The Australian Teacher Education Association has much pleasure in awarding the title of Fellow and lifetime membership of the Association to Dr Ian Macpherson.
Ian Macpherson has recently completed a career in teaching, teacher education and higher education that has spanned almost 35 years until his retirement on 31 August, 2005. During this time Ian has made a significant contribution to teacher education in Australia. During the 1970’s he established a scholarly reputation in geographical and social studies education and curriculum studies. The 1980’s saw this scholarship extended into the areas of school-based curriculum development and evaluation. The two decades have confirmed his academic leadership in the broad field of Teacher Education.
In his career, Ian has demonstrated the ability to integrate leadership, teaching and research in higher education and teacher education; to work collaboratively and consultatively in ways that include stakeholders meaningfully in dialogues and decisions about teacher education; to lead academic thinking and practice in such areas as curriculum studies, professional development and qualitative research; to lead and coordinate strategic and innovative curriculum developments and pedagogical practices in teacher education at pre-service, in-service and graduate levels. He is also acknowledged as an excellent mentor and supervisor of graduate students undertaking masters and doctoral theses in teacher education.
Ian has been an enthusiastic member of the Association since its inception. During several periods of service on the Executive, Ian has demonstrated the ability to lead and coordinate a range of initiatives in teacher education such as support for the development of research activities including successful grant application, writing and project management. He has contributed significantly to the establishment and development of the Association’s Journals. In his capacity as a leader in teacher education and a strong affiliate of ATEA he has conducted significant research using a variety of methodological approaches and strategies and communicated the research outcomes in reports, conference presentations, journal articles, and books. This research has made a significant contribution to teacher education in Australia and North America.
Most recently Ian has made a strong contribution to Teacher Education through his leadership of the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology.
Ian has presented research papers at every ATEA conference from 1988 until his retirement in 2005. The focus of such papers has ranged from teacher professional development, to curriculum leadership and more recently the development of innovative teacher education programs.
Based on his very active contribution to teacher education and to the Australian Teacher Education Association during the past 30 years we affirm and congratulate Ian on his success and achievements in teacher education by awarding him the title of Fellow and granting him Lifetime Membership of the Association.
Richard Bates,
President ATEA July 2006
