Penny Van BergenView profile
Professor
Professor Penny Van Bergen is the Head of the School of Education at the University of Wollongong. She holds a PhD from UNSW Sydney and has held academic roles including Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching at Macquarie University. Her research focuses on memory development in children and adolescents, intergenerational reminiscing, and student-teacher relationships. She has received nine teaching awards between 2011 and 2018, including recognition from the Office of Learning and Teaching and the Australian Psychological Society. Currently supervising research on topics like adolescent reminiscing and student-teacher dynamics, she also leads two ARC-funded projects: one on aged care reminiscing programs and another on resilient capacities in emerging adults. Education: PhD (UNSW Sydney), BPsych (Hons 1) (UNSW Sydney) Key Research Areas: Memory Development, Educational Psychology, Student-Teacher Relationships Her recent articles analyze policy impacts on teacher education, LGBTQ+ school climates, and intergenerational learning. Grants include collaborations on reminiscing in aged care and male teacher shortages. She emphasizes undergraduate research opportunities and has pioneered programs like the Kia Tīmata Pai study on educator-child conversations.








