Margie Maher

Margie Maher has been a teacher educator in universities, a teacher in secondary and primary schools, and she has experience in early childhood settings in three countries: Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

After her initial teacher education, her first post graduate qualification focussed on children with specific learning difficulties. Her Master’s research was undertaken with Maori and Pasifika children and their families developing culturally appropriate and engaging ways of enhancing the numeracy learning of these children, and her PhD examined inclusive education theory to practice.

Margie is concerned with social justice. She continues to offer ongoing support to people in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa building on her Zonta funded project and research from 2005 to 2007 where women in remote areas with a disabled child are empowered to access supports available to them under new legislation. Margie comes to the University of Notre Dame from Charles Darwin University where, in partnership with the Catholic Education Office of the Northern Territory (NT), she led the implementation of in situ teacher education for Indigenous Assistant Teachers in six remote Catholic schools. At the end of 2010 the first students from this initiative, known as Growing Our Own, graduated successfully. She then led a similar initiative in remote NT Department of Education schools. Prior to that, Margie worked at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand where she was actively involved in promoting that university as provider of choice for Maori and Pasifika people in Auckland.

Most recently, Margie has been commissioned to undertake evaluative studies of two programs running in KwaZulu-Natal where teachers and students in better resourced schools are partnering with those in under-resourced schools to improve the learning out comes of the learners in those often more remote schools.