# Susan Sandretto

Susan Elaine Sandretto is an American–New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in working with teachers to develop critical literacy in primary and secondary school pupils. Sandretto also works on unintended consequences of educational policy, such as changes to active transport.

## Academic career

Sandretto trained as a teacher, and worked as a Spanish immersion teacher in California primary schools before moving to New Zealand in 1997. She lectured in education at the University of Otago, and completed a PhD titled Teacher education and social justice: theorising professional practice at Otago in 2004. Sandretto then joined the faculty of the university, rising to associate professor in 2019 and full professor in 2024.
Sandretto's research and teaching focus on the development of critical literacy, which is the ability to find embedded discrimination in media, although she is also interested in multiliteracies and gender issues in education. She teaches in primary teacher education, and education studies. Sandretto is part of the writing team for the English Learning Area of the New Zealand refreshed curriculum, Te Mātaiaho, and has produced materials to support literacy development in the classroom. Sandretto has also focused on how educational policy can have unintended effects, such as changes in rates of active transport. Sandretto is a member of the Built Environment Active Transport to School research group, a Health Research Council-funded project led by Sandra Mandic at Otago and Auckland University of Technology.
In 2008 Sandretto won Otago University Students' Association's New Supervisor of the Year award.

## Selected works

* Ruth Kane; Susan Sandretto; Chris Heath (June 2002). "Telling Half the Story: A Critical Review of Research on the Teaching Beliefs and Practices of University Academics". Review of Educational Research. 72 (2): 177–228. doi:10.3102/00346543072002177. ISSN 0034-6543. Wikidata Q126788876.
* Ruth Kane; Susan Sandretto; Chris Heath (April 2004). "An investigation into excellent tertiary teaching: Emphasising reflective practice". Higher Education. 47 (3): 283–310. doi:10.1023/B:HIGH.0000016442.55338.24. ISSN 0018-1560. Wikidata Q125619121.
* Trish Wells; Susan Sandretto (20 October 2016). ""I'm on a journey I never thought I'd be on": using process drama pedagogy for the literacy programme". Pedagogies: an international journal. 12 (2): 180–195. doi:10.1080/1554480X.2016.1245147. ISSN 1554-480X. Wikidata Q126788835.
* Sandra Mandic; Susan Sandretto; Enrique García Bengoechea; Debbie Hopkins; Antoni Moore; Judith Rodda; Gordon Wilson (September 2017). "Enrolling in the Closest School or Not? Implications of school choice decisions for active transport to school". Journal of transport & health. 6: 347–357. doi:10.1016/J.JTH.2017.05.006. ISSN 2214-1405. Wikidata Q126789336.
* Susan Sandretto; Ruth Kane; Chris Heath (November 2002). "Making the tacit explicit: A teaching intervention programme for early career academics". International Journal for Academic Development. 7 (2): 135–145. doi:10.1080/1360144032000071314. ISSN 1360-144X. Wikidata Q126788872.
* Helen Trevethan; Susan Sandretto (November 2017). "Repositioning mentoring as educative: Examining missed opportunities for professional learning". Teaching and Teacher Education. 68: 127–133. doi:10.1016/J.TATE.2017.08.012. ISSN 0742-051X. Wikidata Q126789333.
* Jane Tilson; Susan Sandretto; Keryn Pratt (October 2017). "Connecting theory to practice: Using preservice teachers' beliefs, theories and video-recorded teaching to prompt a cycle of praxis". Teaching and Teacher Education. 67: 454–463. doi:10.1016/J.TATE.2017.07.012. ISSN 0742-051X. Wikidata Q126789330.