
Doctor of Philosophy (Education). Supervisor: A/Prof James G. Ladwig
Master of Leadership and Management in Education
GradCert in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching
Bachelor of Teaching / Bachelor of Social Science
An enduring issue for governments and systems has been how best to organise education to ensure equitable and inclusive education for all. Professor Eacott's research program has been dedicated to developing the necessary explanatory resources (e.g., relational theory) to respond effectively to the empirical question of how best to organise education. A key contribution has been the development of the Relational Inquiry into the Provision of Education (RIPE) analytical framework. This relatively new theoretical approach for organizational theory in education offers a methodological framework for the study of the provision of education at multiple levels.
Building from his relational approach, RIPE analysis comprise five phases:
Working at the intersection of education, sociology, demography, economics, planning, among others, and therefore leveraging cutting-edge analytical methods from multiple disciplines all held together through relational theory, Professor Eacott's ambitious research program aims to move beyond individual disciplinary based ways of understanding education and its impact to not just inform policy decisions but explicitly contribute to re-designing the provision of education to deliver equitable and inclusive education at scale.
Professor Eacott's distinctive relational approach has led to invitations to run workshops and give talks in Norway, Canada, the USA, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico and throughout Australia. He has authored more than 100 publications, led major research projects and contributed to teams winning over $3.8M in external funding and successfully translated his research into policy and practice. Typical projects employing his RIPE analysis involve working collaboratively with systems, school leadership teams, and school communities to co-design plans to best meet the needs of all involved.
A representative sample of externally funded grants since 2015 includes:
MEMBERSHIP OF EDITORIAL BOARDS
MEMBERSHIP
My Research Supervision
Current supervised topics include:
- Regional secondary school reform;
- Middle leaders in regional and rural schools;
- School reform in urban alternative schools; and
- Alternative providers of schooling and context.
My Teaching
Using a variety of approaches in his teaching, Professor Eacott's classes are distinctive for their privileging of rigorous and robust discussion and debate of key issues. Unlike traditional lecture or tutorial models, Professor Eacott explicitly engages with participants by challenging their ways of thinking and seeking to develop a commitment to public intellectualism. Following Michael Oakeshott, his central belief is that to be educated is to join the conversation of the world. This belief shapes how Professor Eacott sees the role of the course convenor, students, curriculum and assessment. In short, he expects students to actively participate in conversations about the content, assumptions, and implications of field shaping ideas for the purpose of organising education to deliver on desired outcomes.
Professor Eacott has been a Teaching and Learning Fellow (University of Newcastle), secured AusAID funding to bring 20 Filipino leaders to Australia for an intensive educational leadership program, and received internal funding (at three universities) for teaching and learning projects relating to online delivery of educational leadership courses.
Current courses taught in the Master of Educational Leadership include:
He has previously offered a term-long course on his relational approach entitled:
Professor Education also offers an online short course (5 weeks) on: