2020 MGSE Alumni Awards

Award recipients

Adelina AsmawiDr Adelina Asmawi

International Alumni Award  
PhD Education 2012

Dr Asmawi has made an ongoing contribution to the Malaysian education community through her many roles including Member of the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association and in her current role as the Head of Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Malaya.

Dr Adelina Asmawi founded the online community engagement project called ‘PEARL’. The project is aimed at developing pedagogical skills of volunteer-teachers and English acquisition of Urban Poor Learners. This award-winning project has expanded over three areas in Kuala Lumpur with funders from both public and private organizations.

Dr Adelina Asmawi holds a PhD in Professional Development of Teachers, TESOL, and Instructional Technology from the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. She has supervised 6 PhD students to completion.  As Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Education at the University of Malaya Dr. Asmawi assisted and worked closely with the Dean and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Internationalization) in the development, implementation and progress of the faculty’s strategic plan particularly in relation to Undergraduate Studies.

Samantha DodrasSamantha Dodras

Early Career Alumni Award
Master of Education (IB) DP 2019

Samantha has made a significant contribution to the teaching of Maths through the Mathematical Problem-Solving Program run by the Mathematical Association of Western Australia is commendable. Her dedication to mentoring and training educators in disadvantaged communities to assist them to engage in strategies to teach maths has greatly benefited these communities. Her current project is designing a futuristic space station in a team of 30 passionate female students from year 5 to year 12.  Samantha has delivered STEM projects designed for indigenous students with strong links to their cultural and historical backgrounds. As a certified MathsCrafts educator, a joint project run with the University of Melbourne, Samantha is dedicated to continuing her contribution to the future of education in STEM.

Lucienne Heyworth Lucienne Heyworth

Early Career Alumni Award  
Diploma of Teaching (TFA) 2012, Master of Teaching (Secondary) 2016

Lucienne has made extraordinary efforts in education and humanitarian work where she has made a critical contribution to students in challenging parts of the world. Lucienne’s work includes emergency programming in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Gaza and has been recognised at international forums. Her pursuit of studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution while also developing technical expertise in Humanitarian Program Management, Program Delivery, Management and Curricula for Education in Emergencies, Monitoring and Evaluation, Analysis and Report Writing, Conflict Analysis and Mapping, and Capacity Building is testament to her dedication in the sector.

Lucienne is currently managing a large project to implement non-formal education program for children in Syria (a large number of internally displaced children) across 3 locations in the country. Lucienne ensure the content and quality of the curricula, training of staff and personnel and development and refinement of measurements for academic and wellbeing indicators for children and staff. She is also responsible for liaising with the education sector in Syria and ensuring alignment with international standards for education in emergencies programming. Lucienne’s expertise brings a model of leadership and inspiration to the alumni community of MGSE.

Professor Helen CahillProfessor Helen Cahill

Distinguished Career Alumni Award  
Bachelor of Arts 1977, Master of Education 2002, PhD Education 2008

Helen’s career has involved great innovation and leadership with high impact cross-disciplinary research and engagement projects designed to foster social equity and child and youth wellbeing. Helen has led several projects for the state and national Education and Health systems in Australia, as well as a broad body of international work addressing United Nations priorities for youth participation, education, gender equity and wellbeing in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Helen’s leadership as the Director of the Youth Research Centre and recently as Deputy Dean of MGSE (2018 – 2020), and other leadership roles at MGSE at the University of Melbourne, have greatly benefited the academic, education and community sectors.