Researcher biography
Grace is a PhD Candidate and research coordinator in the School of Psychology. Her research has focused on understanding, measuring and improving the partnership between parents and schools from both the parent and school perspectives. The current emphasis of her work is on teachers as a catalyst for increased parent engagement and more positive parent-school relations. This focus on the parent-school partnership stems from a keen interest in improving children’s educational experiences and overall wellbeing and the role that both parents and schools play in achieving these outcomes. Grace holds an Honours degree in Psychological Science from the University of Queensland.
| Featured projects | Duration |
|---|---|
| The Alliance of Parents and Teachers (APT) Project |
Publications
Book Chapters
Kirby, Grace and Hodges, Julie (2018). Parenting of preschool and school-aged children. Handbook of parenting and child development across the lifespan. (pp. 609-629) edited by Matthew R. Sanders and Alina Morawska. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-94598-9_27
Zacher, Hannes and Kirby, Grace (2015). Remaining time. The encyclopedia of adulthood and aging. (pp. 1-5) edited by Susan Krauss Whitbourne. Hoboken, NJ, United States: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118521373.wbeaa059
Journal Articles
Sanders, Matthew R., Healy, Karyn L., Hodges, Julie and Kirby, Grace (2021). Delivering evidence-based parenting support in educational settings. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 31 (2), 1-16. doi: 10.1017/jgc.2021.21
Mitchell, Amy E., Morawska, Alina, Kirby, Grace, McGill, James, Coman, David and Inwood, Anita (2021). Triple P for parents of children with phenylketonuria: a nonrandomized trial. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 46 (2), 208-218. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa100
Morawska, Alina, Mitchell, Amy E., Etel, Evren, Kirby, Grace, McGill, James, Coman, David and Inwood, Anita (2019). Psychosocial functioning in children with phenylketonuria: relationships between quality of life and parenting indicators. Child: Care, Health and Development, 46 (1) cch.12727, 56-65. doi: 10.1111/cch.12727
Conference Papers
Kirby, Grace, Hodges, Julie and Ma, Tianyi (2023). Families and schools working together to enhance children’s learning and wellbeing [Symposium]. International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support, Online, 6-8 June 2023.
Kirby, Grace (2023). The Alliance of Parents and Teachers (APT) Project: Enhancing Teachers' Skills and Self-Efficacy for Building Positive Home-School Partnerships. International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support, Online, 6-8 June 2023.
Kirby, Grace (2020). The Alliance of Parents and Teachers workshop: building partnerships between parents and teachers and reducing the impact of parent interactions on teacher wellbeing. Helping Families Change Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 5-7 February 2020.
Kirby, Grace, Mitchell, Amy, Morawska, Alina, Inwood, Anita and Coman, David (2020). A brief parenting intervention for families of children with PKU: intervention selection, engagement and outcomes. Helping Families Change Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 5-7 February 2020.
Hodges, J., Willis, L.-D., Povey, J., Kirby, G., Aery, A., Day, J. and MHYPEDD Team (2020). Building partnerships between a child’s home and their school: practical strategies to enhance children’s development (Symposium). 20th Biennial Helping Families Change Conference (HFCC 2020), Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 5-7 February 2020.
Kirby, Grace (2019). Enhancing engagement between parents and teachers: how parent interactions impact teacher wellbeing and feasibility testing of professional support for teachers. Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 1-5 December 2019.
Willis, L.-D., Povey, J., Hodges, J., Kirby, G., Guo, Y. and Guo, S. (2019). Examining parent engagement research from different perspectives to understand ways to improve policy and practice in schools and education systems (Symposium). (Angela Ferguson – Discussant).. Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Schools and Education Systems (SES) Special Interest Group (SIG), Education for a socially just world, Brisbane, Australia, 1-5 December 2019.
Kirby, Grace (2019). Strengthening parent-teacher relationships and improving teacher wellbeing: feasibility testing of the Alliance of Parents and Teachers workshop. Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy 40th National Conference, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 24-26 October 2019.
Kirby, Grace (2018). The relationship between home and school – what it is, why it’s important and how we improve it. Helping Families Change Conference, Santa Rosa, CA, United States, 28 February - 2 March 2018.
Kirby, Grace (2018). How interactions with parents impact teacher wellbeing – a call for professional support. Helping Families Change Conference, Santa Rosa, CA, United States, 28 February - 2 March 2018.
Kirby, Grace (2017). Teachers’ perspectives about their relationships with parents: First steps towards building capacity. Parent Engagement Conference, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 6-8 June 2017.
Kirby, Grace (2016). Building an alliance between parents and schools. Triple P for Queensland: an update conference, Birsbane, QLD, Australia, 23 November 2016.
Seminar Paper
Kirby, Grace (2020). The Alliance of Parents and Teachers (APT) Project: A program of research designed to build positive relationships between parents and teachers. PFSC Seminar Series. Parenting and Family Support Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.
Newspaper Article
Kirby, Grace and Morawska, Alina (2017, 11 15). How to talk to your kids about today’s same-sex marriage postal survey result The Conversation
Theses
Kirby, Grace (2023). The Alliance of Parents and Teachers (APT) project: development and evaluation of a skills-based teacher program to promote children's educational and wellbeing outcomes through positive home-school relationships. PhD Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/0647e29
Kirby, Grace (2014). Creation and Evaluation of the Partners in Education Survey (PIES). Honours Thesis, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland.