Name: Dr Jane Williams
Qualifications
PhD, BMgt, Cert Tertiary Teaching, RN (Paeds), Certified INPP Practitioner,
Certified iLS Practitioner, GymbaROO Neuro-Development Consultant.
- Dr Jane Williams is a researcher and educator who has taught across very diverse environments, to people with a large variety of interests and within enormously differing age groups. For the past 10 years she has been involved in a varied program of tertiary teaching in both academic and clinical domains at the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia where she is currently holds the position of Adjunct Senior Lecturer. She has also actively involved in the GymbaROO/KindyROO early learning program that focuses on parent education while providing infants and children with a program that is fun and neuro-developmentally stimulating. Dr Williams not only brings the message of the importance of early childhood development to parents but is actively engages with teachers, nurse, local doctors and allied health professionals in Australia, New Zealand and many other countries of the world.
- Spreading the message about the importance of development in the early years is a primary aim of Dr Williams. As Editor of First Steps, a magazine dedicated to parent education, she focuses on helping parents understand their child’s development. Dr Williams also has a number of journal publications aimed at drawing the attention of early childhood health professionals to the importance of early childhood development, prevention and early intervention. She has presented at a number of conferences in Australia, and the EU, and was an invited speaker at several of these.
Qualifications
- 2003 -2006 James Cook University (JCU) PhD
- 2002 JCU Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching
- 2000 JCU Bachelor of Management
- 1979 Registered General Nurse (Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne)
Areas of Interest
- Early childhood development;
- early childhood prevention programmes;
- parent education;
- learning and behaviour intervention therapies/programmes.
Current Status
- Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition, JCU.
- Director, GymbaROO, Australia
- Research & Education General Manager, GymbaROO Australia.
- Editor, First Steps – GymbaROO’s magazine for parents.
Peer reviewed journal publications
- Williams, J. (2007). Helping parents help their children: an innovative Australian program. American Academy of Pediatrics: Development and Behavior Newsletter 16 (1) (Spring, 2008), 18-20.
- Williams, J (2006). Learning from mothers: how myths policies and practices affect the early detection of subtle developmental problems in children. Child: Care, Health & Development 33(3), 282-290.
- Williams, J. (2006/2007). How social myths about childhood, motherhood and medicine affect the detection of subtle developmental problems in children. Contemporary Nurse 23(2), 274-287.
- Williams, J. (2006). Learning from mothers: how myths, policies and practices affect the early detection of subtle developmental problems in children. Unpublished PhD, James Cook University, Townsville.
- Williams, J., & Holmes, C. A. (2005). Literary folkloristics: using literary theories to read life stories. Australian Qualitative Research 5(2), 151-167
- Williams, J., & Holmes, C. A. (2004/2005). Children of the 21st century: slipping through the net. Contemporary Nurse, 18(1-2), 57-66.
- Williams, J. & Holmes, C. A. (2004). Improving the early detection of children with subtle developmental problems. Journal of Child Health Care, 8 (1), 34-46.
Parenting magazine publications
- Williams, J. (2009). Tummy time for terrific babies. Child Parenting Journal (Autumn).
- Williams, J. (2008). Learning to move - what dads can do to help. BubHub Newsletter, September 2008 72(3). Available online: http://www.bubhub.com.au/newslettersep0803.php
- Williams, J. (2008). GymbaROO. Themes: Primary education.17, p. 28.
There are many other magazine articles for newspapers and parenting magazines. Dr Williams also written over 80 articles on child development (1995-1998, 2004 - current) for publication in First Steps, a parent education magazine published by GymbaROO Australia. An example of topics covered include: 'Fidgety Babies', ‘Neurophysiological treatment of dyslexia, 'Your two year old', 'Your three year old', 'Encouraging your child's language development, 'Sensory play’, 'Attention deficit disorder: a developmental approach’, 'The business of child rearing', 'Helping your child to be unselfish’, ‘Helping parents help their children', 'Give baby the freedom and space to move', 'Talk, talk, talk', 'Creeping and crawling: More than just a way to get around', 'Caring through touch: Massaging your baby', ‘Parents, your voices are important’, ‘Slipping through the net’, ‘How a baby learns’, “Don’t fence me in’. “Tapping into parent power’ and ‘Why are early childhood development programs important?’
Conference presentations (2004- 2010 only)
| Nov 2009 | Playgroup Australia National Conference, Gold Coast, QLD. Paper presentation: Not all play is equal. Also member of Panel discussion: Does play matter?
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| July 2009 | Toddler Kindy GymbaROO, International Conference, Mooloolaba, Qld. Paper presentation: Report on neuro-developmental research findings in the past 3 years.
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| July 2008 | Birth to Three Matters: Foundations for Research, Policy and Practice. Brisbane, Australia. Paper presentation: Freedom to move. Freedom to play. Freedom to learn.
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| May 2007 |
Australian Association of Maternal, Child & Family Health Nurses Conference, Sydney, Australia. Paper presentation: How social myths adversely affect the early detection of subtle developmental problems in children
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| July 2006 |
19th Biennial Meeting, International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, Melbourne, Australia
Poster presentation: Learning from mothers: how myths policies and practices affect the early detection of subtle developmental problems in children.
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| March 2006 |
Institute of Neurophysiology Psychology Annual Conference, Chester. United Kingdom.
Paper presentation: Early prevention programmes for children
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| July 2005 |
Association of Australian Qualitative Research 4th Biennial International Conference, Melbourne, Australia
Paper presentation: Literary Folkloristics: Using literary theories to read life stories.
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| April 2005 |
Fifth Australian Women’s Health Conference, Melbourne, Australia
Paper presentation: Mothers’ perceptions of their conversations with health professionals.
Poster display: Listening to mothers. What do you hear?
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| April 2005 |
National Maternal, Child & Family Health Conference, Melbourne, Australia
Paper presentation: Listening to mothers. What do you hear?
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| Nov 2004 |
The First Research Festival of Life Science, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland
Poster display: Listening to mothers. What do you hear?
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| Oct 2004 |
Queen Elizabeth Centre Conference, Melbourne, Australia
Paper presentation: Listening to mothers: viewing mothers’ stories through the lens of literary theory.
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Professional Presentations (Other than conference presentations)
| March 2011 |
Invited teacher training tour. China.
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| April 2011 |
Invited speaker, Dublin Occupational Therapy Association.
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| Aug 2010 |
Invited speaker. Denver, USA. ‘A Child Song’ training day.
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| May 2010 |
Seminar series: Not all play is equal. Western Australia: Dianella, Nedlands, Mandurah, & Bunbury,
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| April 2010 |
Seminar series: Not all play is equal. Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch, N.Z.
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| March 2010 |
Not all play is equal seminar presentation. Cairns.
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| Aug–Sept 2009 |
Seminar series: Not all play is equal. Mareeba, Brisbane, Maitland, Newcastle, Sydney, Gosford, Bathurst, Canberra, Geelong.
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| Aug 2009 |
Invited speaker, Townsville General Practice Association. Assessing development of the four year old. The child development check and how to apply it in your practice.
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| April 2009 |
Invited seminar presentation: How early brain development affects when, what, and how we learn: the role of sensory & motor experiences. Istanbul, Turkey.
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| Jan 2009 |
Invited professional training day for teachers in-service: Sensory Integration and the link to learning. St Georges Christian Primary School, Cronulla, NSW.
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| Sept 2008 |
Seminar presentations: How early brain development affects when, what, and how we learn: the role of sensory & motor experiences. (To MCFH Nurses and allied health professionals. Maitland & Newcastle NSW. Repeated for parents).
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| Aug 2008 |
Invited speaker, Townsville General Practice Association. Assessing development of the four year old. The child development check and how to apply it in your practice.
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| April 2006 |
Molde University, School of Nursing, Molde, Norway. Invited lecturer: Learning from mothers: how myths policies and practices affect the early detection of subtle developmental problems in children.
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Awards
| June 2009 | Australian Women’s Leadership Conference Scholarship. Workplace Training Advisory Australia, Federal Govt Initiative.
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| July 2005 | Darrel N Caulley Award. Best-refereed student paper submitted for publication in The Australian Qualitative Research Journal , 2005
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| Mar 2005 | JCU Graduate Research School Travel Award for attendance at an International conference.
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| Feb 2003 | Doctoral Scholarship awarded by School of Nursing Sciences,
James Cook University.
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Professional development (2005 - 2010 only)
| July 2010 | “Brain and Learning” conference. “Making sense of the science”, Vancouver, B.C. Canada. July 16 – 20. Speakers included:
- Barker, David (MD, PhD, FRS). “Nutrition in the womb and its lifelong consequences for health”
- Bauer, Particia (PhD). “Learning and memory in development: how and why they change”.
- Bergman, Nils (MPH, PhD). “Improving life for the beginning: early skin-to- skin contact enhances newborn development”.
- Carter, Sue (PhD). “Oxytoxin, Vasopressin & Love: Implications for mental health & mental illness”
- Coe, Christopher (PhD). “Developmental origins of health and illness: focus on stress and infection”.
- Feldman, Ruth (PhD). “Factors regulating the bond between parents & newborns” Julien, Gilles (MD). “Social paediatrics: a powerful approach for sustaining child development in underserved communities”.
- Kuhl, Patricia (PhD). “Minds, brains & early learning: how infants crack the speech code”.
- McCandliss, Bruce (PhD). “Neuroimaging studies of reading interventions that improve reading”.
- Meaney, Michael (PhD). Lifelong effects of good parenting: how experience affects gene expression”.
- Meltzoff, Andrew (PhD). Becoming a “people person”: social-emotional development of infants”.
- Oberlander, Tim (MD). “Mothers’ mood matters: how early life events influence the development of stress reactivity during infancy and childhood”.
- Patterson, Paul (PhD). Interactions between the brain and the immune system in the development of schizophrenia and autism”.
- Silvo, Alcino (PhD). Reversing disorders: cellular and molecular bases of learning and memory.
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| July 2009 | Toddler Kindy GymbaROO International Conference, Mooloolaba, Queensland. (2 days). (Organiser & presenter)
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| April 2009 | Institute of Neurophysiology Psychology Annual Conference, Chester, United Kingdom (2 days). Speakers included:
- Anderson, Ersula (MD). Using energy, light and colour in the management of learning & behavioural disorders and as a means to reduce violence”.
- Beuret, Lawrence, J. (PhD). “Not working up to potential: NDD manifestations in adolescent and adult populations.”
- Cripe, Curtis (PhD). “The fab four” in neuroimaging”.
- Gomex, Luis (PhD). “The diagnosis of true Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by nanoparticle analysis”
- Halvorsen, Richard, T. (MD). “Can children’s vaccines cause neuro-developmental delay?”
- Schneider, Harry (PhD). “The discovery of language-specific areas in the brain of non-verbal children with autism and practical application to treatment: an emerging theory”.
- Steffert, Beverley (PhD). ‘Everything you need to know about neuro-feedback in a nutshell”.
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| Nov 2008 | Sound Learning Systems in conjunction with the MINDD Foundation, iLs Conference. Canberra, 29/30 Nov.
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| Oct 2008 | Parents as Teachers (PAT) training program. Macquarie University, Sydney (27 – 31 Oct).
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| Sept 2008 | The Early Years: From Research to Policy to Practice Seminar. Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health, Melbourne. (full day)
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| July 2008 | Birth to Three Matters: Foundations for Research, Policy and Practice. Brisbane, Australia. Conference (2 days)
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| Oct 2007 | Learning Connections Workshop: Utilising the Learning Connections Schools Program in the Classroom. Townsville. Australia. (full day)
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| Oct 2007 | Integrated Listening Systems practitioner training, Canberra, Australia. (3 days).
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| Oct 2007 | Toddler Kindy GymbaROO International Conference. Melbourne (2 days) (Organiser and presenter).
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| Oct 2007 | GymbaROO neuro-developmental consultancy training (2 days).
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| July 2007 | Sensory Motor Integration & Coordination Workshop, Melbourne, Australia (2 days). Sanguine consulting.
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| Sept 2007 | Institute of Neurophysiology Psychology Annual Conference, Pisa, Italy (2 days). Speakers included:
- Berthoz, Alain (PhD). “Development of the function of the balance system in the early years”.
- Faergemann, Anne Catherine (Dietician). “Food for the brain and how laboratory evaluations are helping us to understand nutritional needs”.
- Goddard-Blythe, Sally (Director INPP). Learning to move and moving to learn. Physical development and engagement – the foundations for learning success”.
- Trevarthen, Colin (MD, PhD). “Intending to be conscious: how infants’ movements are planned, and how they engage with stimuli, things and people.”
- Schiftan, Yair (PhD). “Listening theory: Musica Medica method in education”.
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| July 2006 | Townsville Autism Support Group Conference (full day).
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| Mar 2006 | Institute of Neurophysiology Psychology Annual Conference, Chester, United Kingdom (2 days)
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| Mar 2005 | Institute of Neurophysiology Psychology Annual Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland (2 days)
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| Aug 2005 | ADDAQ professional development seminar: Practical strategies to remove the barriers to learning for children with ADHD and learning difficulties.
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Tertiary teaching (from 2008 only)
| Aug 2008/09/10 | Lifespan Development lectures: Development in the first three years. (4 hours). School of Rehabilitation Sciences. James Cook University, Townsville.
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| March 2008/09 /10 | Lifespan Development Lectures: Development in the first three years. (4 hours) School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition. James Cook University. Townsville.
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| Aug–Nov 2008/09 | Primary Health Care. Tutorials (10 x 4 hours). School of Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition. James Cook University. Townsville.
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