accepted AARE symposium on screen use in education, with cross-institutional collaborators.
• 2025–2026 – Sector engagement on responsible AI use in education, including contributions to the House of Representatives inquiry into generative AI in education and ATTEN input to the Australian Council of Deans of Education response on AI in schools.
• 2025–2026 – The Hills Grammar School governance and strategic discussions on AI, STEM, learning environments and future-focused education.
• 2020 – ACU News: Teaching with TEAMS – Checking in with Senior Lecturer Kim Rowston