Dean's Report

The first episode of our new webinar series Propelling education through a COVID-19 world was held yesterday afternoon and attracted an audience of 577 people with 105 questions posted. I was delighted by the excellent turnout and by the engaging and spirited discussion that took place. It clearly shows there is a hunger for this type of quality debate at a time when we are all being challenged to examine the future of education. All the speakers implored us not to miss this opportunity for change. They stressed that we all need to get started on reform, however small, while we have the momentum and a willing coalition of teachers, parents and students who are ready to think differently about education.

My great thanks to our Deputy Dean, Professor Janet Clinton for bringing this series into existence and for her excellent moderation, and to our panellists Professor Yong Zhao, Sandra Milligan and John Hattie for their stimulating contribution. A special thanks to our early/mid- career researchers who volunteered to join the panel as discussants – Daniela Acquaro, Melitta Hogarth and Matt Harrison. Register for next week’s episode when Sandra Milligan will lead the discussion on what needs to be done now to ensure our students have the skills and resources to thrive as they head into the world.