Kathleen Mahon

Dr Kathleen Mahon is a Senior Lecturer, Higher Education, at the University of Queensland. Kathleen's main research areas are higher education pedagogy and the professional learning of university teachers and leaders. She is particularly interested in how the university environment affects teaching and learning and educational leadership in higher education, and how sustainable and sustaining conditions can be promoted. Much of her work is centred on the notions of praxis and praxis-oriented pedagogy, and the challenges and possibilities for both in today's universities. Her interest in praxis has stemmed from concerns she has, after over thirty years as an educator, that there is still much work to be done to ensure that educational institutions live up to their own good intentions. Since completing her PhD on critical pedagogical praxis in higher education in 2014, Kathleen has become known internationally for her work on both educational praxis and practice theory, with her co-authored publications on the theory of practice architectures being particularly widely cited. Kathleen is a co-founding Senior Editor of the international journal, Journal of Praxis in Higher Education, and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal for Experiential Education. She is also a member of the Pedagogy, Education and Praxis (PEP) international collaborative research network, which includes scholars from universities in Australia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Colombia, and New Zealand. Kathleen is a Docent (Associate Professor) at the University of Boras, in Sweden, where she has been working as an academic developer since 2016. Her research and university teaching is grounded in many years of teaching and leading in secondary schools in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and outdoor education centers in Queensland, Australia. Kathleen currently supervises PhD doctoral candidates in Sweden and Uganda. Professional learning of university teachers: How university teachers develop professionally in and through practice, academic communities, and professional learning programs; what enables and constrains university educator professional learning; and how professional learning can best be supported and nurtured in an academic environment. Educational praxis: How educational praxis conceptualised, realised, and nurtured in educational settings, especially universities. Practice theory and its use in educational research: How practice theory, and particularly the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis et al. 2014), can be put to work to critically investigate educational practices and educational environments and contribute to their transformation.

[2026] Academic practices: what really matters?. Higher Education, 1-16. doi: 10.1007/s10734-026-01697-z [2026] Praxis, wisdom, and education for planetary well-being towards planetary wisdom: deep-ecological and posthuman perspectives on sustainability education. Nordic Educational Research Association (NERA) Conference, Aarhus, Denmark, 4 - 6 March 2026. [2026] Practising wisdom: wisdom is realised in practice, in history. Professional and Practice-based Learning. (pp. 75-97) Singapore, Singapore: Springer, Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-92-0730-5_4 [2026] The Thinking-Feeling-Sensing Body in Practice in Place: A Personal 'Take' on the Theory of Practice Architectures. Relationality, Emotions and Affect in Education and Research. (pp. 59-73) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10