Innovating for impact

A message from Executive Dean of Education and Arts Professor Mary Ryan: Raising the bar in innovation and evidenced-based learning.

For more than 30 years, ACU’s reputation has set a standard in both Australia and around the world for excellence in teacher education. We take pride in our achievements and in the ongoing pursuit of meaningful change. 

In 2023 the Faculty of Education and Arts continues this purposeful tradition, launching educational initiatives through a collaboration of innovative approaches and bespoke learning experiences for students at various stages of their learning journey.

The newly established Learning and Leadership Enterprise (LLE) delivers on this vision to promote a culture of continuous learning. As the recently appointed Associate Dean Partnerships, Professor Iain Hay will provide leadership to LLE’s collaborative initiatives and innovation strategies to further bolster our capabilities and growth in curated learning opportunities. These include short courses and micro-credentials in Arts and Education to ensure individuals, organisations, and communities thrive and prosper.
 
As an ACU Alumnus, Professor Hay’s extensive and highly accredited history of working in the higher education sector, will help to focus on leveraging partnerships as a way to increase our reach, adaptability, and engagement.

Focusing on the strength of our expertise, I am also delighted to share that we recently launched the Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy and announced the opening of the Literacy Clinic in 2024. 

The Centre's director, Professor Rauno Parrila, led an engaging and thought-provoking panel discussion which brought together educators and researchers to explore the ever-evolving landscape of early literacy instruction. Titled “Cultivating Tomorrow's Readers: The Future of Early Literacy Education,” Professor Parrila was joined by an esteemed and award-winning panel of Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy experts including Professor Genevieve McArthur, Professor Don Compton, and Associate Professor Saskia Kohnen from Macquarie University.

At the forefront of cutting-edge research, the Australian Centre for the Advancement of Literacy is committed to understanding how people learn to read and write in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, and to translating that knowledge into effective teaching practices. The Centre will not only build vital literacy expertise and conduct world-class research, it will deliver this knowledge directly to our teaching students through our initial-teacher education programs, as well as to school systems through short courses for teachers, postgraduates, and research opportunities.

While hopeful for our future progress, we acknowledge that our work is just beginning and invite you to follow our continuing journey and contribute to our collective success.

Professor Mary Ryan

Executive Dean
Faculty of Education and Arts