From the Director of the Pymble Institute – My Four Rs

My teacher training stressed that teaching is based on the three Rs of relationships, relationships, relationships. This mantra continues to prove itself to me through all areas of my work as education is an ever-evolving, unfurling of relationships as learners (children, young people and adults) open their minds to new possibilities. ‘Research’, also starting with an ‘R’, now takes its place in this string as an additional key element in my educational philosophy.

Like relationships, which can be defined as ‘the way in which things are connected or work together’, research is similarly multifaceted, open-ended and complex. Research involves curiosity, beginnings, false starts, clarifications, listening, sharing, putting in the effort, as well as endings, and celebrating when milestones happen – just like relationships. Research embodies the long-game in educational journeys, be that a student’s term-long research project, a teacher’s epic PhD journey or forming partnerships with tertiary colleagues to research something together.

But there is depth and breadth – this is what we get from research relationships in schools. An important question to ask is, how can research relationships impact the educational experiences of students in our schools today? This newsletter shares insights into what we’re doing at Pymble in this area including a profile of our newest PhD, Dr Joshua McDermott, from the History, Society and Ethics Department; information about the upcoming Research Invested Schools network conference being jointly held by Pymble, Barker and Scots this August, and a link to the latest edition of the Pymble research journal, Illuminate, which explores digital intelligence.

I’m looking forward to exploring how these, and other examples, from the Pymble perspective, impact student learning at the upcoming conference at Trinity Grammar School, Building a School Research Culture through Partnerships. Register for the event here and contact Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn (Director of Research P-12 at Trinity) for more information at kpressick-kilborn@trinity.nsw.edu.au.

Hope you enjoy this edition of our newsletter,

Dr Sarah Loch
Director – Pymble Institute