Sheena Elwick is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education (ECE) at Charles Sturt University (CSU), Albury. She has a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood/Primary) (Honours 1) and a Doctor of Philosophy in ECE, both from CSU. She has over twenty years’ experience working in early childhood, primary and tertiary education, and has worked in educational leadership positions. Sheena continues to work closely with the early childhood sector and is the Program Lead for the Holding Space Program: a new interdisciplinary professional learning program supporting trauma-informed practice in early childhood and community settings.

Sheena’s research interests are diverse and are driven by a concern that all children, regardless of circumstances, warrant the best possible opportunities to thrive—personally, socially, emotionally, and educationally. She is a Chief Investigator on the ARC Linkage Project (LP210301171): Observe, Reflect, Improve: a tool to enrich Children’s Learning (ORICL) and she was a member of the national consortium engaged by ACECQA to update the two national approved learning frameworks under the National Quality Framework: Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care. Sheena has several research projects in development—each being collaboratively designed with stakeholders—with the aim of providing young children with high quality early childhood education spaces. Sheena is the Convenor of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Qualitative Methodologies Special Interest Group and is on the Editorial Board for Methodological Innovations. She is a regular reviewer for numerous high-quality journals and book publishers.

Sheena currently teaches in the Bachelor of Education (Birth to Five Years). She has previously taught in the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary), the Bachelor of Education (K-12) and the Graduate Certificate in Arts and Social Science Research. Sheena has supervised two PhD students to completion, with both students receiving prestigious awards. She is currently supervising four PhD students and one Master of Education student. She has written, lead, and taught an extensive range of postgraduate and undergraduate education subjects.