2019 Leadership Program cohort at the Leadership Retreat

The 2018 Master Teacher Fellowships

The future effectiveness of education in Australia depends on the cultivation of expert communities of knowledge, practice and formation, bridging the divide between schools, universities and workplaces. This is the vision that lies at the heart of our Strategic Intent and our 125th anniversary campaign, Reinventing Education. It’s one thing to have a big vision, but another to make it happen ‘on the ground’, in the experience of every boy, every day. The broader picture on teacher improvement and efficacy indicates that teacher quality is the most important in-school factor in student achievement and learning outcomes (Hattie, 2003; OECD, 2005). How, then, do we work to help our teachers develop expertise? One important strand is encouraging highly experienced, inspiring and effective teachers to stay in the classroom and pass on their expertise to the next generation of teachers.

In light of this, Dr Caitlin Munday, Research Fellow (Professional Learning) has been piloting a Master Teacher Program over the past three years, exploring how teachers develop mastery and how they might pass it on through mentoring of those new to the profession. This program has proved quite transformative for the pilot group of master teachers and junior teachers. From 2018 the pilot is being taken to scale with the awarding of annual Master Teacher Fellowships in the Senior School to teachers of both experience and expertise, who have demonstrated excellence in the classroom, and who are recognised as pedagogical leaders within the College. These Fellowships provide professional pathways for keeping excellent teachers in the classroom while making their expertise available to the broader College community, boys and teachers alike. Over the course of the year, Master Teachers participate in a tripartite program of mentoring, research, and professional engagement within and beyond the College, centering on teacher development.

After a rigorous selection process, the 2018 Senior School Master Teacher Fellowships were awarded to:

• Mr Eric Gibbings (Science)
  
• Mr Mark Halstead (History)
  
• Ms Caudia Brin (PDHPE)
  
• Mr Patrick Barker (TAS)
  
• Mr Bryan O’Meally (Visual Arts)
  
• Mr Neil Smith (English)
  
• Mr Anthony Chandler (Maths)
  

Under the direction of Dr Munday, the Fellows are already well underway in mentoring their colleagues, designing research projects, and reflecting on what it means to develop genuine mastery.

We look forward to seeing how these exemplary teachers will demonstrate the Brave Hearts and Bold Minds educational philosophy of the College in action, and encourage others to do the same.

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The unique and compelling adventure of a Scots education has, from the very beginning, called for staff to be on a quest for excellence, striving for expertise. The Right Reverend James Smith White, in the inaugural address in 1893, proudly said that the College’s teachers would be men (and, subsequently, women) who had ‘won the highest honours in the University of Sydney, have had long experience at teaching Australians, and to whom teaching is a work of faith, a labour of love and a patience of hope.’

One of the critical challenges for education in Australia is the development and concentration of genuine expertise. A persistent focus on the acquisition of skills abstracted from depth of subject knowledge, the ubiquity of instant information in a digital world, and, most recently and alarmingly, a disdain for traditional sources of authoritative comment (think ‘fake news’) — all such shifts challenge the place of the teacher in the classroom and in wider society. While there is a vast wealth of tacit knowledge in the teaching profession, and there are incredible examples every day of genuine and transformative learning taking place, much in education that is described as ‘expert’ or ‘best practice’ is, in reality, just ‘what seems to work in this particular setting, or so we claim’.

For teachers, schools and whole educational systems to really know that their considerable energies of time and talent and creativity are resulting in real growth for their students, we need to recover the meaning of true expertise. We do not need more educational gurus hawking the latest ideas, techniques and programs. Far from it! Developing expertise means cultivating a culture of research, where staff (and boys) are constantly asking reflective questions about what we do, exploring possible answers based on the best literature from the academy, designing and piloting interventions that fit the particular challenges of their setting, reviewing how well they work, trying again, and taking successful ideas rapidly to scale. A cycle of diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation is the key to moving from success by accident to success by design. At Scots we call this our Patribus Knowledge Model, moving towards a more rigorous approach to understanding how knowledge is created and passed on, how it is applied in ‘real-world’ settings, and how it forms the lives of young men.

In this vein, this week’s Principal’s Assembly boys were introduced to staff in the College who hold PhDs, encouraging them to seek curiosity and pursue ‘higher learning for the common weal’. Such staff include:

• Dr Caitlin Munday, who is also a research fellow in the Scots research department, and a teacher of Studies of Religion. She conducted her PhD in education and teaching.
• Dr John Montgomery is the Head of Curriculum here at Scots, and completed his PhD in the field of drama education.
• Dr Sara Zitner is a visual arts teacher and the director of the Artist-in-Residence Program. Her PhD was in visual arts.
• Dr Arun Mehta is a high-level mathematics teacher. He completed his PhD in material science and engineering in Australia after leaving India.
• Dr Tom Cerni is the Head of Counselling Services at Scots. He completed his PhD in the field of applied psychology, specifically looking at transformational leadership.
• Dr Ian PM Lambert is the Principal and completed his PhD at Cambridge in education.
• Dr Hugh Chilton is Director of Research and Professional Learning and completed his PhD in intellectual and religious history.

A number of other staff are working towards their own higher degrees through our cohort model with the University of Newcastle, as well as other PhD tracks. We look forward to developing our expertise within the College, transforming the experience of boys and staff, and sharing our knowledge with others. In so doing we aim to fulfil the calling of our founders to promote ‘higher learning for the common weal’.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning

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Last Sunday, the Scots Research Office hosted the 3 Minute Thesis Competition during the College’s 125 Years Open Day. This competition was open to all staff members who had big ideas to share or were engaged in ongoing research. They were each given 3 minutes to present their key ideas in a succinct and engaging manner with the audience. A number of staff members stepped forward and presented on a large array of fascinating topics as listed below:

1. Dr Caitlin Munday: Constructing Community Within the Creative Arts Classroom: A Case Study
​2. Mr Jeff Mann: Issues for Boys in Middle High School – What Can We Do About It?
3. Mr Matt Pfeiffer: The Effects of Outdoor Education on Adolescent Self-Concept, Life Effectiveness and Locus of Control
4. Mr Chris Metcalfe: Blended Learning – A Way Forward
5. Mr Toby Castle: Western Privilege and Its Anodyne Influence in Cross-Cultural Peace-
Making
6. Mr Reece Condon: Experiential Education, Flourishing and Emotional Intelligence
7. Mr Eric Gibbings: The Tyranny of Numbers
8. Ms Monique Fewkes: Serving the Under-Served in Education

It was a real inspiration to see the ideas and passion brought forth by the Scots educators, indicating the growing expertise across the College. Members of the audience that included staff members, Old Boys, parents and students were duly impressed with the quality and depth of each presentation. Winners were ultimately decided based on a live voting system, of which Dr Caitlin Munday came in 1st, Mr Matthew Pfeiffer came in 2nd and Ms Monique Fewkes came in 3rd. 

The Scots Research Office would like to thank all members of the College who have played a part in making this event a successful one.

Ms Rachel Pan
Research Projects Officer

Last Thursday night a very large audience from the College and the wider public enjoyed a stimulating and engaging evening at the 2017 Clark Lecture by Professor David Smith. Exploring the 'social imaginary' - the values embedded in our actual practices and not just our stated ideals - he demonstrated the increasingly materialist and utilitarian themes in language textbooks since the Enlightenment. He challenged teachers and school leaders to rethink the habits in our classrooms and in our school life to better orient them towards the formation of character, service and a vision for human flourishing. You can read more of Professor Smith's thinking in this ABC Religion and Ethics article on 'Faith in Schools: What values are communicated in our teaching and learning?'

Professor Smith's visit to the College over the past two weeks also included seminars with staff on faith, language and teaching practices, keynotes on cultural difference at the Ethos Conference. we held at St Andrew's College, and other sessions with staff and students. The Clark Lecture Series, now in its fourth year, aims to inspire the best of thinking about faith, learning and leadership by bringing to Sydney the world's finest scholars. We look forward to seeing you at next year's Clark Lecture Series in our 125th Anniversary, with Professor John Haldane of the University of St Andrews, who has recently been named one of the 50 most influential living philosophers.

Find out more about the Clark Lectures here.

Over the past two weeks, the College has been privileged to host eminent Christian scholar, Professor John Stackhouse Jr, Samuel J Mikolaski Professor of Religious Studies and Dean of Faculty Development at Crandall University, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Professor Stackhouse began his visit by speaking to all staff with nuance and grace, about the importance of 'vocation', or 'calling' to 'make shalom' and 'make disciples' in our work as a learning community. He explored this notion of vocation in more depth in seminars with each of the Senior School faculties, helping staff make the connections between what we teach (i.e. the subject), how we teach (i.e. the discipline and the pedagogy) and why we teach (i.e. our worldview and values). He also worked with Prep staff on the nature of the A Fine Scots Boy! The Positive Behavioural Plan and its connections to our Brave Hearts Bold Minds philosophy.

In sharing his own story with students at Senior School Assembly and House Chapels, Professor Stackhouse called for a greater epistemic humility - being aware of what we don't know or might have wrong - and an attention not just to our achievements but to our character. Such themes will be followed up in a special ScotsIdeas forum on 'Being a (Good) Man', this Thursday 27 July at 6:00pm. Professor Stackhouse's visit concludes with keynote addresses on Christian leadership at this weekend's Scots Leadership Program retreat, which involves a cohort of 20 staff, who have successfully won a place in this custom-designed 18 month training program.

It is a privilege to be in a learning community which draws on exceptional thinkers like Professor Stackhouse, reflecting our commitment to being recognised globally as a leading, caring school for boys. We look forward, in Weeks 4 and 5, to welcoming our annual Clark Distinguished Professorial Fellow, Professor David Smith from Calvin College, to speak on 'The World We Think We Live In: Schooling and Christian Imagination'. For more details and to register for the Clark Lecture, please click here: http://www.clarklectures.org/.

During Term 1, The College community participated in a Character Education survey in partnership with the International Boys Schools Coalition (IBSC). The purpose of this survey was to provide the first layer of data in an attempt to orient the College community towards a greater understanding of its practice and pursuit of the Character and Care of our boys.
This week, as a continuation of this process, principal researchers Miss Rachel Yijun and Mr Hugh Ouston, from CIRCLE - The Centre for Innovation, Research, Creativity and Leadership in Education, conducted focus group interviews as a means of gaining a richer understanding from parents, staff, and boys in most aspects of College learning community, from Transition to Year 12.

Research suggests the quality of a students' relationships, the structure behind their social processes, and the philosophy that undergirds their collective agency affects how and why we learn in all spheres of life (Elias et. al, 1997). In a broad sense, character education refers to the engagement with core values and virtues and the development of personal traits or character strengths that promote well-being, purpose, and success. Character education includes what happens throughout the College, formally and informally within the: curriculum, co-curricular, character and care, leadership development, physical activity, ceremonies and events, and relationships more generally.

The Research Centre wishes to thank all members of College community who wilfully volunteered their time to contribute to this endeavour. It is highly appreciated and seen as a valued investment in the future lives of our students, contributing to their longitudinal development for the common good.

Mr Toby Castle
Research Officer, Experiential Education and Leadership Development

"Countries must learn how to capitalise on their citizens' cognitive resources if they are to prosper, both economically and socially. Early interventions will be key."

Quoting a recent publication in Nature, eminent thinker Professor Ian Hickie AM opened our recent ScotsIdeas forum, Beyond Mental Health, with this provocation. As he explored the unique developmental differences between individual young people, and the value and importance of 'kin' - networks of relationships within communities who are invested in that individual's care and flourishing - it was the nature of such interventions that characterised much of his subsequent discussion. As those in attendance will testify, the evening offered an important and timely exchange of ideas about the ways we can best care for the social and emotional wellbeing of our young men.


The video of Professor Hickie's presentation is now available online - please click here to view it in full. It was a true privilege to have such world class thinkers contributing to our knowledge and practice as a College community, particularly as we look to create the first of our five Patribus Centres, focusing on the character and care of fine young men.


Be sure to visit scotsresearch.org/scotsideas to watch videos of past forums on topics ranging from sustainability to speechmaking, sports science to the art of motivating boys. We look forward to seeing you at future ScotsIdeas events in 2017.


Dr Caitlin Munday
Research Fellow (Professional Learning)