Helen Harper (NSW)
Dr Helen Harper is a Senior Lecturer in English, Literacies and Language Education at the University of New England. She has previously worked as a researcher, lecturer and mentor in literacy education, as a linguist in remote Indigenous communities, and as an EAL/D teacher. Helen spent more than two decades in the Northern Territory. Initially she went to study Aboriginal languages, but over time she was drawn more to primary education, and to questions about how schooling can best support children to become effective users of language and literacy. Helen’s current research interests include collaborating with teachers to apply principles of scaffolding language both in the literacy block and across the curriculum.
In 2016-2017 she was a co-recipient, with Bronwyn Parkin, of the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA) Research Grant. She is the co-author of 3 PETAA publications: An EAL/D Handbook, Teaching with Intent: Scaffolding Academic Language with Marginalised Students, and Teaching with Intent 2: Literature-based literacy teaching and learning.