One of Australia's leading educators honoured by Murdoch

The man responsible for the development of the national education curriculum for all Australian students from kindergarten through to Year 12 will tonight be honoured by Murdoch University.

Professor Barry McGaw, the Chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Education at Murdoch’s third graduation ceremony at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Considered as one of Australia’s finest educators with a career spanning more than 40 years, Professor McGaw’s ties with Murdoch University go back many years.

From 1976 to 1984, Professor McGaw was Professor of Education at Murdoch University, which also included a period of time as Dean of Education.

Murdoch University Vice Chancellor Professor John Yovich said Professor McGaw had made an enormous contribution to the University during its early days and it was a privilege to confer an Honorary Doctorate of Education on him.

“Professor McGaw was here at in the very early days and he played an enormous role in helping to build the University,” Professor Yovich said.

Professor McGaw said Murdoch University had been a very important part of his professional life so he was especially pleased that the university has chosen to confer an honorary doctorate on him.

“I was here in the early days as a young professor of education from 1976 to 1984 as the foundations were being laid,” Professor McGaw said.

“They were exciting times when we all had a strong sense of the importance of what we were doing in building a new university.

“It is a pleasure to see now what a fine institution it has become and to see the important contributions that many of the staff from those early days have made both at Murdoch and in other universities around Australia.”

Professor McGaw started out as a science and maths teacher in the 1960s in Queensland and has lectured in science at a Brisbane-based teachers college, been appointed Executive Director for the Australian Council for Educational Research and Director for Education in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, based in Paris.

In 2008, Professor McGaw was appointed Executive Director of the international project Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills, a collaborative initiative by leading technology companies Cisco, Intel and Microsoft.

He was elected this year to a three-year term as President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Professor McGaw was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2001 and in 2004 was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for his service to education, research and policy in Australian and internationally.