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Ms. Amy Claughton

Lecturer, Teacher Education

Contact

Campus

Mt Helen Campus

Biography

Dr Amy Claughton is a lecturer in disability and inclusion with a focus on Trauma-Aware education. Her work is grounded in social justice and informed by the social model of disability. She explores the use of accessible and inclusive frameworks in both the school and tertiary contexts.  

Amy’s research interests include play, agency and inclusion. She also has a strong interest in Trauma-Aware practice and the role of educators responding to students’ experiences with trauma. She explores the systemic, structural and practical conditions that influence the shape and effectiveness of these approaches. Her methodological expertise includes Mosaic Approach, ethnography and dialogic exchange.  

Expanding on Amy’s area of interest is the experiences of parents who are also teachers. Amy has explored the tensions of parents who teach in navigating challenges in education. This includes how parents who teach navigate the education system when they parent children with dis/ability.  

Nature and its role in play and healing is also an area of interest for Amy. She has engaged in research about nature play, and its importance to risk, development and connection. She is passionate about play in all its forms, and explores its role in agency, development and nature. 

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More about Amy

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts and Teaching (Primary), Deakin University 
  • Master of Education (Special Education), University of Ballarat  
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Federation University  
  • Graduate Certificate of Trauma-Aware Education, Queensland University of Technology

Areas of interest

  • Play 
  • Disability and inclusion  
  • Trauma-Aware Education in schools and higher education  
  • Praxis and its role in critical pedagogies  
  • Methodologies that enhance agency and voice

Grants

  • Falloon, G., Ma, Y., Claughton, A., & Young, A. (2022–2024) Gamification in Early Childhood Professional Development ($423,190).  
  • Claughton, A. & McNiel, E. (2025) ​Child’s play: How circus skills address wellbeing and the curriculum ($6,169)​ 

Awards

  • 2020: Vice-Chancellor Award Learning and Teaching Citation for outstanding contribution to student learning
  • 2018: Inclusive Education Summit Junior Scholar Award

Current

  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Neurodevelopmental Differences: The Dichotomy of Circumstance’, associate supervisor.  
  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Using physical literacy to enhance the enactment of the Victorian Health and Physical Education Curriculum in a regional primary school: A collaborative action research project’, associate supervisor. 

  • Disability and inclusion 
  • Inclusive pedagogies 
  • Trauma-Aware Education  

Specialist roles

  • AARE Inclusive Education Special Interest Group (SIG) Co-Convenor  
  • Kids in Nature Network (KINN) – Board Member, Teaching and Learning Specialist  
  • Social Justice, Inclusion, and Diversity, Education (SJIDE) Research Group Co-Convenor  
  • Trauma Aware Higher Education Leaders Network (TAHELN) 

Professional association memberships

  • Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) 
  • Victorian Institute of Education (VIT)  

  • Kids in Nature Network (2025) State of Nature Play Victoria. Summary findings and recommendations [PDF].  

Centre for Regional Education Research and Development (CRERD)

Amy is part of the Centre for Regional Education Research and Development (CRERD), a Victorian‑first research centre working to improve education outcomes for regional and rural communities. 
  • Publications

Whose job is that? A critical dialogue to understand teachers' responses to play