About

Belinda Davis is a Professor of History at Rutgers University, where she has been since 1992. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. Her academic specialty includes Modern Germany and Europe, with research interests spanning popular politics, social movements, conceptions of democracy, environmental history, gender, history of everyday life, oral history, memory, emotion, urban history, transnational history, policing, violence, and terror. Davis is the author or co-editor of five books, including the forthcoming 'The Inner Life of Politics: Grassroots Activism in West Germany, 1962-1983,' and has published around 50 articles and book chapters on these themes. She is currently co-editing a collection on the voices of the organized poor and writing an environmental history of Europe from 1500 to the present. Her work involves exploring grassroots activism, social change, and the intersections of gender, environment, and politics in European history.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Pedagogy
• Public relations
• Computer Science
• Geography
• Developmental psychology
• Economics
• Business
• Economic growth
• Engineering
• Operations management
• Marketing
• Psychology

Selected publications

• Exploring intersectionality and critical multimodal literacy through a children’s picture book about forced displacement and child refugees

  Early Years Journal of International Research and Development · 2026-02-26

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Workforce in Early Childhood Education: Findings From a National Survey of Australian Centre‐Based Services

  Australian Journal of Social Issues · 2026-03-08

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ABSTRACT Culturally responsive early childhood education (ECE) environments can increase child and family participation, enhance service quality, and improve developmental outcomes for children. Educators from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds contribute to inclusive ECE and are crucial for addressing workforce shortages. The National Children's Education and Care Workforce Strategy (2022–2031) (ACECQA, 2021) promotes workforce diversity, including efforts to attract overseas‐trained educators. However, limited national data on CALD educators has hindered targeted policy and support development. This study conducted a national survey of ECE directors to profile the CALD workforce in centre‐based services. Results showed that 77% of the 502 participating services employed permanent CALD staff, 49% employed casual CALD staff, and 18% reported no CALD employees. Metropolitan and for‐profit services reported higher proportions of CALD educators than regional/rural and not‐for‐profit services. CALD educators were well‐qualified relative to the 2021 National Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Census, but were less likely to hold leadership roles as centre directors. The findings underscore the need to recognise CALD educators in national workforce data and policy frameworks. Targeted strategies are needed to support career progression and retention, critical to fulfilling the goals of the National Workforce Strategy for a culturally diverse ECE workforce.

  PublisherDOI

• Critical Multimodal Literacy: An Analysis of Young Children’s Picture Books About Refugees

  International Journal of Early Childhood · 2025-05-21 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract This paper discusses a study that explored the complex ensemble of multimodal texts in picture books. It has been well documented that picture books are used to explore complex social issues; however, many studies have examined the linguistic and written aspects rather than visuals, and these studies have focused primarily on books for primary school children (aged 5–12 years). Research to date has generally considered critical and multimodal literacy in isolation, and studies of critical literacy have rarely considered the years prior to school. Consequently, research about visuals in picture books is limited. Yet, in early childhood, where children are usually visual learners, it is imperative that this gap is addressed. This study employed a two-phase analysis that included a visual stroll and page-by-page analysis to examine visual-word relations in Phase 1. Phase 2 explored visual systems and semiotic resources to ascertain their role in shaping characterisation and plot development. Findings from this study revealed that illustrators and authors used more than one visual-word interactivity to expand each meaning. Additionally, often the verbal component contradicted the visual depiction, and the visual component provided alternative information beyond the scope of the verbal mode alone. The contradiction creates tension and ambiguity, where young children are actively positioned in a more interpretative role. The findings may support educators looking to develop their capacity to foster critical multimodal literacy in young children through picture books. They may also inform curriculum design and future research aimed at promoting critical multimodal literacy in the prior-to-school years.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Research rationale and study protocol:Design principles for ITE programs that cater for career changers

  Charles Sturt University Research Output (CRO) · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Teacher shortages in schools are a global issue. One solution to this problem, offered in Australian policy, is the notion of the career change teacher (White et al., 2024). Our article outlines a mixed-methods research protocol designed to develop and refine initial design principles for initial teacher education (ITE) programs that specifically address the needs of career changers. The study includes a systematic literature review to identify key enablers and impediments for career-changing teachers. Additionally, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys will be conducted with key stakeholders. Data collected through these methods will be analysed using template and quantitative analysis techniques. The findings from this research are expected to inform the development of evidence-based design principles for ITE programs, facilitating the effective transition of career changers into the teaching profession. These principles aim to address the unique needs and challenges of career change teacher students, supporting their professional development and contributing to specific improvements within ITE programs.

  Publisher

• The quest for continuous quality improvement in Australian long day care services: getting the most out of the Assessment and Rating process

  Frontiers in Education · 2024-01-18 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The National Quality Framework (NQF) was intended to drive continuous improvement in education and care services in Australia. Ten years into implementation, the effectiveness of the NQF is demonstrated by steady improvements in quality as measured against the National Quality Standard (NQS). The process of assessing and rating services is a key element in the NQF, drawing together regulatory compliance and quality assurance. This paper draws on findings from a national Quality Improvement Research Project investigating the characteristics, processes, challenges and enablers of quality improvement in long day care services, concentrating on Quality Area 1 Educational program and practice and Quality Area 7 Governance and leadership. This was a mixed-method study focusing on long day care services that had improved their rating from Working toward NQS to Meeting NQS or to Exceeding NQS. The study comprised three phases, and in this paper, we draw on Phase 3 to understand the contribution of the NQS Assessment and Rating (A&R) process to continuous quality improvement from the standpoint of providers and professionals delivering these services. Phase 3 involved qualitative case studies of 15 long day care services to investigate factors that enabled and challenged quality improvement. Data was collected during two-day site visits, using professional conversations and field notes to elicit the views and experiences of service providers, leaders and educators. In this paper, we look at how the A&R process is experienced by those involved in service provision, with a focus on the factors that enabled and challenged quality improvement. Recognizing the interchangeability of enablers and challenges, three broad themes emerged: (i) curriculum knowledge, pedagogical skills and agency; (ii) collaborative leadership and teamwork; and (iii) meaningful engagement in the A&R process. The study found that meaningful engagement in the A&R process informed priorities for ongoing learning and acted as a catalyst for continuous quality improvement. Apprised by stakeholder views and experiences of A&R, we offer a model to foster stakeholder participation in quality assurance matters through affordances of meaningful engagement.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mapping the leap: differences in quality improvement in relation to assessment rating outcomes

  Frontiers in Education · 2023-06-14 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Introduction Australia’s National Quality Standard (NQS) outlines the criteria to assess the quality of early childhood services. A four-point rating scale: (i) Exceeding NQS; (ii) Meeting NQS; (iii) Working Toward NQS; and (iv) Significant Improvement Required is applied to services following a regular assessment and rating process. Settings rated as Working Toward are reassessed within 12 months. Most settings achieved a one-step improvement in this Time 2 reassessment, moving to a Meeting rating but some settings made a two-step improvement, moving to an Exceeding rating. The QIP is a key document used by authorities to assess the quality of a service. Methods A grounded theory, data driven approach was taken to deepen understanding of quality rating improvements in long day care services in Australia of quality rating improvements by early childhood education and care [ECEC] services in Australia. This study, part of the second phase of a three phase study involved a document analysis of the Time 2 Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) of a representative sample of Long Day Care (LDC) services (n = 60) from all Australian states and territories to determine what factors may have contributed to these different levels of improvement, with a focus on Quality Area 1 (QA1) (Educational programs and practices) and Quality Area 7 (QA7) (Governance and leadership). The study utilized the semantic analysis tool Leximancer 4.5. Leximancer 4.5 statistically analyses the semantic relationships between concepts in documents by measuring word proximity and correlation. The software creates visual maps of concepts and their connections to each other in texts. Concepts located near one another on the map are more likely to be contextually related. This tool is particularly useful when there are multiple, complex documents to analyze, reducing the potential biases that can arise from documents that use language with which these researchers are very familiar with. Results The analysis found clear differences between the Time 2 QIPs of services who had made a two-step rating improvement and those who made a one-step improvement. Two-step (Exceeding NQS) category improvers for QA1 placed attention in their QIPs on improvement to the program and overall practice, with an orientation to the role of the educational leader. Two-step (Exceeding NQS) category improvers for QA7 seemed to be more oriented to a systemic view of the processes encompassed by QA7; how the management of the service and information supports the work of educators, with stronger links made between leadership roles (the manager and nominated supervisor) and the work of educators. Discussion The QIPs demonstrated how the intentional and systemic processes in these quality areas related to practice, management, and leadership.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The role of digital technologies in supporting quality improvement in Australian early childhood education and care settings

  International journal of child care and education policy/International journal of child care and education · 2023 · 39 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Pedagogy

  This national study explored the role of digital technologies in early childhood education and care settings and whether they could contribute to quality improvement as reported by educators and assessors of quality in Australia. In this paper, data from Stage 2 of the Quality Improvement Research Project were used, which comprised 60 Quality Improvement Plans from educators linked with 60 Assessment and Rating reports from the assessors who visited early childhood centres as part of the administration of the National Quality Standards by each of Australia's State and Territory jurisdictions. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory ( Bronfenbrenner, U. (1995). Developmental ecology through space and time: A future perspective. In P. Moen, G. H. Elder, Jr., & K. Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. 619-647). American Psychological Association. 10.1037/10176-018; Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, Bronfenbrenner and Ceci, Psychological Review 101:568-586, 1994) was adopted to facilitate a systemic and dynamic view on the use of digital technologies in these 60 ECEC settings. References (e.g. comments/ suggestions/ examples) made by the educators about the implementation of digital technologies were counted and thematically analysed. Results revealed the strong role new technologies (e.g. documentation and management platforms, tablets, apps, etc.) play in the majority of ECEC settings and especially in relation to three of the seven Quality Areas: Educational programme and practice (Quality Area 1); Collaborative partnerships with families and communities (Quality Area 6) and Governance and leadership (Quality Area 7). Future directions for research are suggested and implications for embracing a more holistic, integrated and broad view on the use of digital technologies are discussed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Children’s Meaning Making: Listening to Encounters with Complex Aesthetic Experience

  Education Sciences · 2023-01-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper describes young children’s symbolic meaning-making practices and participation in complex aesthetic experiences in a contemporary art museum context. Through an ongoing long-term research and pedagogy project, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (MCA) is working with researchers to provide regular opportunities for young children (aged birth–5 years) and their families—all members of the same early childhood education (ECE) services—to encounter art works, engage with materials, and experience the museum environment. The program provides a rich experience of multiple forms of communication, ways of knowing and ways of expressing knowings: through connecting with images, videos and told stories about artists and their practice, sensorial engagement with tactile materials, and embodied responses to artworks and materials. Children also experience the physicality of the museum space, materials for art-making and the act of mark-making to record ideas, memories, and reflections. The project supports the development of a pedagogy of listening and relationships and is grounded in children’s rights as cultural citizens to participation, visibility and belonging in cultural institutions such as the MCA.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Supporting Regional and Remote Children’s Participation in High Quality Early Years Services

  Australasian Journal of Early Childhood · 2023-05-29 · 1 citations

  article

  Little is known about children’s participation in early childhood education (ECE) in regional and remote areas in Australia. This research addresses this gap by investigating the perspectives of early childhood centre directors and educators who work directly in ECE services in these areas. The study used a two-stage mixed methodology, including focus groups with 52 centre directors/educators of ECE services in regional and remote areas of NSW, followed by a survey completed by centre directors/educators in 37 services, to identify the most relevant and pressing barriers to children’s participation, and their views on what can be done to support children’s participation. Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1995), multi-tiered barriers to children’s participation were identified, revealing that the entrenched problem of children’s non-participation in high quality ECE requires a nuanced and holistic policy approach that operates at the familial, service, community and socio-political level, targeting the specific challenges faced by communities.

  PublisherDOI

• Protocol for a mixed-methods investigation of quality improvement in early childhood education and care in Australia

  Children and Youth Services Review · 2023-11-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  International recognition of the early years as a crucial foundational period has led to the design and implementation of quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) that define, communicate, and monitor the components of quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The aim of these policies is to achieve effective quality assurance and improvement through a system-oriented approach to assessment and evaluation. Informed by ecological systems theory, this paper outlines a three-phase, mixed-methods design for researching a national sample of child care centres that showed overall improvement on the Australian National Quality Standard (NQS) assessment and rating (A&R) criteria. The study samples are drawn from a national dataset of centre-based child care services with two or more A&R rounds and an initial rating of Working Towards NQS (N = 1,935). The results of this study will provide insights into the macro-, exo-, meso- and micro-systems level factors and strategies that support quality in ECEC services.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Linda Harrison

  Macquarie University

  15 shared

• Fay Hadley

  12 shared

• Manjula Waniganayake

  Macquarie University

  12 shared

• Sheila Degotardi

  Macquarie University

  11 shared

• Susan Irvine

  Queensland University of Technology

  10 shared

• Maria Hatzigianni

  University of West Attica

  10 shared

• Rebecca Andrews

  10 shared

• Hui Li

  Sichuan University

  10 shared

Education

• Ph.D., History

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  2008

• M.A., History

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  1995

• B.A., History

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  1992

Awards & honors

• Rutgers Consortium Co-Representative, Jean Monnet ValEUs Int…
• German Studies Association Best History Book Prize, 2020, 20…
• Barclay Book Prize, 2023
• Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowship, European University Insti…
• Residential Fellowship, Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschun…