About the Authors

Lisa Bonazza is the Director of Primary Curriculum and International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme Coordinator, responsible for the Junior School’s curriculum and part of the pedagogical leadership team. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education (Primary) and a Master of Educational Leadership. Her teaching and leadership experience has seen her work in Australia, Thailand, Mauritius, U.K. and Belgium. Lisa has been working within the PYP Framework since 1998. She is an IB Workshop Leader, School Visiting Team Leader, Workshop Field Representative and IB School Consultant. These roles have provided her the opportunity to support schools setting up the IB framework, upskilling and mentoring teachers and heads of schools, developing curriculum, evaluating school’s implementation of teaching and learning development and instruction, and creating rich and inviting learning environments. Lisa also lectures at Notre Dame University in the undergraduate and post-graduate IB education courses. She is passionate about inquiry, creativity, and equipping students as global citizens who can make a difference in the world.

Lisa Chalmers is the Director of Health & Wellbeing at Barker College. Lisa holds a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Nursing). Lisa has previously worked at the United World College of SEA in Singapore as Matron/Assistant House Parent (Boarding) and has fulfilled both nursing and public health roles in Dublin, Fiji and Melbourne. Lisa has lived in Sydney since 2008 working at NCIRS in vaccine research, UNSW (Lowy) in brain tumour research and co-ordinating a rare disease project across Australia. Lisa has been working at Barker since 2017 and loves her diverse role in caring for both the acute health care needs of our students but also educating and empowering them to carry lifelong good health care and wellbeing behaviours into their lives beyond the Mint Gates.

Josephine Christoffersen is currently Assistant Coordinator of Service Learning and a Commercial Studies Teacher, specializing in Business Studies and Commerce. She has also held the position of Commerce Coordinator at Barker (2016 – 2022) and has enjoyed developing the financial and commercial literacy of stage 5 students. Prior to this, Josephine worked as a business manager in the entertainment and hospitality industry. She has a passion for social justice and active citizenship and believes that engaging young people in service learning assists in developing well rounded individuals.

Dr Greg Cunningham is currently the Director of Accreditation. His PhD investigated the influence of reading on student response to visual texts. He has been a visiting educator in the United States and in the United Kingdom. He has authored and presented papers that consider approaches to teaching and learning, particularly in understanding, pedagogy and teacher professional learning and accreditation. Representing the Independent Schools of NSW on the Professional Learning Committee at the NSW Education Standards’ Authority, he has also been an accreditation assessor for both the AISNSW and NESA and a founding member of the Sydney Leaders of Accreditation Network. His interests include English teaching, professional accreditation and teacher coaching. A Fellow of Trinity College of Music London, he has also given organ recitals in London, Sydney and South Africa.

Dr Alison Gates is incurably curious and loves learning and teaching. At Barker she is part of our Agriculture and Science Extension teaching teams. She studied Environmental Science at the University of Sydney where she completed a PhD about introduced species. She has worked in research on fossil pollen and completed a postdoc about wheat, consolidating her expertise in Agriculture and co-authoring a book, textbooks and several journal articles along the way. Alison worked at Australian Catholic University teaching Geography and Environmental Science in the teacher training programs and then worked in education research at Charles Sturt University where her research publications focussed on education for practice. Alison is a beekeeping enthusiast and counts Barker Bee Club as one of the many great joys in her role.

Scott Graham is currently the Head of Agriculture, having commenced his teaching career in 2010. He is currently undertaking a PhD, under the title of ‘Increasing enrolments and engagement in secondary and tertiary agriculture, through improving academic rigour and reputation of agriculture in secondary schools. Scott is the recipient of the 2021 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.

Dr Matthew Hill is the Director the Barker Institute with a focus on professional learning, research and innovation in the School. He teaches Physics and the new Science Extension course at the School which introduces students to scientific academic research. Matthew’s doctorate reflects his passion for science education focusing on Representational Fluency amongst physics students at school and university. He has published in leadership, education and science journals and been involved in course development and teaching at The University of Sydney and The University of Western Sydney. He has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Divinity at Ridley College in Melbourne.

Andrew Hood is Director of Academic Writing and Oratory at Barker. Prior to that, he was Head of English (2010-2021) and has held roles of Assistant Coordinator and Senior School Tutor. He has also been Coordinator of Debating and Public Speaking since 1999. Recently, he has presented papers for the ETA and the AIS on various aspects of writing practice, including finding throughlines in Extension English, creating worldscapes in short fiction and reimagining worlds both critically and creatively in extended language responses. He has been involved in writing sample programs and course materials for NESA. He has also conducted a range of school workshops in question analysis, essay writing and academic prose. Dan Lewis: After growing up in the Blue Mountains, Dan Lewis pursued a career in journalism. He started on community newspapers in the late 1980s then graduated to The Sydney Morning Herald in 1990 and spent more than 20 years there as a reporter and editor. Dan took a redundancy from the Herald in 2012 and retrained to work as an outdoor adventure guide. After a few years in his new profession, Dan started working as a casual at The Grange before becoming a permanent outdoor education teacher there in 2018. When Dan isn’t taking Barker students on adventures you can find him guiding canyons, rock climbs, abseils and bushwalks with Blue Mountains Adventure Company. He can currently be seen on Netflix taking Hollywood celebrity Zac Efron canyoning in the documentary series Down to Earth Down Under. Now aged 54, Dan’s last big writing project was authoring the book My Country, Our Outback on a commission from the Pew Trusts’ Outback to Oceans Australia project. It captures “voices from the land on hope and change in Australia’s heartland”.

Dr Andrew Mifsud is Head of Digital Learning and a Music teacher at Barker College. His doctoral research was an ethnographic study on student perceptions and experiences of secondary school blended learning environments. This research used cultural-historical activity theory to theorise an expansion of the learning activity based on the resolution of internal and external contradictions. Andrew has also been involved in research projects in the areas of social learning sites, digital learning, and music education. He has presented this work at national and international education conferences. Andrew is the NSW Secretary of the Australian Society for Music Education and is a past recipient of the ASME Music Educating for Life Award and Outstanding Professional Service Award for his work promoting professional learning in the music education community. Andrew is a Teacher Coach in the College of Teachers and Barker. He enjoys working with teachers to discover the art and science of teaching.

Tim Milkins is an experienced educator who is passionate about improving the teaching and learning outcomes of both students and teachers. He has gained valuable knowledge and capabilities in Australia and the UK, where he has held a variety of leadership roles including Head of Department / Faculty, Year Coordinator, Pastoral Care Coordinator and Governor (T&L and SENCo). Beyond schools, Tim has been involved in the review and creation of NSW curriculum, the assessment and development of examinations for NESA, and the assessing of all levels of teacher accreditation for NESA and AISNSW. Through these roles and experiences he has gained valuable insight into the importance of holistic education that enhances the capacity of educators whilst recognising the needs of every learner. Tim has been the Head of Computer Science at Barker since 2016 and is the Director of Accreditation and Technics Innovation from 2023.

Lucy Pitkin is the Dean of Indigenous Education and a teacher of Agriculture. She has taught in various educational settings over the last 11 years, including schools in rural areas and in schools on Sydney’s western fringe. It was here that Lucy’s passion for supporting students from diverse backgrounds really grew. She is responsible for the continued implementation, review and development of the School’s Indigenous education strategies in the Secondary School. Lucy works with First Nations communities and organisations to improve access to education for First Nations students, and to develop the understanding of and commitment to reconciliation of non-Indigenous students and teachers. She also works to implement and support the continued best practice in Indigenous education at Barker, including assisting teachers to bring First Nations histories, cultures and perspectives into their classroom. Through continued involvement in external research projects and Aboriginal education networks, and close relationships with Community, Lucy is able to support staff to continue to develop their teaching practice in a culturally responsive way.

Dr Timothy Scott is an experienced history and modern languages teacher, having taught and held a variety of leadership roles in schools in Australia and abroad. His PhD investigated socio-political influences on contemporary German conceptions of history and archaeology. Tim currently teaches History at Barker and he is also the Barker Institute Research Fellow. His research interests include intercultural and interlingual learning and teaching, the impact of artificial intelligence on education, and the role of student voice in improving educational practice. Tim is also one of the lead researchers for the Barker Institute’s longitudinal study, the Barker Journey.

Olivia Smith is Coordinator for Service Learning and a Languages Teacher, specialising in French at Barker. She joined Barker in 2021, following three years as a Languages Coordinator and French Teacher at Mercy Catholic College. Prior to this, Olivia has taught at The Scot’s College and Meriden Anglican School in Sydney. Olivia started teaching at Bow School in East London, 2014 through the Teach First teacher training program; a charity that develops teachers who are determined to make a difference where it is needed most. It is from then that Olivia has held a passion for holistic education, student wellbeing and service learning, believing that we as teachers can develop students into well-rounded individuals that can grow themselves and make a difference to the world, if given opportunities to serve.

Nonie Taylor is a Physics, Earth and Environmental Science, Mathematics, and iSTEAM teacher. Prior to teaching, she worked for fourteen years as an advanced wastewater engineer for a water utility company. During this time she was concerned by both the absence of female representation in the water industry as well as the shortage of creative, passionate young people pursuing engineering as a career choice. This drove her career change to education, where she now loves being involved in helping students find enjoyment in understanding the world around them and contributing to finding solutions.

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