Dr Karen Charman

Karen is internationally and nationally recognised for her research work in the area of Public Pedagogy. Public Pedagogy is a new emerging discipline that is concerned with education outside of formal institutions. It has intersections with Social and Critical Pedagogy and to a lesser extent Arts Based Research. 

Karen is the founder of the Public Pedagogies Institute and the Editor of the Public Pedagogies Journal and convenor of the annual Public Pedagogies international conference. 

Karen leads projects in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne with the City of Maribyrnong, City of Wyndham and The City of Greater Geelong. These projects consist of ‘The Knowledge Project’ and ‘Pop Up School’. The Knowledge Project entails a series of interviews with people from a given suburb. The intent is to ascertain what knowledge is considered significant by members of that community. This research is purposefully undertaken in areas of Melbourne where communities are subject to demographic readings that deem them as deficit. This research culminates in an afternoon where the knowledge that is held by that community is demonstrated in a Learning and Teaching event called a Pop Up School. A publication, Towards a Footscray Curriculum or Towards a Werribee Curriculum is created and disseminated back into the community.

Karen has successfully realised an Office of Learning and Teaching grant to authentically embed students in Social History Museums.  This project worked with five universities and five social history museums across three states and is titled Learning and Teaching in Public Spaces. In part, this project entailed inter-generational work where the stories pf older community members were realised through curatorial work in exhibitions in Social History Museums.

Karen is currently contracted as lead author on a forthcoming Routledge Publication ‘Public Pedagogy Research and Methods’. This book offers new methods in Public Pedagogy research. Extending the well-established work of Sandlin and Burdick (2010, 2014) four new methods for public pedagogy research are introduced: structure, performance, geography and researcher. These are premised upon a new dynamic theorisation of public pedagogy itself.