Sarah James

Biography

Dr Sarah James is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for Professional Experience at QUT. She leads the Professional Experience team and focuses on enhancing preservice teacher programs. Her research emphasizes rural and remote education, teacher retention, and policy analysis. She holds a PhD from Southern Cross University and has 20 years of teaching experience, including roles as a classroom teacher, Head of Department, and Master Teacher. Recent projects include a $20,000 study on regional school inquiry cycles.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Southern Cross University)

Research Interests

Her work addresses challenges in initial teacher education, particularly in rural regions. Key themes include mentoring effectiveness, literacy integration, and systemic solutions to teacher attrition. She collaborates with schools to design sustainable professional experience programs.

Publications Overview

Recent articles focus on rural teacher retention strategies, professional experience partnerships, and literacy mentoring. Her 2025 work highlights systemic solutions for inclusive assessment in remote schools. Earlier studies explore teacher identity and wellbeing in mathematics education.

Grants & Awards

• Lead researcher on a $20,000 project analyzing regional school improvement cycles (2023)

Advising & Mentorship

Currently supervising Honours, Masters, and PhD students. Proposes topics in teacher retention, rural education policy, and professional experience design.

Labs/Teams

Leads QUT's Professional Experience team, fostering partnerships between universities and schools to support early career teachers.