About
Biography
Natalie McMaster started her teaching career in a bilingual school in a remote community in the Northern Territory and continued teaching in various remote communities in early childhood, primary and middle years settings. She moved into the corporate area of education as Education Advisor for Physical Education, undertaking education policy and teacher professional development roles for the Department of Education in the Northern Territory. In 2011, Natalie was on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Health and Physical Education National Panel and began working for ACARA as an advisor on Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia priority in its inclusion in Health and Physical Education. She went on to become a writer for the Australian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education.
Natalie completed her PhD research in the Northern Territory on teachers' perspectives on the 'health work' that they do in schools, as part of an Australian Research Grant (ARC) with University of Queensland's School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. Passionate about Health and Physical Education, in 2019 Natalie published a textbook titled Teaching Health and Physical Education in Early Childhood and Primary Years of Schooling.
Natalie’s current program of research focusses on integrated STEM education and technologies education . Her primary research is a longitudinal project which began in 2022 which focusses on early positive STEM experiences prior to high school to raise awareness of, interest in, and aspirations for STEM-related subjects and careers. Natalie is a researcher in the MindSET-do research team of eight academics from UniSC, University of Queensland (UQ) and Edith Cowan University (ECU). She is also a member of the STEM research group in the School of Education and Tertiary Access and the UniSC representative for the Australian Technologies Teacher Educators Network (ATTEN) supported by the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE). She is skilled in qualitative analysis and is currently learning modern quantitative analyses such as Rasch analysis, and management of large data sets in the longitudinal project. Natalie is a convenor for the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE), special interest group (SIG) Technology and Learning and is responsible for growing a vibrant International community of researchers to exchange ideas, knowledge and form research partnerships.
Natalie has been awarded several grants including: over $1.8 million in Higher Education, Participation and Pathways Project (HEPPP) funding (2019 – 2025), $40,835 Regional Partnership Agreement for research with Sunshine Coast Council, $524,455 National Career Institute Partnership Grant, $100,000 Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources Maker Projects - Community STEM Engagement grant, $115,000 Google Educator Grants (2021 - 2024). Natalie was a finalist in the 2020 Women in Technology WiT awards in the Regional Award category for women living and working in Queensland’s regional location.
Natalie has strong connections with schools, local council, business and industry in the STEM, technologies and HPE space and uses these connections to bring strong stakeholder engagement to the research projects she undertakes. Natalie translates her research findings into teaching and professional development resources for schools, higher education, business and community education sectors.
Natalie’s recent awards include a 2024 UniSC School of Education and Tertiary Access, Dean's Excellence Award and 2024 UniSC School of Education and Tertiary Access Excellence Award for Research Excellence,. In 2023 she was awarded the UniSC Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Engagement, Community engagement and Imapct, the UniSC Vice-Chancellor and President's Award for Excellence in Engagement in 2020 and 2017, and UniSC Advance Award for Advancing the Student Experience in 2018.
Teaching areas
- EDU382 Teaching STEM in Primary School
- EDU200 Teaching Health and Physical Education Birth to Year 6
- EDU779 Teaching Health and Physical Education in Primary School (Masters)
Expert media commentary
Natalie McMaster completed her PhD at the University of Queensland’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. Her thesis questions the nature of health work being undertaken by teachers in Northern Territory Government (NTG) schools. This research provides much needed data on NTG teachers’ descriptions of the health work they perform, and the perception of this work from school and community members, in school sites, whose contexts differ greatly from mainstream schools in the rest of Australia. Natalie engages in a culturally sensitive manner with Indigenous participants in the research and seeks to foreground Indigenous ‘voices’. She has been advised by two Indigenous advisors (male and female) on data collection and communication methods (yarning sessions), interpretation of research data, and cultural background on content. Natalie’s research critically reflects on her perspective, position, power and privilege in relation to the data and how it was analysed and reported.