Researcher Profile

Areas of expertise: qualitative research; programme evaluation; teacher education; health and physical education; community engagement; health; wellbeing; international engagement; intercultural engagement; indigenous programmes

Phone: +61 2 9701 4132

Email: renata.cinelli@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Strathfield Campus

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Full)

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2090-6390

ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2090-6390

Dr Renata Cinelli is Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the School of Education (NSW) at Australian Catholic University, Strathfield. Renata has an established track record in the fields of health and physical education, wellbeing, Indigenous health and education, and global cross-cultural teaching. Her scholarship is driven by a commitment to service-learning and community engagement, with a particular focus on mission-aligned projects involving Aboriginal and culturally diverse communities.

Renata has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, accumulating more than 1,800 citations and an H-index of 13 since 2020. Her research spans qualitative and quantitative methodologies, contributing to impactful studies such as the Gunawirra Young Aboriginal Mothers' Program evaluation, large-scale school-based interventions, and international teacher education programs.

Renata's research excellence has been recognized through awards including the ACU Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award for Research and Research Partnerships, the Uniservitate Award for Service-Learning, and multiple teaching and research citations.

Renata holds a PhD from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Psychology, and a Bachelor of Education (Honours). Her research continues to shape educational practice, policy, and community engagement in Australia and beyond.

Select publications

(Publications since 2020)

• Cinelli, R., Jones, M., & Gallagher, M. (2026). An Awakening? Personal and professional outcomes for Australian preservice teachers 12-months after an international teaching experience in Solomon Islands. In Exploring International University Immersion Programs: Researching Impactful Experiences. Springer.

• Jones, M., Cinelli, R. L., & Gallagher, M. (2024). "Voices on the ground": Solomon Islands teachers' perceptions of hosting an Australian pre-service teacher education program. International Journal of Educational Research, 124, 102317.

• Cinelli, R., Robinson, K., & Durmush, G. (2023). Healing in Culture: Evaluation of Gunawirra's Young Aboriginal Mothers' Program. (https://www.acu.edu.au/-/media/acu_sesu-report_gunawirra-yamp_rgb-web_060723-source-v2.pdf?rev=f6d0735107f84065af2ea1fb1efa0022&hash=DA637428FE1F984D3ADBB6A5747C6052)

• Jones, M., & Cinelli, R. (2023). Teacher education in Solomon Islands. HM Studies and Publishing.

• Peralta, L. R., Cinelli, R. L., Cotton, W., Morris, S., Galy, O., & Caillaud, C. (2022). The Barriers to and Facilitators of Physical Activity and Sport for Oceania with Non-European, Non-Asian (ONENA) Ancestry Children and Adolescents: A Mixed Studies Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), 11554.

• Jones, M., Cinelli, R., & Gallagher, M. (2022). Teacher education for global citizenship: what can an international practicum offer? In J. Zajda (Ed.), Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research (pp. 139-158). Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-71583-0_9

• Peralta, L. R., Cinelli, R. L., Marvell, C. L., & Nash, R. (2022). A teacher professional development programme to enhance students' critical health literacy through school-based health and physical education rogrammes. Health Promotion International, 37(6), daac168.

• Mackley, H., Edwards, S., McLean, K., & Cinelli, R. (2022). Building collaborative competencies through play with outdoor loose parts materials in primary school. Cambridge Journal of Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2022.2030300

• Eades, O., Toombs, M. R., Cinelli, R., Easton, C., Hampton, R., Nicholson, G. C., McCabe, M. P., Busija, L. (2021). The Path to Eldership: Results from a Contemporary Indigenous Australian Community. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab062

• Lonsdale, C., Sanders, T., Parker, P., Noetel, M., Hartwig, T., Vasoncellos, D., Lee, J., Antkzac, D., Kirwan, M., Morgan, P., Salmon, J., Moodie, M., McKay, H., Bennie, A., Plotnikoff, R., Cinelli, R. L., Greene, D., Peralta, L. R., Cliff, D. P., Kolt, G. S., Gore, J. M., Gao, L., Boyer, J., Morrison, R., Hillman, C., Shigeta, T. T., Tan, E., & Lubans, D. R. (2021). Effect of a scalable school-based intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness in children: a cluster randomised clinical trial. JAMA Pediatrics. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0417

• Peralta, L. R., Cinelli, R. L., & Marvel, C. (2021). Health literacy in school-based health programmes: A case study in one Australian school. Health Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969211003600

• White, R., Bennie, A., Vasconcellos, D., Cinelli, R., Hilland, T., Owen, K., & Lonsdale, C. (2020). Self-determination theory in physical education: A systematic review of qualitative studies. Teaching and Teacher Education, 103247.

• Busija, L., Cinelli, R., Toombs, M., Easton, C., Hampton, R., Holdsworth, K., Macleod, A., Nicholson, G., Nasir, B., Sanders, K., & McCabe, M. (2020). The role of Elders in the wellbeing of a contemporary Indigenous Australian Community. The Gerontologist, 60(3), 513-524. doi:10.1093/geront/gny140

• Vasconcellos, D., Parker, P. D., Hilland, T., Cinelli, R., Owen, K. B., Kapsal, N., Ntoumanis, N., Ryan, R., & Lonsdale, C. (2020). Self-Determination Theory applied to physical education: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(7), 1444.

Projects

• 2025-2027- Research Awards for Academic Staff following Parental Leave, Australian Catholic University.
  Project title: Understanding Primary Pre-service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy and Attitudes Towards Health and Physical Education.
  Role: Chief Investigator (CI); Project lead | Total Funding: $12,500

• 2025-2027
  Project title: ACU NextGen STEM Play: “Empowering the next generation of problem-solvers with ACU.”
  Role: Chief Investigator (CI); Project lead.

• 2025-2027- Teaching Development Grant, Australian Catholic University.
  Project title: Impactful Community Engagement for Social Justice
  Role: Investigator | Total Funding: $13,000

• 2025-2026- Faculty of Education and Arts Discovery Grant, Australian Catholic University.
  Project Title: Primary Teacher Agency Concerning Disciplinary Specialisations: A Cultural Psychological Approach
  Role: Investigator | Total Funding: $7,190

• 2026-2026 – University of Sydney SEED funding
  Project Title: OzHarvest FEAST Programme Evaluation
  Role: Investigator

• 2021-2022- Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit Project, Australian Catholic University
  Project Title: Gunawirra Young Aboriginal Mothers’ Group Programme Evaluation
  Role: Chief Investigator (CI), Project lead | Total Funding: equivalent to $16,000

Awards

• 2022 Uniservitate Award: Service-Learning Experiences in Catholic Higher Education

• 2021 Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy

• 2021 ACU Vice-Chancellor's Excellence Award for Research and Research Partnerships: iPLAY team

• 2019 ACU Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning

• 2018 ACU Vice-Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award: Excellence in Community Engagement

• 2017 ACU Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (Early Career)

• 2016 Australian Teacher Education Association: Early Career Researcher Grant