A registered psychologist and also a speech-language pathologist, Professor Snow is an internationally recognised leader in the fields of child and adolescent language disorders, classroom reading instruction and initial teacher education. Before this, however, she spent two decades researching young people in the youth justice and child protection systems.
“I did about 20 years of research on young people in the youth justice system and the child protection system,” she says. “I’m pleased about the contribution that I was able to make on highlighting the hidden language difficulties experienced by r vulnerable children in these contexts.” This has entailed significant engagement with Children’s Courts in Victoria and interstate and also with police and youth welfare organisations.
“I knew that these children have profiles of low academic achievement, and it got me thinking about the factors that contribute to academic success. This is what led to me the literacy space – particularly how language and literacy can be protective factors for children at risk of entering the state care and/or youth justice systems.”
This early research, she explains, sparked a change in the orientation of the speech pathology profession.
“I feel like I shifted the needle, giving speech pathology more of a public health lens. I’ve tried to encourage speech pathologists to think about the public health significance of communication competence.”
Professor Snow’s recent appointment as Distinguished Professor prompted her to reflect on her career and achievements.
“It gave me pause for thought on my career and things that I feel particularly pleased about, many of which involved some very powerful collaborations.”
“My collaboration with Professor Tanya Serry in the last five years has been transformative. We were both in different parts of the University before we came together in the School of Education and co-founded the SOLAR Lab, which turbo-charged our influence.”
Founded in 2020, the SOLAR Lab is a platform for research, teaching, advocacy and postgraduate supervision on a wide range of topics related to developmental language and the transition to reading, writing and spelling across the school years.
“Through the SOLAR Lab, we’ve made significant headway in improving teacher education, understanding what goes on in schools, and helping many of them move away from low impact teaching approaches.”
“We’ve also engaged extensively with government departments, professional bodies, school systems and community organisations to ensure the translational impact of our research.”
“La Trobe really led the way in changing the way pre-service teachers are prepared for the classroom and this is largely because of the leadership and support from our Dean, Professor Joanna Barbousas,” she adds.
“Without a Dean who supports the position that we've taken, and the disruption we have created, we wouldn't have been able to have such an impact.”
Looking ahead, Professor Snow says there is a lot to be hopeful about.
“I'm particularly pleased about the mandate that all Victorian children from Foundation to Year 2 will have 25 minutes a day of systematic synthetic phonics instruction. Our next focus will be on understanding how schools are going on this transformation journey – and how will they sustain change in practice?”
Her advice for the next generation of researchers is, unsurprisingly, about the importance of collaboration and impact.
“Success doesn’t mean going it alone. Successful people collaborate,” she says. “Ask for feedback and act on it. It is also vital to take responsibility for the translational impact of our research, at policy and practice levels.”
