By Paul Dobbyn
DR Stephen Brown is emphatic how Catholic education will continue to progress.
“We have to have the best programs and best leaders if our kids are going to get the best opportunities,” the chief executive officer of the Queensland Education Leadership Institute said.
Dr Brown’s recent trip to China to study its education system was part of his ongoing research into discovering the best way to ensure this happens.
QELI is rolling out a new leadership program in partnership with Brisbane Catholic Education.
The Executive Development for Educational Leaders program will be made available to 28 Catholic dioceses and religious institutes across Australia.
Dr Brown, whose career spans more than 30 years of national education leadership leading to an international profile, was educated in Queensland Catholic schools.
Born in Barcaldine, he was educated by the Sisters of Mercy, before he went on to high school with the Christian Brothers at St Joseph’s CBC in Rockhampton.
He attributed this experience of Catholic schooling as well as his family background to his belief in the power of education as a great force for individual as well as national improvement.
“Catholic education formed my values including a strong belief in the importance of social justice,” he said.
“In terms of my upbringing, I didn’t come from a rich background but from a loving family which gave education as their gift to me.
“I see it as my mission to pass this valuable gift on to others.”
Following his recent visit to Anhui province in China, Dr Brown cautioned on value judgements about the comparative worth of Chinese and Australian education systems.
“Looking through Western eyes, I saw the system as inflexible, but we can’t overlay our values over theirs,” he said.
“And the whole purpose of such an immersion was to see points of similarity and difference.
“It was to think about what we value culturally and what the Chinese people value.
“As such, it was a very powerful exercise, driving home the importance of having a local and a global view.
“Also such exercises are important given the fact we’re moving closer to China in all sorts of ways … and Australia needs a real connection with and awareness of Asia in general.”
Dr Brown said schools had “to think of ways in which they can help their children and staff become global citizens … to bring a global perspective to education”.
It’s this innovative spirit which is feeding into the next phase of development for QELI, formed in 2010 under the State Government to build better leadership capacity in the current and future group of leaders in Queensland schools.
A major push in 2015 is the rolling out of leadership programs in Catholic schools throughout Australia.
Hosted by Brisbane Catholic Education, it is open to all Australian dioceses and the preliminary stage of deciding learning objectives for those involved is already underway.
Leadership workshops, benchmarking tours and research and executive coaching will occur at intervals throughout the year.
“QELI’s approach is what I call praxis – policy and practice,” Dr Brown said.
“This is about getting people to reflect who they are and then looking at their circumstance: How can you use this and apply it to everyday practice?
“Education is about a moral purpose – being willing to make a difference.
“If you haven’t got this desire then you shouldn’t be in it.
“It’s certainly not all about looking at your pay cheque.
“One thing for sure, our country’s and the world’s future depends on the effectiveness of our educational leaders.”
