Dean's Report

MGSE Planning Day

Last Wednesday we held a planning day to commence the development of our new MGSE Strategic Plan. Our current Plan concludes at the end of 2021 and our new Strategic Plan will be developed over the next five months with a series of workshops and other opportunities for you to contribute and engage. As I said at our planning day, if a plan is to be successful then all staff should be able to see themselves in it.

I greatly appreciated staff making the effort to clear their schedules and spend the whole day focusing on where we want MGSE to be in the future: not only what we must do as an educational organisation – the non-negotiables – but to dream of what we could do and achieve. The Vice-Chancellor joined us halfway through the day and reiterated the importance of education and the service it provides to society, noting the current political environment and the ongoing challenges we face from COVID-19. My thanks to Keryn Negri, and to Sue O’Dea who so ably facilitated the day and will continue to assist us in developing our new Strategic Plan.

Annual Research Strategy and Performance Discussion

Last Friday we held MGSE’s Annual Research Strategy and Performance Discussion with Chancellery represented by Professor Mark Hargreaves (Acting DVC-R), Professor Julie McLeod (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Capability) and Kate Taylor. These meetings are an important touch point for us with Chancellery, providing the opportunity for structured discussion of MGSE’s research strategy and planning. Three key themes emerged from our meeting – how to bring the Graduate School together to discuss research and to highlight our current research, the need to refresh our workforce and develop our next generation of educational researchers and, importantly, how we can better articulate and promote our research impact.

Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) symposium

I was delighted to open the recent Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) symposium which provided an opportunity to explore the intersections between 3a research, policy and practice, our learnings to date, and the future possibilities for 3a research and practice. The symposium also included a session focusing on the need to embed cultural knowledge and first language elements into 3a. My thanks to Tricia Eadie for hosting and organising this stimulating event.

Vice-Chancellor’s forum

It has certainly been a busy fortnight of meetings with Janet Clinton, Keryn Negri and I also attending the Vice-Chancellor’s forum last week. The forum provides a regular occasion for senior staff to meet to exchange views on critical issues for the University. Gregor Kennedy opened the dialogue with discussion on the challenges of dual delivery and its resource implications: he was particularly interested to know how the divisions were progressing in bringing students back to campus. There was also discussion of the ongoing implications of COVID-19 on the return of international students to our campus.

New Course Coordinator, MTeach Secondary

Lastly, congratulations to Dr Harry Galatis who has been appointed the new Course Coordinator for the MTeach Secondary – I am always pleased to see staff putting their hands up to take on leadership positions.

Jim