Dr. Luiza Lana Goncalves
Senior Lecturer, Health and Physical Education
Campus
Biography
Dr Luiza Gonçalves is a teacher educator and researcher whose work focuses on professional learning, facilitation and identity development of teachers and teacher educators in health and physical education.
Her research employs collaborative, participatory,and self-study methodologies to examine learning communities, focusing on inquiry-based professional development across Australian and international contexts.
She has led and contributed to funded projects investigating teacher educators’ facilitation, professional development programs, early-career teachers in regional and remote settings, and solidarity-based international research collaborations. Her work advances democratic and meaningful approaches to professional learning, supporting equitable, context-responsive education for teachers and learners.
Fields of research
- Physical education and development curriculum and pedagogy
- Teacher education and professional development of educators
- Higher education
More about Luiza
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Physical Education and Sport), University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) with an internship at the University of Limerick (Ireland)
- Master of Physical Education and Sport, Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro (Brazil)
- Bachelor of Physical Education with a Teaching license, University of Vale do Rio Doce (Brazil)
Areas of interest
- Professional development
- Learning communities
- School-university partnerships
- Internationalisation of research
- Democratic practices in teacher education
Areas of expertise
Luiza’s research agenda is centred on teachers’ and teacher educators’ professional development and the role of learning communities in supporting democratic and transformative practice. She has also been investigating school-university partnership and its benefits for a variety of partners involved. Recently, she has invested in internationalisation of research and transnational partnerships for teacher educators’ professional learning.
Grants
- Goncalves, L. Federation University Research Conference Grant. 2025 ($2,000)
- Alfrey, L., Luguetti, C., Goncalves, L. Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership VALT – DET. 2025 ($51,992)
- Goncalves, L. ECR Seed Funding Grants – FUA. 2024 ($9,021)
- Burker, J. et al. Placement Plus (DET VIC). 2024 ($130,000)
- Goncalves, L. ECR CTI seeding funding (Monash University). 2022 ($1,000)
- Goncalves, L. Institutional Program of Teaching Initiation (PIBID), CAPES. 2020-2022 ($59,038)
- Goncalves, L. Women in Academia funding, CAPES – Federal Government Agency – Brazil. 2020 ($1,390)
- Goncalves, L. PhD scholarship (Federal Brazilian Government Funding). 2016-2019 ($75,916)
- Goncalves, L. Master’s degree scholarship (State of Minas Gerais Government Funding). 2013 ($2,917)
Awards
- 2025: Commendation for Learning and Teaching Excellence. IEAC
- 2023: Journal of Teaching in Physical Education (Q1) best paper award
- 2019: International Association for Physical Education (AIESEP) Developing Country Award
Current
- PhD student, Federation University, ‘Leadership practices in Special Development Schools and teachers' wellbeing’, assistant supervisor.
- PhD student, Federation University, ‘First Years of Menstruation in Organised Sport’, assistant supervisor.
Past
- PhD student, University of Sao Paulo, ‘Community of Practice and professional development: a teacher/facilitator/researcher self-study’, assistant supervisor.
- Health and physical education curriculum
- History and sociology of health and physical education
- Teachers and pre-service teacher’s learning and identity
Specialist roles
- Course Coordinator of Health, Outdoor, Physical Education (HOPE) discipline (SO5 and TN5.HPE degrees)
Professional association memberships
- American Educational Research Association – AERA
- The Health and Physical Education Tertiary Alliance of Victoria (HPETAV)
- Social Justice, Inclusion and Diversity in Education (SJIDE) – IEAC
- Australian Association of Research in Education – AARE
- International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education – AIESEP
Social Justice, Inclusion and Diversity in Education (SJIDE)
- Publications
Physical education in rural schools: A scoping review
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1177/1356336X251334547
Becoming activist teacher educators: The learning journeys of two physical education cooperating teachers in a school - university partnership
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1177/1356336X251333970