Dr. Sheila Degotardi

Biography

Sheila Degotardi is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Macquarie University and the Director of the Macquarie University Early Childhood Education Research Centre. With a profound focus on infant-toddler pedagogies, she explores relationship-based pedagogies and the social interactions among children, educators, and peers. Sheila has attracted $3 million in external research funding for her projects that investigate language interactions in early childhood classrooms. Her notable research includes the ARC Discovery project from 2014 to 2017, which significantly advanced understanding of language development processes, as well as ongoing projects such as 'Language Learning' (2018-2024) focusing on language environment features. Sheila is also a key player in the newly formed Care Economy Cooperative Research Centre, which aims to enhance early childhood education systems. She supervises Higher Degree Research students and actively engages with the community to ensure her research benefits educators and children directly. Additionally, she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate programs, convening courses such as Infant Toddler Curriculum Pedagogy.

Research Interests