Dr Sally Baker

Senior Research Fellow

Sally Baker is a Lecturer of TESOL (Teaching of English for Speakers of Other Languages) and Literacies in the School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She is the Education focal point in the Forced Migration Research Network (FMRN@UNSW).

Sally’s research explores issues of equity in higher education, with her research interests including higher education equity and language policy, the educational experiences of students from refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, academic literacies, transitions, and methodological issues and longitudinal qualitative research. Sally is also the Co-Chair of the Refugee Education Special Interest Group, which is supported by the Refugee Council of Australia and the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network.

Honours and Prizes

  • 2017: Invited speaker in ‘Futuring Education for a Changing World: Challenges, Innovation and Opportunities’ panel at the inaugural Refugee Alternatives conference at UNSW, February 23 – http://www.refugeealternatives.org.au
  • 2017: Recipient of Visiting Fellowship at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (funded by the South African National Research Foundation) – February. As recognition of her expertise in the areas of academic literacies, equity and alternative entry education, Sally was invited to be a visiting researcher at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa in February 2017.  This visit was funded by a National Research Foundation (South Africa) ‘Knowledge Interchange and Collaboration Programme’ grant for the purpose of vising the Fundani Centre for Higher Education and working with Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) teachers. During this visit, Sally drew on her experiences of English language teaching to develop a workshop for ECP teachers on issues related to transition and academic literacies, and suggest pedagogical practices and strategies to help foreground language, reading and writing in their classes.
  • Selected Featured Symposium to represent the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) conference, 5-7 September in Brighton, UK.

Research Grants

  • 2017: National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education Grant ($39,899): People seeking asylum: Access and support in higher education, in partnership with Curtin University and the University of Newcastle;
  • 2016: Association for Academic Language & Learning: Research & Resource Development Grant ($3998): A national audit of numeracy (as part of academic literacies) in enabling programs in Australian universities;
  • 2016: Australian Government Higher Education Participation Program National Priorities Pool Grant ($49,977): Indigenous enabling: ‘what works’? Developing a national conversation around enabling education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students through a comprehensive audit of current provision;
  • 2015: Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching grant ($347,000): (Re)claiming social capital: improving language and cultural pathways for refugee students into Australian higher education, in partnership with Macquarie University and Curtin University;
  • 2015: Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education (University of Newcastle) seed grant ($18,802): This project explored undergraduate students from refugee backgrounds’ sense of belonging to their institution and studies, using a participatory-reciprocal methodology;
  • 2015: Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education (University of Newcastle) seed grant ($19,991): This seed funding project examined issues of equity in the context of postgraduate coursework study.

List of Selected Publications

Peer reviewed scientific articles
add

Book chapters
add
  • Lenette, C., Baker, S. and Hirsch, A. (2019). ‘Systemic policy barriers to meaningful participation of students from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds in Australian higher education: Neoliberal settlement and language policies and deliberate’, in McBrien, J. (ed.), Educational Policies and Practices of English-Speaking Refugee Resettlement Countries, pp. 88-109.
  • Baker, S. (2018). ‘Transition in students’ reading and writing: The case of a-levels to University in the UK’, in Studies in Writing, pp. 11-46, http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004348905-003
  • Baker, S. and Cremin, T. (2016). ‘Teachers’ identities as writers: Teacher, support staff and pupil accounts of the role of emotion in the writing classroom’, in Writer Identity and the Teaching and Learning of Writing, pp. 98-114, http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315669373

Books
add
  • Stevenson, J. and Baker, S. (2018). Refugees in Higher Education Debate, Discourse and Practice, Emerald Group Publishing.

Reports
add

Conference papers
add
  • Baker, S. and Irwin, E. (2015) ‘Students’ reading and writing ‘in transition’: what lessons can be learnt from a case study of A-levels to university transitions to help enabling educators to ‘bridge the gap’ into undergraduate study’, in Nelson K. and Field, R. (eds), UniSTARS 2015: Students Transitions Achievement Retention & Success, UniSTARS 2015: Students Transitions Achievement Retention & Success, Melbourne, pp. 1-11, presented at UniSTARS 2015: Students Transitions Achievement Retention & Success, Melbourne, 01-04 July 2015, http://unistars.org/papers/STARS2015.pdf

Media
add