KATY HAIRE

Katy Haire commenced in the role of Director-General of the ACT Education Directorate in December last year, having moved from Victoria where she held a range of senior management and executive roles in the Victorian public sector. Katy holds a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) from Monash University, a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) in political science and history, and a Master of Arts in the history of education from the University of Melbourne. She also holds an Executive Master of Public Administration from the University of Melbourne and is a Senior Executive Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School, and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Katy has a strong commitment to excellence and in education and social justice and is excited to be leading implementation of the ACT Government’s Future of Education Strategy- a ten year roadmap for education reform for ACT schools with equity at its core.

Maximizing and evaluating innovation in a disrupted education world

The fallout from COVID-19, continuing advances in digital technology, and intensifying pent-up demand for student centered learning have combined to present an unprecedented opportunity to transform education across whole systems. (Fullan M. Quinn, J. Drummy, M. Gardner M.- Education Reimagined: The Future of Learning). The COVID-19 pandemic has caused every education system across the world to adapt quickly to ensure students, teachers and leaders are supported to learn, work and lead in reimagined schooling contexts.

The ACT Education Directorate has identified four key elements that supported both their initial response to the disruption and the ongoing strategic planning for positive outcomes for students at every stage of schooling:

1) a new strategic plan already in place as a road map to the future
2) a digital infrastructure plan and student device allocation underway
3) established system focuses on teacher collaboration and inquiry, and student well-being, equity and excellence
4) ensuring leading research and practice guides each step.

In this presentation ACT Education Director General Katy Haire will share how each of these four elements have been strengthened over 2020 at the system and school level bringing the system and each of the 88 public schools in the ACT closer to realising the goals of their Future of Education Strategy.