Professor Barbara Comber

Barbara Comber is a Professor and Key Researcher of the Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures and the Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies. She teaches in literacy education and educational research programs for practising educators at all levels of schooling. Barbara has directed a number of competitively funded research projects concerned with literacy development, teaching and socioeconomic disadvantage. She has developed or contributed to language and literacy teacher education materials in a number of Australian states, the US and Canada. She has edited seven books and published numerous articles and chapters for teachers and teacher educators in critical literacy, teacher development and social justice.

Curriculum Vitae
Contains a complete list of publications

Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies

Centre for Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures (LPLC)

LPLC Publications page - with downloadable links to conference presentations etc

• Practitioner research
• Critical literacies
• Research methods in language and literacy education
  
  

Australian Association for Research in Education

Australian Association for the Teaching of English

Australian Curriculum Studies Association

Australian Literacy Educators Association

Primary English Teaching Association

National Council of Teachers of English (USA)

International Reading Association

1996 PhD, James Cook University, Queensland

1991 MEd (Hons) University of Wollongong, New South Wales

1979 Grad Dip Read Ed Adelaide College of Advanced Education, South Australia

1975 Grad Dip Teach Adelaide College of Advanced Education, South Australia

1974 Bachelor of Arts University of Adelaide, South Australia

• Space, place and identity
• Social justice
• Educational disadvantage
• New literacy studies
• Practitioner research
• Critical literacies
• Teacher induction
• Teachers’ work
• Post-structuralist theories
• Critical discourse analysis
• Cultural difference, class and poverty
  
  

           

Edited books

Comber, B. Nixon, H. & Reid, J. (Eds.) (2007). Literacies in place: Teaching environmental communication. Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown.

Comber, B. & Kamler, B. (Eds.) Turn-around pedagogies: Literacy interventions for at-risk students. Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown.

Comber, B. and Barnett, J. (Eds). (2003) Look again: Longitudinal studies of children’s literacy learning. Newtown: Primary English Teachers Association.

Boran, S. and Comber, B. (2001). (Eds.) Critiquing whole language and classroom inquiry. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.

Comber, B. and Simpson, A. (2001). (Eds.) Negotiating critical literacies in classrooms. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kamler, B., Comber, B. and Cook, J. (Eds.) (1997). Special Issue Discourse, Critical Discourse Analysis in Educational Settings.

           

Book chapters

Comber, B. & Kamler, B. (forthcoming 2008). Sustaining the next generation of teacher-researchers to work for social justice. In B. Somekh & S. Noffke (Eds.) Handbook of Educational Action Research. Sage Publications.

Comber, B. & Cormack, P. (2007). Constituting the teacher of reading in contemporary Australian literacy debates. In R. Openshaw & J. Soler (Eds.) Reading Across International Boundaries: History, Policy and Politics (pp.87-109). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

Cormack, P. & Comber, B. (2007). Doing Justice: Young People’s Representations of the Murray-Darling Basin. In E. Potter, A. Mackinnon, S. McKenzie and J. McKay (Eds.) Just Water: Cross-disciplinary Conversations on Water Use, Culture and Meaning in Australia (pp.134-152). Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press.

Comber, B. (2007). Assembling dynamic repertoires of literate practices: Teaching that makes a difference. In J. Marsh & E. Bearne (Eds.) Literacy and social inclusion: Closing the gap (pp. 115-131). London: Trentham Press.

Comber, B & Reid, J. (2007). Pedagogy in literacy teaching and learning. In L. Makin, C., Diaz-Jones & C. McLaughlin (Eds.) Literacies in Early Childhood (pp. 43-55). New Chapter for Second edition, Elsevier.

Comber, B. Reid, J. & Nixon, H. (2007). Environmental communication: pedagogies of responsibility and place. In B. Comber, H. Nixon & J. Reid (Eds.) Literacies in Place: Teaching environmental communication (pp.11-23). Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association.

Reid, J. Comber, B. Nixon, H. (2007). Teaching for environmental sustainability: combining critique and hope. In B. Comber, H. Nixon & J. Reid (Eds.) Literacies in Place: Teaching environmental communication (pp.146-158). Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association.

Comber, B. (2006). Critical literacy educators at work: Examining their dispositions, discursive resources and repertoires of practice. In R. White & K. Cooper (Eds.) Practical critical educator: Integrating literacy, learning and leadership (pp. 51-65). The Netherlands: Springer.

Comber, B & Kamler, B. (2006). Redesigning literacy pedagogies: The complexities of producing sustainable change (pp. 19-31). In W. Bokhorst-Heng, M. Osborne & K. Lee (Eds.) Redesigning Pedagogies. Sense Publishers.

Comber, B & Reid, J. (2006). Literacy Education: What’s new and what needs to be new? In B.Doecke, M. Howie, W. Sawyer (Eds.) Only Connect: English teaching schooling and community (pp 335-348). Australian Association for the Teachers of English/Wakefield Press, Kent Town, Adelaide.

Janks, H. & Comber, B. (2006). Critical literacy across continents. In Pahl, K. and J. Rowsell (Eds). Travel notes from the New Literacy Studies: Instances of Practice (pp.95-117). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Reprinted in M. Mackey (Ed.) (forthcoming, 2007) Media Literacies: Major themes in education. Routledge.

Kamler, B & Comber, B. (2005). Designing Turn-around Pedagogies and Contesting Deficit Assumptions. In B. Comber & B. Kamler (Eds.) Turn-around pedagogies: Literacy interventions for at-risk students. Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown.

Comber, B. (2003) Critical Literacy: What does it look like in the early years? in Hall, N., Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (Eds.) Handbook of Research in Early Childhood Literacy. Sage/Paul Chapman, United Kingdom

Comber, B. & Nixon, H. (2005). Children re-read and re-write their neighbourhoods: critical literacies and identity work. In J. Evans (Ed.) Literacy moves on: Using popular culture, new technologies and critical literacy in the primary classroom (pp. 127-148). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Comber, B. (2005). An interview with Barbara Comber. In J. Larson & J. Marsh (Eds.) Making Literacy Real (pp 61-67). London: Sage

Nixon, H. & Comber, B. (2005). Behind the scenes: making movies in early years classrooms. In J. Marsh (Ed.) Popular Culture, Media and Digital Literacies in Early Childhood, (pp. 219-236) Routledge/Falmer, London.

Kamler, B. & Comber, B. (2003). Learning the secrets of teaching, In B. Doecke, H. Nixon, & D. Homer (Eds) English Teachers at Work: Narratives, Counter Narratives and Arguments. Adelaide: Wakefield Press.

Comber, B. (2003). Literacy interrupted: ADHD, absence and mobility. In B. Comber & J. Barnett (Eds.) Look again: longitudinal studies of children’s literacy learning. Newtown: Primary English Teachers Association.

Comber, B. & Barnett, J. (2003). Looking at children’s literacy learning. In B. Comber & J. Barnett (Eds.) Look again: Longitudinal studies of children's literacy learning (pp.1-20). Primary English Teachers Association, Newtown.

Reid, J. and Comber, B. (2002). Theoretical perspectives on early childhood: Implications for language and literacy education. In C. Diaz & L. Makin (Eds.) Literacies in early childhood. McLennon and Petty.

Comber, B. (2001). Critical literacies and local action: Teacher knowledge and a ‘new’ research agenda. In B. Comber & A. Simpson (Eds.) Negotiating critical literacies in classrooms. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Comber, B. (2001). Critical inquiry or safe literacies: Who’s allowed to ask which questions, in S. Boran and B. Comber (Eds.) Critiquing whole language and classroom inquiry. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.

Comber, B., Cormack, P. and O’Brien, J. (2001). Schooling disruptions: the case of critical literacy in C. Dudley-Marling & C. Edelsky (Eds) Where did all the promise go? case histories of progressive language policies and practices. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.

O'Brien, J. & Comber, B. (2000). Negotiating critical literacies with young children. In C. Barratt-Pugh, C. & M. Rohl, (Eds.) Literacy learning in the early years. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Luke, A., Lingard, R., Green, B., & Comber, B. (1999). The abuses of literacy, in J. Marshall (Ed.) Educational policy. London: Edward Elgar.

Comber, B. and Nixon, H. (1999). Literacy education as a site for social justice: what do our practices do? in C. Edelsky (Ed.) Making justice our project: critical whole language teachers talk about their work. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.

Comber, B. (1999). Doing schooling: literacy and curriculum work, in B. Johnson & A. Reid (Eds.) Contesting the curriculum. Katoomba, Australia: Social Science Press.

Comber, B. (1998). Making the time and space for critical literacy, in D. Bradshaw (Ed) Knowledge of texts: theory and practice in critical literacy. Language Australia Limited, Melbourne.

Comber, B. Green, B. Lingard, B. and Luke A. (1998). Literacy debates and public education: a question of ‘crisis’, in A. Reid (Ed.) Going public: educational policy and public eduction in Australia. Australian Curriculum Studies Association with the Centre for the Study of Public Education, Canberra.

Articles in refereed journals

Kerin, R. & Comber, B. (2008). A National English Curriculum for all Australian youth: Making it work for teachers and students everywhere. English in Australia, 43(3), 21-27.

Kerin, R. & Comber, B. (2008). Assessing the risks and possibilities: Standardised literacy testing at Year 9. Curriculum Perspectives. 28 (3), 65-70.

Comber, B & Nixon, H. (2008). Spatial literacies, design texts and emergent pedagogies in purposeful literacy curriculum. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 3(2), 221-240.

Kamler, B & Comber, B. (2008). Making a difference: early career English teachers research their practice. Changing English 15(1), 65-76.

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

Cremin, T. Comber, B & Wolf, S. (2007) Editorial. Literacy 41(2), 55-61.

Kerkham, L. & Comber, B. (2007). Literacy, places and identity: The complexity of teaching environmental communications. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 30(2), 134-148.

Comber, B. (2007). The work of women teachers in primary literacy education: Knowing and doing. English in Education 41(2),7-26.

Comber, B. (2006). Pedagogy as work: Educating the next generation of literacy teachers. Pedagogies1(1), 59-67.

Nixon, H. & Comber, B. (2006). The differential recognition of children’s resources in middle primary literacy classrooms. Literacy 40(3), 127-136.

Thomson, P., Nixon, H. & Comber, B. (2006). A case of intention deficit disorder? ICT policy, disadvantaged schools and leaders. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 17(4), 465-482.

Comber, B. Nixon, H. Ashmore, L, Loo, S. & Cook, J. (2006). Urban Renewal from the Inside Out: Spatial and Critical Literacies in a Low Socioeconomic School. Community. Mind, Culture and Activity, 13(3), 228-246.

Comber, B. (2005). Making use of theories about literacy and justice: teachers re-searching practice. Educational Action Research, 13(1), 43-55

Kamler, B. & Comber, B. (2005). Turn around pedagogies: Improving the education of at risk students. Improving schools, 8(2), 121-131.

Comber, B. (2004). Three little boys and their literacy trajectories. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 27(2), 114-127

Comber, B. & Kamler, B. (2004). Getting out of deficit: Pedagogies of reconnection. Teaching Education, 15(3), 293-310

Comber, B & Nichols, S. (2004). Getting the big picture: regulating knowledge in the early childhood literacy curriculum. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 4(1), 43-63.

Kamler, B. & Comber, B. (2004). The new English teacher: Redesigning pedagogies. English in Australia, 12(1), 131-142.

Comber, B., Kamler, B., Hood, D., Moreau, S., & J. Painter (2004). Thirty years into teaching: professional development, exhaustion and rejuvenation. English teaching: practice and critique. 3(2), 74-87.

Boyer, I. & Maney, B. with Kamler, B. & Comber, B. (2004). Reciprocal mentoring across generations: Sustaining professional development for English teachers. English teaching: practice and critique. 3(2), 139-150.

Thomson, P. & Comber, B. (2003). Deficient “disadvantaged students” or media-savvy meaning makers? Engaging new metaphors for redesigning classrooms and pedagogies, McGill Journal of Education, 38(2), 305-328

Comber, B. (2003). Reinventing and reworking critical literacies. Discourse, 24(1), 127-134

Comber, B., Badger, L., Barnett, J., Nixon, H. & Pitt, J. (2002). Literacy after the early years: A longitudinal study. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 25(2), 9-23

Comber, B. Thomson, P. with Wells, M (2001). Critical literacy finds a “place”: Writing and social action in a neighborhood school, Elementary School Journal, 101(4), 451-464.

Comber, B. (2000). What really counts in early literacy lessons, Language Arts, 78(1), 39-49.

Comber, B & Hill. S. (2000). Socio-economic Disadvantage, Literacy and Social Justice; Learning from Longitudinal Case Study Research, The Australian Educational Researcher, 27(9).

Comber, B. (1999). Coming ready or not: What counts as early literacy!, Language and Literacy Journal, 1(1): http://educ.queensu.ca/~landl.

Comber, B. (1998). The problem of ‘background’ in researching the student subject, The Australian Educational Researcher 25(3): 1-21.

Comber, B. (1997). Managerialist discourses: local effects on teachers' and students’ work in literacy lessons, Discourse 17(3): 389-407.

Comber, B. (1997). Literacy, poverty and schooling: working against deficit equations, English in Australia, 119-120: 22-34.

Comber, B. and Cormack, P. (1997). Looking beyond ‘skills’ and ‘processes’: Literacy as social and cultural practices in classrooms, Reading 31(3): 22-29.

Comber, B. and Kamler, B. (1997). Politicising the literacy classroom, Interpretation 30(1): 30-53.

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Education

• Literacy
• Pedagogy and Socio-economic Disadvantage
• Teachers' work
• Critical literacies