Blogs and Messages

Your voice matters: Share your insights at our ACEL National Conference 2025

By Barbara Watterston posted 11 days ago
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Dear colleagues, In case you missed it in this week's social media posts, I wanted to personally highlight that the call for papers is now open for our 2025 National Conference, taking place in Sydney from 29 September – 1 October 2025. This year with the NSW Department for Education as our conference partner, we will build on the reimagining of our future from last year's conference by Amplifying every voice, shaping our story and empowering all learners. This theme is your invitation – to lead, inspire and contribute your voice to a national conversation. I warmly encourage you to consider submitting an abstract to present a ...
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WA Branch News: May 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 14 days ago
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On the recent school holiday break, our ACEL WA Leadership Book Club met to discuss James Nottingham’s new book Teach Brilliantly: Small Shifts that Lead to Big Gains in Student Learning . This was a departure from our usual leadership-focused selections, often broad and beyond the classroom. Instead, this book brought us back to the heart of education — the classroom, where small instructional shifts can significantly impact student learning. As instructional leaders, everyone in the room had valuable insights to share — takeaways from reading the book that they planned to bring back to their teams. We began by watching a video message from James ...
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Rethinking Creativity: More Than a Talent

By Krystal Mcknight posted 14 days ago
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Rethinking Creativity: More Than a Talent Creativity today is no longer limited to artistic expression or abstract thought. It is now recognised as a complex cognitive skill that involves the ability to define problems, think divergently, imagine alternatives, and evaluate solutions (Reiter-Palmon & Illies, 2004). This kind of thinking, termed ‘creative thinking’ , is necessary for students to thrive in both their professional and personal lives in our twenty-first century world (Lucas & Spencer, 2017; OECD, 2022; Sternberg, 2003). Research has highlighted that creativity requires a high level of cognitive processing, as it involves ...
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Reflections on Leading with Purpose: Tools to Support Joy, Focus and Change in Schools

By Kara Baxter posted 14 days ago
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Reflections on Leading with Purpose: Tools to Support Joy, Focus and Change in Schools As a school leader, I often find myself reflecting on how we can best support not only our students' growth but also the wellbeing, clarity, and sense of agency among our educators who lead that learning. In fast change and increasing complexity, two questions always come to mind: How can we help our staff and leaders feel more energised and fulfilled in their daily work? And how can we navigate these changes with confidence, clarity, and a reliance on evidence? Recently, I’ve come across two books that have really resonated with me as I think through these questions. ...
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TAS Branch News: May 2025

By Jacqui Lawless posted 14 days ago
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We hope you’ve started this term feeling rested and prepared for the exciting challenges ahead. As educational leaders, we know that our roles can be unpredictable, but we are committed to being the best we can be. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who nominated colleagues for the ACEL Awards. The committee has been busy reviewing the applications and has been truly impressed by the quality of nominations, the diversity of settings, and the wide range of regions represented. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! Mark your calendars for our Awards Evening on Thursday, June 26th, at the University Club. We look forward to celebrating and acknowledging ...
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SA Branch News: May 2025

By Martyn Anderson posted 14 days ago
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Dear colleagues, It is with great pleasure that I announce the 2025 ACEL SA Award Winners. This year, we received a record number of nominations, a testament to the outstanding leadership and dedication exhibited in South Australia. Our 2025 Awards winners are: Alby Jones Gold Medal Steve Byrne ACEL SA Fellowship Heather De Blasio Marcel Rijken Dr Bev Rogers ACEL SA Education Leadership Award Dr Kylie Booker Marg Clarke Sylvia Groves Ian Kent The Distinguished Contribution to Research in Educational Leadership Award Dr Bev Rogers Pip Field Emerging Leaders Award Harvey Watson Candice Fergusen ...
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QLD Branch News: May 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 14 days ago
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Some leadership musings from afar I view leadership as a process that occurs within the minds of individuals who live in a culture – a process that entails the capacities to create stories, to understand and evaluate these stories, and to appreciate struggles among stories. Gardiner, H. (2011). Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. New York: Basic Books, pg. 22. Recently my wife and I holidayed in Japan. It was a wonderful cultural experience. One day sitting in a cafe in the beautiful location of Kamakura, these ideas came to mind. Who knows why they did. I jotted them down and they have become the central threads of this ...
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ACT Branch News: May 2025

By Sandra Darley posted 14 days ago
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Dear Colleagues and friends, I hope this Newsletter finds you well at the beginning of Term 2. We had a very successful Awards ceremony in March at which colleagues from each of our sectors were honoured for their contributions to educational leadership and research in the ACT in 2024. Following a call for nominations for our 2025 ACT Awards we have had a wonderful response across the Territory. The Awards committee will meet in Term 3 to discern these and are looking forward to holding our Awards ceremony early in Term 4. Plans are well underway for the ACEL ACT Ministers Breakfast on 23 May at the National Portrait Gallery. This is a very popular ...
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NSW Branch News: May 2025

By Paul Kidson posted 14 days ago
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Welcome back to Term 2; I trust you enjoyed a break over the recent break. It was one of those unusual years where the break was peppered with public holidays - Easter, ANZAC Day - so quite a different dynamic for those who were able to have some time away. For those of us still at work, though, two short weeks also felt like it disrupted life’s rhythm. It's been quite a month for leadership talk, to put it mildly. The recent passing of Pope Francis shone a spotlight on his widely admired authenticity, humanity, and care for those often left out of that same spotlight. Among the mourners were plenty who confessed they were not religious, but were captivated ...
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WA Branch News: April 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 02-04-2025
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A few weeks ago, ACEL WA hosted a truly inspirational evening of conversation with four Next Gen. leaders. This insightful panel discussion, led by our amazing ACEL WA vice-president Gary Racey, explored the challenges, opportunities, and real-life experiences of educators who have stepped from the classroom into varied leadership roles - Emma Cross, Associate Lecturer, Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Educational Studies - Curtin University; Jessica Milne, Director of Environmental Education, Emmanuel Catholic College; Oliver Oeij, College Deputy Principal - Providence Christian College and Phil Wass, Director - WA Space Science Education Centre ...
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The Power of Connection

By Maree Whiteley posted 02-04-2025
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The Power of Connection "Foster communities, not competition… The Power of Us is only possible when agency is present. Build agency within learning communities and watch the learning flourish." David Price, The Power of Us (2022) In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, one principle remains steadfast: learning thrives in community. The concept of building Learning Communities (LCs) has gained momentum as a transformative approach to fostering collaboration, innovation, and growth among educators, students, and stakeholders. This article explores the immense value of LCs and their potential to significantly enhance professional learning ...
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SA Branch News: April 2025

By Martyn Anderson posted 02-04-2025
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A huge thank you to all who nominated outstanding educators for our annual ACEL SA Awards. These awards continue to be a highlight of our year. As a sector, we often fall short in recognizing the excellence that exists within our schools. ACEL and its branches play a key role in celebrating the great work that teachers and leaders are doing. Schools are frequently portrayed as being in crisis in the media. However, ACEL takes pride in shifting this narrative by shining a spotlight on the outstanding contributions of our educators. We are in the process of determining this year’s award winners and will be announcing them soon. We encourage as many ...
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QLD Branch News: April 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 01-04-2025
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We all think about time. There is professional ‘time’, family ‘time’, down ‘time’, ‘time’ off, the right ‘time’, all the ‘time’ in the world and of course there was the famous Australian slogan It’s Time - the list goes on. Of course, ‘time’ is measurable and incredibly precise. Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, it can also be deceptively expansive. We can look at time through different lenses. In this brief article I use cricket and music to illustrate my thinking about time. I remember quite some time ago listening to former Australian cricket test opening batter David Boon commenting on the technique of fellow test batter, Mark Waugh. Boon ...
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ACT Branch News: April 2025

By Sandra Darley posted 01-04-2025
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Dear colleagues, I hope that the term is progressing well in each of your sectors in the ACT. Momentum is building as a number of a number of key professional opportunities continue to be generated by ACEL for educators across our nation and preparations are made for our annual conference in October. I am delighted to advise that at our recent Awards Ceremony our 2024 leaders representing each of our sectors in the ACT were esteemed for their individual educational leadership exemplars which showcased significant careers, emerging ideas in research, teaching and leadership practice locally and nationally. Congratulations to each of these colleagues ...
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Generosity and Gratitude

By Charlotte Forwood posted 01-04-2025
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Generosity. A word with origins in the 15 th century, meaning magnanimous. A later meaning of unselfish or plentiful appeared in the 1600s. Gratitude. A word with origins in the mid 15 th century meaning good will. A later meaning of thankfulness appeared from the 1560s. These are two words to amplify in education. The world is a volatile place and much of our social media feeds, newspaper content and television news are intense. In the education space, there are continual cross sector arguments, disagreements about instructional practices and too many examples of young people being let down, however there is so much that is inspiring and impactful in ...
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Message from the President, Term 1 2025

By Elizabeth Foster posted 11-03-2025
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There is always a sense of hope and optimism in beginning a new year. Perhaps this is found in the inspiration we draw from each other, our colleagues, and our students in both reflection and recognition of progress as we look to the year ahead. We are fortunate for the leadership legacy of those in our profession who we have had the privilege of learning with and from. In particular, as the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, we thank Dr Briony Scott for her sustained, considered and truly inspirational leadership. A remarkable tenure as President for ACEL, we thank Dr Scott for her stories, humility, intellect and thoughts shared. For her encouragement ...
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Message from the CEO, Term 1 2025

By Barbara Watterston posted 11-03-2025
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Holidays give us time to pause, to delight in the presence and joy of the simple moments, and to embrace stillness. As the new year unfolds, it inspires us to plan with renewed energy and vision, setting the stage for new possibilities and aspirations. At ACEL as we embark on the development of our new strategic plan, we reflect on the footsteps that have gone before us, and visualise what we need to do to build on this legacy – to connect, share, belong and lead. I am in awe of the unique talents, gifts and leadership of our ACEL presidents. As we farewelled the equanimous Dr Briony Scott we warmly welcome Liz Foster, whose infectious energy and commitment ...
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WA Branch News: March 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 04-03-2025
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Well, February just flew by, didn’t it?! The start of the year is such a busy time, and the days seems to just pass in the blink of an eye. Here at ACEL WA, February saw us hold our first event of the year with our Innovation in Education meetup held last Thursday at Bloom UWA, and I must say - What an event! Despite the busyness of this time of year, and the parking challenges on the day, we had a fantastic turnout to listen to some absolutely amazing speakers. During the session, and after, I had two words swilling around my head – hope and optimism . Whilst the narrative online and in the news in relation to education can, at times, be a little ...
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A Coaching Approach for Leadership

By Jette Oksis posted 04-03-2025
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A Coaching Approach for Leadership A story resonates from my first coaching course I did in which a Deputy Principal had, for a few years, been meeting regularly with a student and his parent to create attendance plans to ensure the child attended school more frequently and on time. She shared with us the power in which changing the approach to one of coaching the parent had led to significant and immediate positive results. Rather than telling the parent what needed to happen, the parent was asked what the ideal would be and then was able to own the possible tactics and habits that could be employed to increase the attendance of the student. For me, ...
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The Destructive Power Of False Dichotomies In Education

By Melissa Riley posted 04-03-2025
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The Destructive Power Of False Dichotomies In Education Teachers make critical decisions every day. It is inherent in the role for them to be quick thinkers, agile in their responsiveness to the needs of their colleagues, the school, its students and their families, demonstrating nuanced consistency in their interactions with students across the school day (it isn’t as oxymoronic as it sounds), all while maintaining a level of professionalism. It is a complex matrix with which teachers and school leaders need to grapple, every day. Education as a sector, and educators as professionals, also must deal with the layers of intervention from outsiders ...
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