The University of Tasmania’s leader in teacher education has an eye on the future, with a focus on young people, literacy, digital technology, and intergenerational well-being.

“Teacher education is one of the main ways we can enable social change for individuals and communities. Our graduates go into schools as educators and role models. They make a fundamental contribution to our society and place. Through them we are investing in the future.”

Professor Victoria Carrington took up her position as the Head of the School of Education, based in Launceston, after working at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.

“Teaching is not for the unadventurous. It is a profession that requires the capacity to blend theoretical knowledge, while managing the needs and personalities of a large group of humans.

'It is a complex dance of theory, practice, care, challenge and the understanding that education can change the life pathway of the individuals involved. While the day-to-day is important, so is the broader understanding of why we educate our young people and what our hopes are for them as they mature and contribute more directly to our culture and society. This vast project of helping someone build their future requires ongoing research, discussion, debate and contribution from all sectors of society.”

Professor Carrington has a long-term research interest in the declaration of “crises” around young people, particularly around technology and literacy.

“When video games became available for children and early adolescents, concerns about the impact of these games on literacy quickly emerged. There were arguments that children would no longer be reading and that as a result, their literacy skills would go into steep decline.

“My research with young children and video games demonstrated that, to the contrary, a range of sophisticated literacy practices and attitudes to gaining knowledge from various forms of text were involved.

“Children were often navigating texts that offered far more complexity than those they were given in classrooms. Engagement and challenge and authentic co-operation came up repeatedly as key factors.”

Professor Carrington has also researched the increased use and accessibility of mobile phones for young children, with concerns about the ways an individual’s identity can be constructed and distributed via data and without their knowledge.

“I became very interested in the ways in which young people used mobile phones as a deeply personalised technology. This research led to an interest in the ways in which data was being harvested for unidentified commercial purposes by app companies.

“Teachers are experts in understanding how learning happens and in using that knowledge to deliver specialised curriculum content in ways that engage their students and provide differentiated learning experiences. But we must also understand the contexts in which that occurs.

Professor Carrington believes the School of Education is uniquely placed to have a positive impact on the future of Tasmanians. “Our teacher graduates are increasingly prepared to teach in regional and diverse communities, to understand the impact of generational trauma, and to have the skills to work effectively as leaders within Tasmanian communities.

“Educational achievement has a life-long impact on health, employment and well-being. That is our profession and our vocation.”