The power of teaching

Abstract

Phillip Hughes has witnessed and shaped many of the significant changes to education in Australia for more than 70 years. I was honoured to deliver the Phillip Hughes Oration for the Australian Capital Territory’s Chapter of the Australian College of Educators on October 2006, the year Phillip turned 80 years of age. The following year, I was similarly pleased to launch Phillip’s book, Opening Doors to the Future: Stories of Prominent Australians and the Influence of Teachers. This paper is adapted from those presentations which provided selective insights into Phillip’s professional journey against the historical and policy backdrops of the decades through which he lived. Phillip’s personal story is one of the transformative powers of education and of teaching. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he was able to maximise the opportunities afforded to a working-class boy from Tasmania.