Research spotlight: Ryan Stewart

How do educators inspire their students and play a part in bringing knowledge into the public sphere? The personal and professional commitment of teachers undertaking post-graduate study is celebrated by the Pymble Institute. In the next profile in this series, meet Ryan Stewart, a passionate secondary teacher and PhD candidate with a strong commitment to First Nations history, culture and education.

Ryan is a full-time member of Pymble’s History, Society and Ethics Learning Area where he teaches History and Aboriginal Studies. Ryan is also a researcher at the University of Newcastle where he is working towards his PhD in History. Ryan’s research is centred around settler memories of frontier violence with First Nation peoples in Australia and the representations of Indigenous peoples in settler-centred local histories. This very important topic is allowing Ryan, as well as his colleagues and students at Pymble, the opportunity to hear the voices of First Nations people through primary source research. Ryan’s understanding of this area and network of Elders, academics and fellow researchers contributes to the College’s commitment to greater social intelligence. 

Between 2019 and 2021, Ryan was involved in an educational program in partnership with the University of Newcastle and the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council which aimed to educate university and high school students about the true nature of first contact between First Nations peoples and colonists. This culminated in the production of a short film titled ‘Central Coast First Contact Heritage Project’ which is available to view on YouTube. Ryan has published in the History Teacher’s Association of NSW journal, the College’s research journal, Illuminate, and he is featured in an episode of Boe Spearim’s podcast series Frontier War Stories. Ryan has also presented his research at academic conferences at ANU, Deakin, ACU and UNSW. 

As Ryan nears the end of his PhD journey, we commend him for the important scholarship he brings to his teaching and wish him well for the final stages of submitting his thesis. If readers are interested in connecting with Ryan, contact the Pymble Institute at pymbleinstitute@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au