The Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne

Just a few happy snaps from our Master of Education students travels this semester 🎞️ ✈️

Hopping on planes to Belgium, Estonia, and Poland, our students discovered new ways of teaching and learning in and outside of the classroom.

Thank you to all our partners for welcoming our students with open arms. Until next time!

As the student wellbeing crisis continues to rise, so too do the expectations on schools and the tensions around how wellbeing is understood, who is responsible for addressing it, and whether current approaches are meeting the scale of the challenge.

Join us for our next Dean’s Lecture Series panel as Stephen Fraser, Professor Sharon Goldfeld AM and Professor Frank Oberklaid AM MD FRACP, facilitated by Professor Jon Quach, explore what must change to support young people and the educators working alongside them.

🔗 Register →

go.unimelb.edu.au

We’re proud to announce that researchers from Education and the Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology will play a key role in co-designing Australia’s first National Media Literacy Strategy.

Our contributions to this project will be Dr Natalie Hendry, Dr Alexander Bacalja and Dr Eric Jun, supported by colleagues Professor Ofir Turel and Dr Marc Cheong, in partnership with Whereto Research.

Aimed at strengthening media literacy and essential critical thinking skills nationally, this team brings together expertise from education, youth wellbeing, digital citizenship, ethics, artificial intelligence, and information systems.

🔗 Learn more → https://unimelb.me/4ea5bIF

For fifteen years, UniMelb teacher candidates have learned on Yolŋu Country in Northeast Arnhem Land.

Three years ago, Djambatj Dhukarr (Road to Excellence) launched, bringing Yolŋu educators into Melbourne classrooms to look, listen and ask questions.

Opening pathways between Yolŋu and Western worlds, Professor Yalmay Yunupiŋu and Bernadette Murphy unpack the significance and impact of walking this road together.

🔗 Read in Pursuit → https://unimelb.me/3RyJnip

In 2011, the Gonski Review into Funding for Schooling declared a clear vision: governments should ensure every child, regardless of family background or school sector, has access to an education that meets an international standard.

Recent anaylsis by Associate Professor Jenny Chesters, Dr Annie Gowing and Dr Stanley Koh shows these ideals are falling well short in Victoria, forcing some schools to prioritise affordability over educational growth.

🔗 Read more via Pursuit → https://unimelb.me/3RYzr1K

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Gert Biesta as our inaugural Professorial Chair.

A world-class education scholar, Professor Biesta advocates for a broader understanding of education that values democratic engagement, ethical responsibility, and the formation of individuals as thoughtful, responsible, and engaged participants in society.

Professor Biesta will play a key role in enriching academic programs, strengthening research and shaping conversations around educational policy and practice.

“As a public good, education has a critical role to play in the maintenance and renewal of democratic life, which may well be the most important challenge ahead of us,” said Professor Biesta.

Dean Marek Tesar said Professor Biesta’s “appointment represents an important moment for the Faculty and for the broader educational community in Australia, and reflects our commitment to intellectually rigorous, globally engaged, and values-driven educational scholarship.”

🔗 Read more: https://unimelb.me/4tkKbEQ

Memorandum into action 🤝

Recently, we welcomed Chewang Rinzin, Vice Chancellor of the Royal University of Bhutan, for a special visit that deepened our global partnership and asked: what is education for?

Guided by Bhutan’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness, Rinzin reminded us that strong education systems aren’t just built on infrastructure, but on teaching grounded in compassion, mindfulness, and human connection.

This is only the beginning as UniMelb Master of Teaching students will soon engage directly with classrooms in Bhutan.

🔗 Read more → https://unimelb.me/4efTlyD

12 days. That’s how long it takes to go from winning a championship to being out of a job.

Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, Dr Aish Ravi, unpacks how systemic barriers, including job insecurity and limited pathways, shape the experiences of women coaches in professional level sport.

🔗 Read more in Pursuit → https://unimelb.me/429hFuC