Maryanne Theobald

Maryanne Theobald is a Professor at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), affiliated with the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education within the Faculty of Education. Her research focuses on early childhood education, child development, and the intersection of digital technologies with childhood experiences. She leads projects on child participation rights, ethics in digital childhood research, and culturally inclusive pedagogies. She has authored/co-authored over 100 publications, including books, journal articles, and research reports.

Education: PhD in Sociology from QUT (2009). Her work integrates conversation analysis, ethnography, and participatory methods to explore children’s social interactions, friendships, and educational environments. She collaborates with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child and has developed resources such as the Digital Child Ethics Toolkit.

Notable contributions include frameworks for relational information literacy (e.g., the 3C questioning framework) and research on mealtime cultural practices in early education. She advises on policy and practice for inclusive, child-centered approaches in diverse settings.