Dr Anne Drabble is a core member of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre (ITRC) and a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), where she coordinates the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. Her research interests include early-years language and literacy development, place-based learning (especially in rural/remote contexts), and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners.

Research Focus

Dr Drabble’s work concentrates on improving early childhood education through:

• Strengthening early years language and literacy development, especially for children from rural/remote and disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Embedding place-based learning in curricula and practicum settings helping pre-service teachers connect content knowledge with real-world community contexts.
• Improving inclusion and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners in early childhood education and enhancing cultural responsiveness among pre-service and early-career teachers.
• Developing high-quality supervised professional experience for pre-service teachers, ensuring strong links between theory and practice.

She also supervises Masters and Doctoral students, helping build capacity in diverse early childhood education research areas.

Key Research and Teaching Impact

• Dr Drabble has contributed to advancing early childhood language and literacy practices by researching how place-based and culturally responsive pedagogy can support learning equity for children from disadvantaged or rural/remote backgrounds.
• Her collaboration with schools as illustrated by co-led work on dialogic story-reading in early years classrooms has influenced teaching practices to extend children’s oral language and early literacy development.
• Through her role coordinating the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education at UniSC, and by integrating research-informed practice into the curriculum, Dr Drabble ensures that pre-service teachers are prepared to deliver inclusive, culturally-aware, and context-sensitive early childhood education after graduation.

Translation to Practice and Policy

Dr Drabble’s work delivers concrete benefits for:

• Early childhood education curriculum and teacher preparation, ensuring pre-service teachers are trained in culturally responsive, place-based, and inclusive pedagogy.
• Community and regional education equity, by focusing on support for children in rural, remote or socio-economically disadvantaged contexts, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners.
• Educational competence and readiness, by integrating research, theory and supervised professional experience into teacher training — thereby improving quality of early childhood teaching at scale.
• Policy and pedagogical practice around early years literacy and inclusion, offering evidence for dialogic reading, oral language enhancement, and culturally aware teaching strategies.

Recognition and Significance

Dr Drabble’s long-term commitment to early childhood literacy, teacher education and inclusive pedagogy has strengthened UniSC’s capacity to deliver socially relevant, community-embedded education research and practice. As part of the ITRC, her work furthers the Centre’s mission to support equity, cultural respect and socially impactful education, especially for underserved and rural communities.