faculty focus campusreview. com. au
clinical master’ s degree and is a paradigm shift from anything else we’ ve done.
The graduates are having a major impact on schools and on the education system in Victoria in particular. I think we’ re doing things that perhaps other universities haven’ t done, but I think the quality of our researchers and of our graduates would have to be the two keys.
Teaching titan
A highly ranked education program starts with a great research faculty – but there is much more to staying on top.
What’ s behind the success of Australia’ s top-ranking university subject? A wealth of academic leaders and a responsiveness to professional demand, says professor Field Rickards, dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne.
Rickards should know. The University of Melbourne’ s education faculty was once again confirmed as the country’ s best trainer of teachers. The faculty ranked fifth in the world in the latest QS World University Rankings by subject.
Campus Review speaks with the dean to find the secret behind this continued success and what he thinks it takes to become a world-class faculty.
Field Rickards interviewed by Antonia Maiolo
CR: The education faculty at the University of Melbourne came fifth in the latest QS subject rankings, first for Australia. What is the point of difference from other education training providers in the country?
FR: We’ ve been in the top 10 for the last five years, and in the top five for the last three years. We are proud of it. We have some amazing researchers – people like John Hattie, Stephen Dinham, Collette Tayler, Patrick Griffin, Lyn Yates and Fazal Rizvi. These are professors with genuine internationally recognised names. We’ ve got a powerhouse of academic leaders.
The other factor is the quality of our graduates. Seven years ago, we introduced a new master of teaching program, which is 40 per cent of what we do. It’ s a genuine
What experience and skills are students from the University of Melbourne graduating with that would set them apart from other graduates when they go out into the workforce? Over the last few years, we’ ve set about ensuring that the programs we’ ve developed are meeting a demand in the profession. For example, with our master of instructional leadership, we are developing people who lead instruction in schools.
We also have a master of applied positive psychology. There is lots of research that shows the benefits of positive psychology within organisations, but we are developing it within the context of leadership, schools and the impact on students. We want students to be feeling positive about where their education is taking them and the resilience they need and what life is bringing to them.
For years, we have also had a master of education policy international. There are many school leaders. I don’ t mean just principals, but people in leadership positions who need to understand education policy from a global context and how it affects the way they do their work.
The master of student wellbeing is now also in about its 16th year. This is mainly supported by the Catholic Education Office, but we get applicants from all over the country. They see schools as [ not only ] learning establishments but also core social centres. It’ s creating that other dimension of schooling, which is about wellbeing, not just literacy and numeracy.
These are part of a suite of professional development programs that are very much focused on need, and that’ s probably one of the factors contributing to the employers valuing our graduates.
The final factor is something I mentioned before, which is the quality of our graduates going into the teacher workforce. We started becoming a graduate school of education in 2008 and completed that changeover in 2011. Every student who has come into the Graduate School of Education has already got a first degree.
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