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John Vaughan OAM (Life member since 1995)
Dr John Vaughan made enormous contributions to education and to the Primary English Teaching Association. After a successful teaching career that started in 1938 in small NSW country towns, he became principal of Cobar Intermediate High School and then District Inspector of Schools. Along the way, he graduated in Economics at Sydney University, in Education at Melbourne University, and won an Imperial Relations Trust Fellowship to the University of London where he was awarded a PhD in Education.
He was appointed Director of Studies and executive member of the two Secondary Studies Boards in the NSW Education Department. For nine years, he was a member of the council of Macquarie University. He retired from the position of Assistant Director General at the NSW Education Department in 1979.
His early years of teaching in small country schools influenced much of his thinking on the role of education and the significance of schooling in the development of young Australians, and especially for country children in small towns and isolated areas.
Dr John Vaughan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 9 June 2008 for service to education through the Primary English Teaching Association, contributions to curriculum development and public administration.
Mandy Tunica (Life member since 2003)
Mandy has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to education and to Primary English Teaching Association. She was a teacher, lecturer, consultant, inspector and cluster director.
Within the context of the Primary English Teaching Association, she was a member of the Board, Vice President, consultant to the Board and the first Professional Development Officer. In these capacities, she also represented the Primary English Teaching Association on the Joint Council of NSW Professional Teachers Associations Board, the Australian Literacy Federation and the National Education Forum. In 1993, Mandy organised the first National Conference of the Primary English Teaching Association, Practically Primary – a national conference focusing on language in primary education, which was held at University of Sydney in January 1994. Mandy also organised the Primary English Teaching Association Poetry Festival in 1996. This passion for poetry was shared with all Association members in her aptly titled book, For the Love of Poetry, published in 1995.
Mandy remains dedicated to the Association and continues to engender passion and commitment in teachers of the future.
Barry Dwyer (Life member since 2003)
Barry Dwyer was a founding member of the Primary Council of the English Teachers Association of NSW which later became the Primary English Teaching Association.
Barry’s commitment to education beyond the Primary English Teaching Association has seen him in the roles of teacher, counsellor, lecturer, administrator, commentator and author. As a commentator, he contributed a weekly education column to a Sydney newspaper, and was involved in numerous radio and television programs. His interest in the media and, what would now be termed, ‘critical literacy’ resulted in the book Learning to Read the Media, which he co-authored with Bob Walshe and which was published in a storm of media controversy by the Primary English Teaching Association in 1984.
Barry has contributed to the Association through his writing particularly targeted at a parent audience. His publication about schools and education specifically written for parents include Parents’ Guide to the Basics, PEN062 Today’s Child at School: A Parent’s Guide, Parents Teachers Partners, Today’s Primary School: A Handbook for Parents, and K-6 Best Years of Their Lives (co-authored with Janet Dwyer).
Vivienne Nicoll-Hatton (Life member since 2004)
Vivienne's passionate commitment to the Primary English Teaching Association commenced when she joined the Primary English Teaching Association Council in 1978. She served as a councillor until incorporation of the association in 1982 when she joined the Board of the newly incorporated Primary English Teaching Association as Vice-President and then as President from 1984 to 1988.
Within two years of her retirement from the Board, Viv was back working for Primary English Teaching Association as the acquisitions editor, a role she held for eight years. In 1998, she resigned from the Primary English Teaching Association to return to the primary classroom to teach language and literacy to primary aged students.
There are many legacies of Viv's time at the Primary English Teaching Association, in particular the environmental communications project, Special Forever. As education consultant and manager of the project when it commenced in 1993, Viv ensured that it was built on a foundation of best-practice teaching and learning. As a consequence, the project is now the largest and longest running environmental education program in Australia. It also serves as a model for similar projects in the UK and USA.
Other contributions she made to the Primary English Teaching Association are the publications that she both acquired and wrote for the association, including Taking a Closer Look at Literature Based Programs (1993), and May I See Your Program Please? (1996).
Jan Turbill (Life member since 2004)
Jan Turbill has been a member of the Primary English Teaching Association since 1973. She was a Council member from 1978 until incorporation of the association in 1982. First on the Council and later on the Board of PETA, Jan has held the positions of: Minutes Secretary, Public Officer and Vice-President, the last held from 1982 to her retirement from the Board in1989.
During Jan's time with the Primary English Teaching Association the membership reached approximately 18,000 in 1989. Growth in membership at the Primary English Teaching Association reflected the profession-led revolution that was taking place in Australian primary classrooms and the Primary English Teaching Association was at the forefront of these changes. Entrepreneurial leadership resulted in the Primary English Teaching Association becoming one of the most successful professional teaching Associations in Australia.
Jan also made an enormous contribution to the Primary English Teaching Association’s success as an author and co-author of best-selling publications such as No Better Way to Teach Writing (1982), Now We Want to Write (1983); Towards a Reading and Writing Classroom (1984); and Coping with Chaos (1987).
Jan is now a global educator providing leadership both inside and outside Australia. Her research into professional learning of teachers frames the design of teacher professional development nationally and internationally. Her keynote presentations at international conferences in the USA, UK, New Zealand and Singapore challenge participants. Her membership of various international editorial boards ensures that teachers remain informed of the latest research.
Pat Edwards (Life member since 2005)
Pat Edwards taught in schools in New Zealand and New South Wales for 16 years. She was a Primary Principal for 9 years, first at PLC Pymble and then Abbotsleigh College. She has since worked as a writer, editor, educational consultant and occasional lecturer.
Pat’s association with the Primary English Teaching Association began in 1974 when she joined the Primary English Teaching Association committee, and extended through to 1982. During this time Pat held the positions of committee member, Vice President, and was the Primary English Teaching Association’s second President from 1978-1979. Pat also held the honorary position of Executive Business Director for 4 years.
As a writer she contributed a number of innovative and practical books to the Primary English Teaching Association catalogue including the extremely successful PS Write Soon’published in collaboration with Australia Post, The Australian Teachers Diary published in 1988, a number of PENs, and the book ‘Hey that’s a good idea: useful hints for busy teachers’ published in 1985.
Pat has written over 132 books for children which have sold over 8 million copies worldwide. She was the editor and main author of the Longman Eureka Treasure Chest series which was sold to UK, New Zealand and Canada.
Two of her stories The Ghost and Katie Domigan and The Great Sandwich Swap were transformed by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation into television films.
Pat is currently looking forward to translating a selection of the stories, games, poems into DVD and her character ‘Wild Wicked Winifred’ now entertains children from the comfort of her own interactive website.
On 21st October 2005 the Primary English Teaching Association presents Pat with Life Membership for her outstanding contribution to the Association.
Richard Parker (Life member since 2006)
Richard’s contribution to the Primary English Teaching Association has been profound and lasting. A past President of the Australian Reading Association (ARA), Richard came to the Primary English Teaching Association with a keen interest in secondary education which he was able to meld to great effect with the Primary English Teaching Association’s primary focus.
Richard succeeded Dr John Vaughan as Primary English Teaching Association President and served from 1989 to 1991. During his term Richard led the Association through a crucial period of membership growth, change and development (including a move from the premises shared with the NSW Joint Council of Professional Associations to offices in Camdenville Public School), that culminated in a greater sense of identity for the Association and its staff.
In 1990 Richard encouraged the Primary English Teaching Association to extend its publishing enterprises to include its first professional development program: Exploring How Texts Work: The Video. The considerable success of this initiative was a tribute to his foresight. Richard also oversaw the publication of two books which remain Primary English Teaching Association’s top best sellers to this day: Exploring How Texts Work by Bev Derewianka, and Learning to Learn in a Second Language by Pauline Gibbons.
In the last year of Richard’s term (1991) the Primary English Teaching Association initiated the long-standing and successful environmental communications project Special Forever in collaboration with the Murray Darling Basin Commission. Special Forever involves 600 teachers and 20,000 students across the Murray Darling Basin, and was judged an innovative, leading-edge model of environmental sustainability education when it was named as a finalist in the 2006 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.
Richard also played a vital role in the establishment of the Australian Literacy Foundation which was for many years the voice through which the Primary English Teaching Association was able to represent its members in raising issues and responding to initiatives at a national level.
Robyn Ewing (Life member since 2006)
Robyn has been a: member; writer, professional development leader, board member, and finally President, a position held for five consecutive terms from 2001 to 2006.
Her belief in the importance of working in close partnership with all members of the profession, especially those in schools, was a valuable mark of her time in the presidency. She actively encouraged and participated within the professional development program, re-established the Life Membership Award program, encouraged and supported the development of the Living Literacies Dinner concept as a venue for the Primary English Teaching Association Board to connect and celebrate with the friends and supporters of Primary English Teaching Association.
During her term as President, the Primary English Teaching Association was a significant commentator and participant in state and national education forums and debates. The Association provided feedback to: reviews of the NSW syllabus; development of the NSW Institute of Teaching; and standards for teacher accreditation through the state institute and Teaching Australia. Under Robyn’s guidance the Primary English Teaching Association prepared submissions and responses to a number of significant education inquiries including the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy. Robyn also represented the Primary English Teaching Association on the Reference Committee of this Inquiry.
Robyn has also made a significant contribution to the Primary English Teaching Association’s publishing program as a sole author, co-author, contributor and co-ordinating editor. Her chapter Exploring the language of literature in Taking a Closer look at Literature Based Programs, commenced a dialogue with the Primary English Teaching Association members that she has continued in her writing on topics such as: literature; reading; writing; drama; and, the mechanics and function of language in her PEN What is a functional model of language?
Robyn’s books, Beyond the Script: Drama in the classroom, Beyond the script: take two and her latest book Beyond the Reading Wars all include the word ‘beyond’ in their titles which it would seem is a fitting descriptor of the author and her work. Robyn recently retired from the Primary English Teaching Association Board however she remains committed to encouraging and fostering innovative pedagogy that will lead educators beyond their current achievements.
Barbara Comber (Life member since 2007)
Barbara Comber has been at the forefront of national and international educational leadership for many years contributing to the collective knowledge of the education community through teaching, research, publishing and the professional development of teachers.
The quality and importance of her research into literacy, critical literacy and educational disadvantage has been acknowledged through the presentation of prestigious awards including the Australian Association for Educational Research Doctoral Thesis Award 1997and the Australian Literacy Educators Association, Inaugural Research Award in 1999.
As Chief Investigator, Research Director or Co-Researcher, Barbara has initiated and participated in numerous research projects that have contributed to the advancement of knowledge in the area of language and literacy education. From 2004 to 2007 the Primary English Teaching Association worked alongside Barbara in the ARC research project: Literacy and the environment: A situated study of multimedia literacy, sustainability, local knowledge and educational change.
This research project sought to extend the Primary English Teaching Association’s innovative Special Forever: An environmental communications project. The research analysed the Special Forever archive, and documented school-based environmental projects through writing, the arts and contemporary multi-media.
Barbara has co-edited three books for the Association that document the outcomes of significant teacher research: Look Again: longitudinal studies of children’s literacy learning (2003), Turnaround Pedagogies: Literacy interventions for At-risk Students (2005) and Literacies in Place: teaching environmental communications (2007).
Barbara is on the editorial boards for English in Australia (from 2000) and the Australian Journal of Educational Research (from 2001). She was co-editor of the Books for Adolescents Column, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (USA), 2000-2001 and is a reviewer for the international Journal of Early Childhood Literacy.
Barbara has presented keynote and plenary addresses at major international conferences and regularly contributes to community discussions about literacy. She has served on the international National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association (USA) and the Critical Literacy Task Force since 1999.