Fay Hadley holds the position of Director: Initial Teacher Education in the Macquarie School of Education and is an Associate Professor who specialises in leadership in early childhood education and partnerships with families.

Research: Fay’s primary area of research examines leadership in early childhood education. This includes investigating mentoring, professional learning and career pathways for early childhood teachers. She is especially interested in the socio-political environment and how this affects early childhood teachers’ work.

Fay also researches in partnerships with diverse families in educational settings and the impacts this has on outcomes for children. This was the focus of Fay’s PhD and has led to her extend on these findings with studies with early childhood centres in NSW and the ACT, as well as working with colleagues in Canada and Belgium.  

Fay was the Chief Investigator on an Enterprise Partnership Scheme Research Project with a before and after school provider, Primary OSHCare. This research developed an understanding of how Primary OSHCare educators and managers perceive the management of child protection matters in relation to the risk of significant harm through abuse and neglect.

Fay supervises Higher Degree Research students whose projects lie within her areas of research specialisation. 

Teaching: Fay teaches in the undergraduate and postgraduate early childhood programs offered by the Macquarie School of Education. She currently convenes

• ECH3260: Children, Families and Communities in a Diverse Society
• ECHE820: Families in Context
• ECHP4240: Professional Experience 7

Teaching awards: In 2012, Fay, along with her colleagues Dr Katey De Gioia and Dr Kate Highfield, was a recipient of the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Programs that Enhance Learning for the program entitled Supporting international students during Professional Experience as well as a Recipient of the Deans Award for Programs that Enhance Learning for the same program.

Community: Fay is on the editorial board for Australasian Journal of Early Childhood and was previously the Deputy Editor of the journal. Fay contributes to the early childhood sector as an active member of Early Childhood Australia, which is the nationally advocacy peak body for early childhood.