CQUniversity
students

Associate Professor Ken Purnell, PhD

site imageDo you wish to help people learn?

What makes someone a 'good' teacher?

Education students commencing their studies often give quite fascinating responses to this question. Often a recipe list of characteristics is provided. A story then unfolds that if someone has, or develops, most of these ingredients, in the right mix, then they can be a 'good' teacher.  Is that true? 

As a parent teaching your child, as a young person teaching another young person, as a teacher teaching grade 4, or as a university professor teaching postgraduate students, what makes you a 'good' teacher?  Sometimes you may be very successful at teaching (leading the learning of other people and/or yourself), sometimes you may not be.

Substantive professional knowledge and good practice based upon quality contemporary research are the hallmarks of most good teachers.  A key message from the last half-century of educational research is:
What teachers know and can do makes the biggest difference in learning gains by students.

"Of all the things that influence the opportunity to learn, nothing is as important as the quality of teachers . . . It's good teachers who make schools good.  It's what they know and do that most influences what students learn."  (Professor Lawrence Ingvarson, 1998.)

Associate Professor James Athanasou (2008) of the University of Technology in Sydney provides a caveat for us from the research: "Interest is as important to student outcomes as ability, and more important than the quality of teaching". 

My own interests lie particularly in sustainability education and what recent research in neuroscience tells us about how people learn. Patricia Wolf (2003) concluded, “Teaching is guiding and facilitating the formation of neurological connections in the student’s brain".

The design of learning to bring about learning gains (in kindergarten, the corporate boardroom, etc.) is critical in making lasting neurological connections. It comprises:

  1. Pedagogy (leading learning using effective instructional strategies - the ‘art of teaching');
  2. Curriculum (content - usually derived from syllabuses and school policy as well as teacher professional choice); and
  3. Assessment (checking for understanding using acceptable evidence of standards demonstrated in student work).

The most effective instructional strategies that bring about the greatest learning gains are in order:

  1. Identifying similarities and differences (a student who say scored 60 out of 100 will score about 84 when this strategy is used effectively)
  2. Summarizing and note taking
  3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
  4. Homework and practice
  5. Nonlinguistic representations (My PhD from UNSW is in this area of Cognitive Science) 
  6. Cooperative learning
  7. Setting objectives and providing feedback
  8. Generating and testing hypotheses
  9. Questions, cues, and advance organizers (a student who say scored 60 out of 100 will score about 72 when this strategy is used effectively)

(See Marzano et al., What really works in classroom instruction, available at: www.mcrel.org:80/topics/products/110/). 


Ken's background in education

  • Ken's academic qualifications are Dip.Teach., BEd (Dist) at Sydney, MA(Hons) at Western Michigan University, PhD at UNSW (1991) in the area of cognitive science. 
  • In Sydney he attended Cranbrook School for eleven years from Kindergarten and with a change in home location, Blakehurst High in Years 11 & 12.
  • CQUniversity Australia (1991 to present) - Associate Dean (Teaching & Learning) from 2003 to 2007 and Head of School of Education & Innovation from 2000 to 2006.
  • Involvement in education involves primary school, high school and university. Teaching in schools was in the areas of Geography, Economics, Business Studies and Religion, with ten years as Head of Department for a St. Andrew's Cathedral School in NSW (Years 7 to 12) for Economics and Geography, Art, Industrial Arts and Modern Languages. Co-curricula activities included soccer and cricket coaching and self-defence.
  • Business background involved family companies including Purnell Motors in Sydney.
  • Ken has been a member of the Board and the Moderation Committee of the Queensland Board of Senior Secondary School Studies (QBSSSS) - now Queensland Studies Authority (QSA).
  • Presently Ken is a member of the QSA P-12 Curriculum Committee, and the QSA State Review Panel for Economics and works on committees on aspects of assessment for Year 12.
  • Larger funded research projects include the present ones on Sustainable schools (energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction and managing biodiversity as lifestyle priorities); and Teacher recruitment and retention.
  • Ken also led an evaluation team that examined a DEETYA funded School to Work in Rural and Remote Areas project involving Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia as well as a team for the external evaluation of the Queensland School Curriculum Council's trial of the then new syllabuses and associated materials for Studies of Society and Environment, Civics, Geography and History. Aspects of vocational education and training (VET) for QBSSSS and VETEC was commissioned by the Board and a copy of the resulting report sent by the Board to all senior secondary schools in Queensland.

Further details may be found on my publications page.

Membership of committees include:

Committees within CQUniversity AUSTRALIA

  • Chair, CQUniversity HREC (Human Research Ethics Committee) from 2000 to 2007 and member from 1997
  • Chair Faculty Education Committee (FEC) for the Faulty of Arts, Humanities and Education 2003 to 2007
  • Chair, Faculty Assessment Committee 2000 to 2007
  • Chair, Criteria for Supporting Students Working Party (2005)
  • Chair, Learning and Teaching Research Grants Committee (2004 to 2006)
  • Chair, Vice Chancellor's Teaching Awards Selection Committee (2004 to 2006)
  • CQUniversity Assessment Working Party (2006 - 2007)
  • Associate Deans (Teaching & Learning) 2003 to 2007
  • Heads of Schools 2000 to 2006
  • Program Review Group (PRG) 2003 to 2007
  • Education Committee of Academic Board (ECAB) 2003 to 2007
  • Academic Board (2004 to present)


Other committees

  • Queensland Studies Authority P-12 Curriculum Committee (2005 to present)
  • Queensland Studies Authority State Review Panel for Economics (1997 to present)
  • School Council of North Keppel Island Environmental Education Centre (NKIEEC) 1998 to present, and Deputy-Chair from 2008
  • Queensland Studies Authority committees associated with Year 12 assessment (1998 to present)
  • CQ A New Millennium (CQ ANM) - CQUniversity representative 2002 to present
  • Chair, School Council of Taranganba State School 2004 to 2007 and member from 2000 to 200
  • Male Teacher Strategy Reference Group of Education Queensland (2003 to 2004)
  • Education and Training Reforms for the Future (ETRF) Management Group for the Rockhampton District Trial of the Queensland Government (2002 to 2003)
  • Queensland Studies Authority committee on the Senior Certificate 2005 to 2007 - CQUniversity representative
  • Keppel Parish Council (2005 to 2007)
  • Environmental Commission for Central Queensland Anglican Diocese - Co-convenor (2006 - 2008)
Page last updated: October 2008