معرفی
Laura McFarland is an Adjunct Professor in Early Childhood Education at Charles Sturt University’s School of Education. Her expertise lies in promoting mental health and well-being across children, families, and educators through relational and leadership-focused approaches. She holds a PhD in Human Development and Family Relationships from The University of Texas at Austin, complemented by an M.A. and B.A. in Psychology from the same institution.
Her research emphasizes systemic solutions to foster mentally healthy early learning environments, including leadership roles in policy implementation and clinical supervision programs. Laura has contributed to national initiatives like the Be You mental health framework and serves on editorial boards for Early Childhood Education Journal and Australasian Journal of Early Childhood.
Key achievements include an Australian Government OLT Teaching Citation (2016) and Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (2019). Her work addresses educator well-being, reflective practice, and workforce sustainability, with recent studies on workplace bullying and cross-national research alliances (WECARE initiative).
Publications span holistic well-being measurement tools (e.g., ORICL framework), policy evaluations, and child developmental assessments. She actively bridges research with community practice through collaborative projects and advocacy for equitable childcare funding and educator compensation.
