Aidan Cornelius-Bell

Aidan is a scholar of higher education. His research work sits between educational sociology and study of political philosophy. He is undertaking a PhD with Flinders, in which he focusses on students’ identity and being in higher education. Aidan’s PhD is titled ‘Student Activism and Partnership in Higher Education: the possibility and politics of students’ role in university ideological change’. This political work focusses on, through empirical ethnographic work, student activism, student identity, hegemony, power, protest and partnership at Flinders University. It draws on historical and contemporary context to provide a rich analysis of power and politics.

Aidan is experienced in researching primary, secondary and tertiary education. He has worked in roles that include: use of research data for policy development, application and visualisation; applying qualitative research methods to emergent education practices; application of sociological research methods and diverse qualitative methodological frameworks and tools. He has also worked in the evaluation of school and university teaching practice as a data analyst. In addition, Aidan has scoped and delivered learning and teaching platforms (open source software design), research data collection and analysis platforms, and analytic tools for student engagement in eLearning.

He has worked in a range of research projects that: involve teacher education students in STEM industry placements; design school-based teaching and learning in the context of industry; students’ self regulation of learning in STEM classrooms; the sociology of higher education in contemporary change; the role of student partnership and students as partners; and military veteran students in higher education. These projects span externally funded research from a range of bodies, including the Department of State Development, the Australian Research Council (both Discovery [DP] and Linkage) and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Aidan has also worked for several years as an education consultant, working with teachers and leaders, implementing innovative practice from formative assessment strategies to project-based learning planning for integrated curriculum across schools in South Australia. Supporting the learning of teachers around Australia and the world through coordinated online learning opportunities. Development and delivery of research informed professional development to in-service teachers.

Aidan's research interests include:

• Sociology of Higher Education,
• Students as Partners,
• Democratic University Governance,
• Academic Work,
• Student Power,
• Student Voice,
• Student Activism,
• Communities of practice,
• Teacher professional development,
• Social Justice in Education,
• Structure and Agency,
• Project Based Learning,
• Critical Realism,
• Formative Assessment,
• Pedagogy,
• Online Learning,
• Educational Technology,
• Digital Research &
• Research Platforms