Rate My Professor Alison Kearney

Kearney's research focuses on equity in and through education, inclusive education, social justice, children's rights, and factors marginalizing students from and within schools, particularly disabled students, gifted and talented learners, and refugee-background students. Her work is informed by personal experience growing up with a brother who had an intellectual disability and faced institutionalization, abuse, and educational exclusion, which underpinned her PhD on barriers to school inclusion. Key publications include the book Exclusion from and Within School: Issues and Solutions (2011), the highly cited article Inclusive education policy in New Zealand: reality or ruse? (2006, 160 citations), Barriers to school inclusion PhD thesis (2009, 92 citations), and recent work such as Improving educational inclusion for refugee-background learners through appreciation of diversity (2021). She shared the 2018 FLANZ Award and promotes systemic reforms for educational equity, influencing policy like the Tomorrow's Schools review and specialist teacher training programmes. Promoted to Professor in 2023, Kearney continues to advance teacher agency and professional development for inclusive practices.