Dr Bonita Cabiles is a Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy/Professional Experience at the School of Education, RMIT University. Prior to completing a PhD, she has worked in the education sector as a primary teacher, development worker, and experiential education facilitator. Bonita was a primary teacher in the Phiippines and in Indonesia.
Bonita completed a masters degree in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management from a joint program awarded by the Insitute of Education, University College London and the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. Her MA dissertation examined the intersection of politics, education, and national identity formation in the history and social studies curricula in the Philippines. She completed a PhD from the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne. Her PhD thesis entitled 'Participation and cultural and linguistic diversity: A qualitative inquiry of an Australian primary classroom' was awarded the 2021 Penny McKay Memorial Award for its outstanding contributions to teaching in culturally and linguistically diverse educational context.
Dr Cabiles teaches in the Bachelor of Education program at the School of Education, RMIT University. Her teaching engagements include courses in foundations of education, professional experience, and classroom cultures and communication.
Prior to joining RMIT University, Bonita was a Lecturer (Social Transformations and Education) at the Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne. She taught in the Master of Teaching and Master of Education programs. Subjects taught include educational research and methodology, Indigenous education, and diverse and inclusive classrooms.
Dr Cabiles' scholarly work examines the phenomenon of schooling, as a social practice, analysed in contexts of racial and cultural diversity, migration and mobilities, and within social and historical junctures, to illuminate issues of disadvantage and inequity, whilst deliberating the conditions of possibilities for educational and social justice.
Bonita's research interests are dynamic and she has been involved in diverse research collaborations. Her current collaborations with colleagues from Australian universities include funding projects on teaching of Indigenous education, and home education in Australia. Her international collaborations also include a funded project examining the educators' experiences during COVID-19 pandemic in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Bonita's current research interests include topics that relate to the sociology of education, culturally and linguisticall diverse educational contexts, and teacher migration and diversity.
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.