168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s Anglican Girls School Dean of Studies, Chris Dunn, has been recognised among Australia’s top educators at the forefront of innovation and leadership.
The Educator’s Hot List awards those educators who have demonstrated expertise in linking theory and practice and have designed and implemented innovations that provide students with high-quality educational experiences.
Chris said: “I am really honoured and humbled to receive the award and would like to thank my colleagues for all their support of the different initiatives we, as a curriculum team, put forward.
“So many of the great initiatives that happen at 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s are because we have such professional staff who are engaged in effective and innovative ways to educate our students.
“It is a privilege to work in school with a culture that values the notion of teachers being lifelong learners.”
Chris has been leading innovative change within the school community across several initiatives.
He is working with other curriculum leaders in the school on ways to implement AI in assessment; designing assessment tasks which allow for the integration of AI into student responses and using it to assess student work and provide meaningful feedback to students.
Chris also introduced 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s SOAR Program in 2023, which equipped students in Years 7 to 12 with study and organisational strategies to assist them to become stronger learners. In 2024, he has worked to see these study strategies, which are underpinned by the principles of cognitive science, brought into the 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s Academic Advising Program. Further, over the past two years, Chris has advanced the 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s Plus Learner Profile Program by enabling Years 10 to 12 students to have extracurricular activities and initiatives from outside 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s, recognised on their digital learner profile.
In alignment with 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s commitment to reconciliation, Chris engaged Aboriginal and Indigenous Torres Strait Islander Educational Consultants Sally and Peter Lawrence to work with senior leaders and educators to help implement specific teaching strategies to link the Australian Curriculum to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives.
In the professional learning space, Chris coordinates engaging educational leaders as keynote speakers at the biannual Trends in Education Series events for educators in South East Queensland and implements termly TeachMeets focused on 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s educators seeking and sharing evidence-based ideas to inspire their practices. He also developed the 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s Professional Learning Framework, which was implemented in 2024.