We build knowledge and evidence

Third in our commissioned series with the University of Melbourne, Framing learning success for all presents a proposal about regulatory arrangements for certification in Australian senior secondary schooling.

Second in our commissioned series with the University of Melbourne, Generating trust and utility in senior secondary qualifications presents case studies of first movers in their warranting networks.

First in our commissioned series with the University of Melbourne, Recognition of learning success for all presents six key components for a new equitable approach to recognition of learning.

The discussion paper opens up the challenges facing the learning profession in Australia and globally and explores how other systems are rethinking and already reshaping what the learning profession should look like.

A comparative and analytical review of twenty-two reviews, studies and reports from Australia and internationally looking at policy and practice for school to work transition exploring their insights and implications.

This paper seeks to explain and respond to the structural features of Australia’s schooling system that are adversely affecting the educational experiences and outcomes – as well as the life chances – of a significant proportion of young Australians.

Presents insights on the changing relationship between employers and young people, through a survey and set of interviews with employers, intermediary organisations and young people.

April 2025

Michael Bunce, Charles Leadbeater and Valerie Hannon describe and reflect on the findings from the Association of Independent Schools of South Australia’s Innovative Models for the Recognition of Holistic Learning Project.

February 2025

Dirk Van Damme argues that it is timely and necessary to re-examine and redefine the foundational concepts of progressive education. He starts by outlining its historical heritage and then explores what he sees as fundamental intellectual threads that can be woven together into a new vision, discussing specific issues relating to social progress, upliftment and emancipation, excellence and fairness.

Geoff Masters explores how three jurisdictions in Asia (Hong Kong, Korea and Indonesia) have been reforming their school curriculum. In doing so, he draws on his 2023 study of five jurisdictions that have performed at unusually high levels in PISA, the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment.

Valerie Hannon believes that thriving or flourishing is at the heart of the future we should work towards for education. This requires a transformational agenda, with practical implications, and related professional learning for teachers will be of the utmost importance.

Associate Professor David Ng developed this paper to show the interconnectedness between the education, economic and other systems in Singapore. He discusses the implications for redefining what is meant by Successful Education, given the need to develop learners for future lifework in what is an increasingly diverse setting.

Tom Barrett and Chris Harte argue that as technology advances to fulfil its promise of genuinely personalising learning, custodians of the education system have the opportunity to reimagine policy and practice, transforming school systems into personalised learning ecosystems.

Dr Tracey Burns sets out a series of reflections on the evolution of evidence-informed policy and practice in education, and suggests some future directions for the development of better evidence ecosystems.

Dr John Munro explains that the aim of SoLD is to identify evidence-based commonalities across the various theories of learning, and to synthesise them into a set of propositions about how students learn, as well as the developmental, contextual and cultural factors that scaffold it.

Dr Raju Varanasi and Gina Pianta present the data journey of a Catholic school system of 80 schools in Western Sydney – a journey beginning in 2016 and maturing slowly over time. They discuss how new technologies (eg, machine learning, predictive analytics, generative AI) and new techniques (data storytelling) have been used in their system, in creative and innovative ways.

Iwan Syahril explores work that has been undertaken in Indonesia to transform the whole education system to better meet the needs of Indonesia’s young people and the nation. He shares eight key lessons learned from this work, drawing from his own reflection as one of the core leaders working directly for Indonesia’s Education Minister, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, in transforming the world’s fourth largest education system.

This paper is written for educators and their allies who believe there is a better
way to develop an education system that promotes excellence and equity. The frameworks and ideas put forward in this paper can help system-level education leaders who are leading transformational change to navigate the challenging ‘waters’ effectively.

Explores how an Adaptive Leadership perspective might further strengthen our understanding of the failures they identify, and elucidate options for leadership practice on this transformation agenda.

The paper offers a perspective on the politics of education as we seek to move from a 20C learning system to a 21C learning system. m climate movement.

Written for leaders and practitioners who are facing the challenges of organisational change in uncertain times, it explores the idea that to lead this change, leaders need to put learning at the centre of their practice and make it part of their core role.

Outlines the history of school improvement interventions internationally and best prospects for improvement at all levels of our learning systems.

Redefines “hybrid learning” and centres learning in the context we all inhabit – a world where technology, learning settings, the time in which learning happens, the diversity of learners and power differentials must be negotiated.

Details what these high-performing learning systems have historically put in place and how they are anticipating transformational change needed to maintain that level of achievement going forward.

Explores new thinking on the purposes of education.

This paper argues that anticipation and preparation for the future need to be essential elements of strategic thinking in education.

Details the agentive and collaborative learning, between MetaPraxis teams and 12 Adelaide schools to facilitate the design and leadership of interdisciplinary learning projects, focussed on the development of meta-intelligence.

Lessons learned from the three-year Student Agency Lab project in South Australia. Which helped schools develop practical approaches to achieving greater student agency and explored the role of teachers and school leadership.

Makes the argument that education systems all over the world are out of date and unable to provide the kind of education all young people need to succeed in the global economy of tomorrow.

Argues that a new form of leadership is urgently needed to reshape our educational systems in a post-Covid environment and discusses five ‘signposts’ to indicate the direction that leadership should take.

Discussed the need for multidimensional assessments of countries’ competencies, recognising the methodological challenges – in conceptualisation, in data sources, in construction and in establishing validity.

Revisits the purposes of assessment, explores promising practices from around the world and provides examples of both visible progress and emerging new directions in assessment.

Provides a comprehensive solution to what ails the current public school system and its place in societal development – a system that is failing badly in the face of ever complex fundamental challenges to our survival, let alone our thriving as a species.

In a post-covid world, we need a new standard of thinking about good work. This report identifies the trends in flexible work for young people, including a rapidly growing gig economy, and the risks and opportunities this work presents for young people and their career trajectories.

The transition for young people between full-time education and full-time work is increasingly uncertain. The report follows the journeys of 14,000 young people over a decade and identifies the four most significant factors that can accelerate the transition from full-time education to full-time work.

In the future of work, what we do in every single job, in every occupation will change. Analysis of over 20 billion hours of work completed by 12 million Australian workers each year has revealed the skills that will matter most in 2030 to navigate this shift.

The report analysed 2.7 million job advertisements to reveal 7 new clusters of work. These clusters highlight that jobs are closely related and more portable than previously thought. Instead of thinking about a ‘dream job’ we could be preparing for a ‘dream cluster’ based on skills and interests.

An analysis of 4.2 million job ads revealed that since 2012 the demand for digital skills, critical thinking, creativity and presentation skills are rising. These are the New Basics that entrants to the economy already require, that employers will pay more for and which will be essential into the future.

The changing work landscape and the resulting complex career pathways present many challenges for young people. In Australia, nearly one in three young people are currently unemployed or underemployed and are finding it harder to move into full-time work, even after graduating from higher education.

Beneath the seemingly benign surface of Australia’s Labour market, there is a quiet revolution occurring in the way we work. Three global forces are rapidly changing the way we work: automation, globalisation and collaboration. Career pathways aren’t as linear as they used to be with young people expected to have 17 jobs across 5 careers in their lifetime – so how can we better prepare young people to navigate a portfolio of work?