Kristin R. Laurens – The Conversation

Moore Media/ Getty Images

October 9, 2025

We tracked 72,000 NSW public school students over a decade and found 19% had been suspended or expelled

Kristin R. Laurens, Queensland University of Technology; Lauren M. Piltz, Queensland University of Technology, and Linda J. Graham, Queensland University of Technology

Suspending or expelling a student should be a last resort. But our study shows it is more common than it should be in NSW public schools.

A drawing by a child for the ‘Footprints in Time’ report. The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children.

October 6, 2025

Our study followed Indigenous children for 15 years to understand what helps them thrive

Jessa Rogers, The University of Melbourne and Kristin R. Laurens, Queensland University of Technology

A new report follows the lives of around 1,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the largest study of its kind.

DGLImages/Shutterstock

May 1, 2025

Schools today also teach social and emotional skills. Why is this important? And what’s involved?

Kristin R. Laurens, Queensland University of Technology and Emma Carpendale, Queensland University of Technology

Since 2010, the Australian Curriculum has required schools to teach about managing emotions, controlling impulses and empathy.

Neda Vanovac/AAP

April 28, 2023

First Nations students are engaged in primary school but face racism and limited opportunities to learn Indigenous languages

Jessa Rogers, Queensland University of Technology; Kate E. Williams, Queensland University of Technology, and Kristin R. Laurens, Queensland University of Technology

The federal government-commissioned “Footprints in Time” study also found teachers say they do not have adequate training to value and teach Indigenous cultures.

Shutterstock

September 14, 2021

Suspensions and expulsions could set our most vulnerable kids on a path to school drop‑out, drug use and crime

Linda J. Graham, Queensland University of Technology; Callula Killingly, Queensland University of Technology; Kristin R. Laurens, Queensland University of Technology, and Naomi Sweller, Macquarie University

Analysis shows most suspensions in SA in 2019 were given to Indigenous students with a disability, followed by children with a disability living in care. These children need support, not dismissal.

Contact Kristin for