Dr Brenton Prosser 

Brenton Prosser is a Senior Lecturer within the School of Sociology at the Australian National University. He is also an adjunct senior research fellow in the School of Education at UniSA.

Brenton's research interests include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), work-life balance, social sustainability, identity development and narrative inquiry. His teaching focusses on the sociology of deviance, identity, middle schooling, practitioner inquiry, and research education. As an ex-teacher and youth worker, he specialises in supporting professionals working with adolescents with ADHD, challenging behaviours and low literacy.

His doctoral work was in the disciplines of sociology and education. His research focusses on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and particularly the importance of developing a socio-political perspective of the disorder. It was the first to use mixed method, including narrative inquiry, to explore the schooling experiences of young people diagnosed with ADHD. It was also the first to:

• conduct an international sociological analysis of ADHD;
• find a link between drug use for ADHD and low in Australia;
• explore the schooling experiences of youth labelled ADHD;
• identify gaps between policy and the needs of students with ADHD;
• develop resources for teachers’ pedagogical professional development; and
• use these findings to produce broad policy recommendations on ADHD.

In 1997, he won the Amy Forward Research Award and the Flinders University Overseas Fellowship taking up a position as visiting scholar with the University of Nebraska. This enabled him to expand his doctoral research into North America and the United Kingdom.

In recognition of his work with youth, and particularly youth with ADHD, Brenton won a Young Australian of the Year Award for Community Service in 1998. His work on ADHD has also been recognised through a Queen's Trust Award as well as publication of quantitative and qualitative papers in Australian, American and British journals. In 2006 Brenton won a UniSA Early Career Researcher Award. He has published two books on ADHD and research method, as well as edited a collection of research accounts by professionals in socially sustainable practice.

Previously, he was research fellow responsible for managing the ARC Linkage Project, Redesigning Pedagogies in the North (LP0454869), which collaborated with teachers in over ten sites and involved one thousand participants in Adelaide's northern urban fringe. The aim of this social sustainability project was to resist deficit stereotypes of middle years' students in urban fringe communities, to support teachers to develop new ways to connect student lives and learning, and to contribute to regional capacity building. This work has led into a growing research interest in middle schooling, work-life balance, and worker resilience.

What makes Brenton's research unique is that it takes a sociological perspective on the prevalence, pedagogy, policy and power surrounding ADHD, which ideally places him to provide professional development and research support to teachers and other professionals. He also has a unique combination of academic, media, political and policy experience that informs his research into contemporary social issues, politics and the process of policy making.

Dr Brenton Prosser (ANU site)

Book - Connecting Lives and Learning (order a copy)

Book - ADHD: Who's failing who? (order a copy)

Book - Seeing Red (order a copy)

ADHD, Adolescents & Society

Redesigning Pedagogies in the North

BOOKS & BOOK CHAPTERS:

Prosser, B., Reid, A. & Lucas, B. (2010). Connecting Lives and Learning: renewing pedagogy in the middle years of schooling. Wakefield Press, Adelaide.

Prosser, B. (2010). Engaging pedagogies: from psycho-medical deficits to ‘virtual schoolbags’. In L. Graham (Ed.) (De)Constructing ADHD: Critical Guidance for Teachers and Teacher Educators. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (pp.165-186).

McCallum, F. & Prosser, B. (2009). River Journeys: narrative accounts of South Australian pre-service teachers during professional experience. In A. Mattos (Ed.) Narratives on Teaching and Teacher Education: an International Perspective, Palgrave MacMillan (pp.91-106).

Prosser, B. (2008). Chapter 15: Critical pedagogy and the mythopoetic: a case study from Adelaide’s northern urban fringe. In T. Leonard & P. Willis (Eds.) Pedagogies of the Imagination: mythopoetic curriculum in educational practice. Springer Press, Dordrecht (pp.203-222).

Prosser, B. (2006). ADHD: who's failing who?, Finch Publishing, Sydney.

Prosser, B. (2006). Seeing Red: critical narratives in ADHD research, PostPressed, Flaxton.

ARTICLES:

Prosser, B. (2010). Champions for Change, Education Review (October), pp.14-15.

Prosser, B. (2009). Seeing Red: poetry and metaphor as responses to representational challenges in critical narrative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22 (5), pp. 607-622.

Prosser, B. & Reid, R. (2009). Changes in use of psychostimulant medication in South Australia, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 43(4), pp. 340-347.

Hattam R, Prosser B, Brady K. (2009) Revolution or backlash? The mediatisation of education policy in Australia, Critical Studies in Education, 50(2), 159-172

Prosser, B. (2008). The role of the personal domain in middle years teachers’ work. Australian Journal of Middle Schooling, 8(2), pp.11-16.

Quinn, R., Prosser, B. & Hattam, R. (2008). Putting the ‘home’ back into homework: implications for middle school reform. Curriculum Perspectives 28(3), pp.48-58.

Prosser, B., McCallum, F., Milroy, P., Comber, B. & Nixon, H. (2008). I’m smart and I’m not joking: aiming high in the middle years of schooling. Australian Educational Researcher 35(2), pp.15-36.

Hattam, R., & Prosser, B. (2008). Unsettling deficit views of students and their communities. Australian Educational Researcher 35(2), pp.89-106.

Prosser, B. (2008). Unfinished but not Exhausted: a review of Australian Middle Schooling. Australian Journal of Education 52(2), pp. 151-167.

Prosser, B. (2008). Review: Rethinking Middle Years: early adolescents, schooling and digital culture, by Victoria Carrington. Australian Educational Researcher, 35 (1), pp.152-153.

Prosser, B. (2008). Beyond ADHD: a consideration of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and pedagogy in Australian Schools. International Journal of Inclusive Education 12(1), 81-97.

Prosser, B. (2008). ADHD in schools. Bulletin: the Professional Association for Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities national magazine, May, pp.39-40.

Prosser, B. (2006). ADHD in schools. Teacher: the Australian Council for Educational Research national education magazine, 170,(June), pp.24-31.

Prosser, B. (2006). Teachers needed in ADHD debate. Education Review, 16(7), p.11.

Prosser, B. (2006). School skills ward off more ills. EQ Australia, Spring, pp.14-16.

Prosser, B. (2006). ADHD and Education Policies. Directions in Education, 15(4), p.4.

Prosser, B., Reid, R., Shute, R., & Atkinson, I. (2002). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Special Education Policy and Practice in Australia. Australian Journal of Education, 46(1), 65-78.

Reid, R., Hakendorf, P. & Prosser, B. (2002) Use of psychostimulant medication for ADHD in South Australia. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(8), 1-8.

Prosser, B., & Reid, R. (1999). Psychostimulant Use for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Australia. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 7(2), 110-117.

Prosser, B. (1999). Ethical Dilemmas and the need for Ethical Sensibility. In M. Piantanida & N.B. Garman (Eds.) The Qualitative Dissertation. Corwin Press (Sage), Thousand Oaks, p.154.

Prosser, B. (1999). Who is Responsible for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? A critical introduction to policy in South Australia. Teaching and Teacher's Work, 7(1), pp.1-10.

Reid, R., Reason, R., Maag, J., Prosser, B. & Xu, C. (1998). ADHD: a perspective on perspectives. Educational and Child Psychology, 15(4), 56-67.

Prosser, B. (1998). Hearing Silenced Voices: using critical narratives with marginalised youth. Critical Pedagogy Networker, 4(11), 1-10.

Prosser, B. (1997). Why ADHD needs urgent attention, Australian Education Review,1(7), p.12.

CONFERENCE PAPERS:

Prosser, B. (2010). Keynote Address: More than medical answers: what social and educational research says about ADHD, Flinders University Research in Special Education Conference, 5 November, Flinders University of South Australia

Prosser, B., Tuckey, M., Wendt, S. (2010). Work-life blur: developing cross-disciplinary concepts to examine the role of life resources in the work of service professionals, paper presented to the 8th International Qualitative Research Conference, Bournemouth UK, 6 September.

Prosser, B. (2009). Media and pedagogical exchange: taking ADHD to radio 2GB, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Canberra, 2 December.

Prosser, B., Wendt, S., Tuckey, M. (2009). The personal domain: exploring what sustains professionals in urban fringe communities, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Canberra, 1 December.

Prosser, B. (2008) “Engaging pedagogies: from psycho-medical deficits to ‘virtual schoolbags’”, paper presented to 'ADHD and the Role of Education conference', July 22, University of Sydney

Prosser, B. (2008). Connecting Lives & Learning: modelling the use of middle schooling philosophy in teacher education, paper presented to Australia Teacher Education Association Conference, Sunshine Coast, July 9.

Prosser, B. (2008). Weaving a whole cloth: metaphor as a response to representational challenges in critical narrative research, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Fremantle, November 2007.

Prosser, B. (2007). Seeing Red: using critical narrative in ADHD research, paper presented to Arts Based Educational Research Conference, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, July 5.

Prosser, B. (2007). Beyond Deficit Views: redesigning pedagogies to engage students with ADHD, paper presented to Redesigning Pedagogies Conference, National Institute of Education, Singapore, May 28.

Prosser, B., Hattam, R., Lucas, B. & Sellar, S. (2007). Researching the ‘funds of knowledge’ approach in the Middle Years, paper presented to American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, April 11.

Prosser, B. & Sellar, S. (2007). Reinvigorating the Middle Years: a review of middle schooling, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Adelaide.

Prosser, B. (2007). Identity, Emotion, Imagery and Hope as resources for Teachers’ Work, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Adelaide.

Prosser, B. (2007). Beyond Deficit Views: engaging students with ADHD, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Adelaide.

Hattam, R. & Prosser, B. (2006). Connecting curriculum with student lifeworlds, paper presented to 3rd International Middle Years of Schooling Conference, Adelaide, August 6.

Hattam, R., Prosser, B. & Brady, K. (2006). Unsettling deficit views of students and their communities, paper presented to Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Parramatta.

THESIS:

Prosser, B. (1999) Behaviour Management of Management Behaviour? A sociological study of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Australian and American secondary schools unpublished thesis (Bedford Park, Flinders University of South Australia).

More information on publications about ADHD can be accessed by visiting: adhd.bigpondhosting.com