Professor Stephen Dinham

PROFESSOR STEPHEN DINHAM

Professor Stephen Dinham, Fellow of the Australian College of Educators, has made an outstanding contribution to the education of children and young people through his work as a teacher and teacher educator, and through a body of research that defines and gives fresh insights into teachers' professional lives.

Professor Dinham began his teaching career as a teacher of Social Sciences in the NSW Department of Education, working predominantly in schools in country areas between 1975 and 1988. During this phase he developed interests in student retention and teacher satisfaction, pursuing these research interests in studies that culminated in his doctoral thesis investigating teacher resignation.

These interests in students' learning, and teachers' work, work culture and professional learning, became the major focus of Professor Dinham's subsequent work in academia at the University of Western Sydney, the University of New England and, more recently, at the University of Wollongong. His research continues to investigate a wide range of themes including quality teaching, successful teaching in the post-compulsory school years, teacher motivation and satisfaction, educational leadership and change and teacher education.

From 1998-2000, Professor Dinham was the Chair of the NSW Branch of the College. Following the College's international conference, Priorities for the New Millennium, held in Sydney prior to the 2000 Olympic Games, Professor Dinham was invited by the NSW Minister for Education and Training to chair a steering committee to establish the NSW Quality Teaching Awards. The awards were to recognise and celebrate the work of outstanding teachers and to learn from what they do. His subsequent work in leading the QTA steering committee has established the awards as the most rigorous in Australia. His related research with Dr Catherine Scott and colleagues at UWS and UNE and educational systems has given us new insights into outstanding classroom practice.

Invitations have been extended to Professor Dinham to contribute to a wide diversity of groups in education including work at the Commonwealth level providing advice on teaching and teacher education, and to the OECD on teacher recruitment and retention. He has served on the National Council of the College.

At the state level Professor Dinham has contributed substantially to the formative work of the NSW Institute of Teachers, and to the work of the NSW Teacher Education Council.

Throughout his career Professor Dinham has responded continually to requests for professional guidance and support from individual schools, regional and state based groups, the Commonwealth and international agencies. He has been a sought after speaker at international conferences where he has been an ambassador for Australian schools and their teachers.

Professor Dinham was invited to Fellowship of the Australian College of Educators for his contributions to educational research into teachers' lives and work, the status of teachers and teacher professionalism. His contributions to education continue to be recognised nationally and internationally.  He is a Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders and of the Australian Institute of Management.

For his sustained, considered and greatly valued contribution to our understandings of teaching and teachers' professional lives, Professor Dinham is a most worthy recipient of the Australian College of Educators' Sir Harold Wyndham Medal.