Dr. Anne Burke is a Professor in Literacy Education and Digital learning as well as project lead for the Discovery Play Centre at Memorial University. Her extensive scholarship demonstrates expertise in sociocultural perspectives, with a focus on teacher education and pedagogical practices that embrace social justice issues. She researches about the intersection of children’s rights, voice and agency, play-based learning, digital literacies, children's use of virtual and augmented realities for engaging ecological knowledge around climate change, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics), filmmaking, and teacher’s arts-based pedagogical practices that integrate public engagement school partnerships with cultural institutions such as Science Museums and Art Galleries.Burke has an active research portfolio, with many recognitions, and research funding to date totalling over $1 million. She has published and co-edited 10 books, including single authored, with over 50 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, alongside over 70 conference presentations and 20 invited talks.

Dr. Burke’s current SSHRC Trans-Atlantic Platform (2020-2023) study focuses on inspiring Canadian teachers to develop arts-based teaching methods and community partnerships with cultural institutions which advocate for social justice issues, and promote inclusionary practices with children's voices and agency at the forefront.

Dr. Burke has been funded through Social Sciences Humanities Canada on several research projects alongside Memorial’s Public Engagement office for her research with cultural institutions and Digital Media. She is an active researcher with the UArctic's Thematic Networks, an international initiative that fosters issues-based cooperation within networks that are focused to respond quickly to topical Arctic issues.

As a former classroom teacher, Dr. Burke has been involved in extensive projects that consider the sociocultural perspectives of how children learn and their cultural engagements in communities, schools and at home. Her passion is around issues of social justice and advocacy using digital literacies and technologies with children, she has designed numerous projects to enmesh education and technology using cutting-edge tools like augmented and digital reality. Dr. Burke has conducted extensive research around the role of play in children’s education development, social justice, digital literacies, maker-spaces, and the growing role of social media in children’s family & literate lives; her research, presentations and developed curricula provide actionable positive outcomes for these important issues. She is active on a number of Boards and has a strong passion for community engagement. She also works with numerous research partners, both local and global, to develop interdisciplinary research with broad applications.

Awards and Recognition

Burke is an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences and in 2023 will be at the Toronto Reading for the Love of it Conference to speak on Environmental empathy– Using Augmented Reality, children’s literature and play to connect children to the natural world.