Institute for Social Science Research ISSR
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Miss Emma Cooke

PhD Candidate & Research Assistant
Institute for Social Science Research

Researcher Biography

Emma is a PhD Candidate (Sociology) and a Research Assistant in the Child Development, Education and Care Group (Thorpe) at the Institute for Social Science Research. Her Honours thesis investigated children’s experiences of well-being in childcare. Her PhD thesis examines the relaxation and spiritual well-being experiences of young children who attend Early Childhood Education and Care. As a research assistant in the Thorpe Group with expertise in qualitative research she has worked across a range of projects, assisting with study design, ethics applications, recruitment, data collection and analyses, research and writing publications.  

    PhD Topic:

    Children’s experiences of spiritual wellbeing and relaxation in Early Childhood Education and Care

    Advisors:

    • Dr Sally Staton (Principal)
    • Dr Andrew Clarke (Associate)
    • Professor Karen Thorpe (Associate)

    Research interests: 

    • Sociology of childhood
    • Sociology of health and illness
    • Childcare
    • Relaxation
    • Well-being
    • Qualitative and visual participatory methodologies

    Publications

    Book Chapter (1)
    Journal Articles (5)
    Conference Paper (1)
    Research Report (1)

    Book Chapter

    Cooke, Emma, Brady, Michelle, Alipio, Cheryll and Cook, Kay (2018). Researching the experiences of young children using graphic elicitation: A case study of the use of drawing diaries in semi-structured interviews. In SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2 () London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications. doi:10.4135/9781526439208

    Journal Articles

    Emma Cooke, Karen Thorpe, Clarke, Andrew J., Sandra Houen, Oakes, Candice and Sally Staton (2020) “Lie in the grass, the soft grass”: Relaxation accounts of young children attending childcare. Children and Youth Services Review, 109 104722.doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104722
    Oakes, Candice, Sally Staton, Sandra Houen, Emma Cooke, Cassandra Pattinson, Teo, Sue-Lynn and Karen Thorpe (2019) “Did my child sleep today?”: communication between parents and educators in early childhood education and care settings. Child & Youth Care Forum, 49 2: 265-283.doi:10.1007/s10566-019-09527-3
    Marston, Greg, Zhang, Juan, Peterie, Michelle, Ramia, Gaby, Patulny, Roger and Cooke, Emma (2019) To move or not to move: mobility decision-making in the context of welfare conditionality and paid employment. Mobilities, . doi:10.1080/17450101.2019.1611016
    Gehret, Hannah, Cooke, Emma, Staton, Sally, Irvine, Susan and Thorpe, Karen (2019) Three things I learn at sleep-time: children’s accounts of sleep and rest in their early childhood education programs. Early Years, 1-18. doi:10.1080/09575146.2019.1634010
    Cooke, Emma, Brady, Michelle, Alipio, Cheryll and Cook, Kay (2019) Autonomy, fairness and active relationships: children’s experiences of well-being in childcare. Children and Society, 33 1: 24-38. doi:10.1111/chso.12294

    Conference Paper

    Staton, S., Rankin, P., Thorpe, K., Oakes, C., Houen, S., Cooke, E. and Smith, S. (2019). Improving sleep health in early childhood: pilot rct of an educator professional development program to improve sleep practices in childcare services. In: World Sleep 2019, Vancouver, Canada, (S363). 20-25 September, 2019. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2019.11.1013

    Research Report

    Brady, Michelle and Cooke, Emma (2016) Family day care coordinators’ views on delivering more flexible models of care (graphic report summary) :