• Charles Sturt academics to lead free seminar series on the purpose of education in the modern day and how to enhance inclusive education
• Topics covered include generative artificial intelligence, antiracist pedagogy, intersectionality, disability-affirming learning and more
• Charles Sturt postgraduate studies are contributing to equity-focused classrooms, particularly in regional locations.

Charles Sturt University is inviting teachers to join a shared conversation on the evolving purpose of education through a new free seminar series.

The public series, What are schools for?, is an eight-week program developed by the Charles Sturt Faculty of Arts and Education exploring the purpose of education and further inspiring educators to deepen their knowledge through postgraduate study pathways at Charles Sturt.

As global education systems face rising inequality, political unrest and systemic change, postgraduate studies are a means of strengthening the workforce to face ongoing hurdles, particularly in regional classrooms.

Charles Sturt School of Education PhD student Mr Jack Davis, who is studying reconciliation and education policy, said he was inspired to learn more after witnessing the entrenched barriers and inequities in the education system, particularly in respect to First Nations students.

“I am particularly concerned about increasingly standardised education policies, which appear to prioritise economic outcomes, such as workforce readiness or university entry rather than dismantling structural barriers,” Mr Davis said.

“These policies often ignore the individual identities of students and instead apply a one-size-fits-all approach to education that can disproportionately harm marginalised groups, including First Nations students, who are often more represented in regional areas.

“I would like to see education strike a better balance between qualifications and social outcomes, engaging with the complex challenges of the 21st Century, such as climate change, resource poverty and critical digital literacies.”

Mr Davis previously graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Social Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary), and said Charles Sturt was pivotal in fostering his interest in critically questioning the barriers to equitable education.

“Seminars like this can achieve the same motivation, as they open up space for critical dialogue about the purpose of education and help resist trends that risk further marginalising students, particularly First Nations learners, students with disabilities and those with EAL/D backgrounds,” he said.

Seminar facilitator and lecturer in education in the Charles Sturt School of Education Dr Natalie Thompson said the seminar series moves beyond a narrow focus on teaching methods.

“It’s an invitation to step back and reflect on the broader purpose of education,” she said.

“As we witness increasing polarisation and the spread of disinformation globally, it is critical that education fosters not just the acquisition and retention of knowledge, but critical consciousness, collective understanding and civic imagination.

“Universities and schools have a responsibility to help cultivate communities capable of thinking deeply and creatively, listening generously and acting with purpose.”

Students like Mr Davis are the embodiment of this mission, with Charles Sturt education graduates not only gaining employment in the field each year in record numbers, but doing so with a strong sense of purpose, working to make a genuine difference in the lives of children, families and communities.

Over eight weekly seminars, expert facilitators will discuss topics including generative artificial intelligence, antiracist pedagogy, teaching for democracy, community-based learning in Indigenous and diaspora contexts, intersectionality, listening to children’s voices and disability-affirming approaches to complex behaviour.

Project Lead of Partnerships and Microcredentials at Charles Sturt Ms Georgina Stuart said the broader messaging was important for recognising and responding to the systemic issues that affect student wellbeing along with teacher recruitment, retention and the pressures experienced in classrooms.

“At a time when many educators are feeling overwhelmed or disillusioned, we want to offer space for reconnection and hope,” Ms Stuart said.

The series is open to educators, students, parents, allied health professionals, policymakers and community members.

Delivered online and shaped by feedback from educators, the sessions are designed to be flexible and accessible, especially for those working in regional and remote contexts.

Seminars include:

• What are schools for? - Wednesday 30 July, 7-8pm
• Who’s teaching whom: Generative AI, human agency & the purpose of schooling – Wednesday 6 August, 7-8pm
• Listening to children’s voices - Wednesday 13 August, 7-8pm
• Community-based educational models in Indigenous Australian and diaspora contexts - Wednesday 20 August, 7-8pm
• Antiracist pedagogy: Where do I start? - Wednesday 27 August, 7-8pm
• More than one story: Understanding intersectionality in education - Wednesday 3 September, 7-8pm
• Teaching for democracy using dialogic pedagogy - Wednesday 10 September, 7-8pm
• Responding to complex learning behaviours in a disability-affirming classroom - Wednesday 17 September, 7-8pm

Session recordings, resources and certificates of attendance to apply to professional learning hours will be available.

Register here.