Dr. Paul Brock AM
Dr Paul Brock AM FACE FACEL, is the Director of Learning and Development Research in the NSW Department of Education and Communities, and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney. Dr Brock is also an Honorary Research Fellow within the University of New England, and an Honorary Associate in the Centre for Values Ethics and Law in Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Sydney. Dr Brock is a Vice Patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, NSW. He is a Life Member of both the English Teachers Association NSW and the Primary English Teachers Association, and he is the inaugural Honorary Life Member of the NSW Secondary Principals Council.
Throughout his 46 year career in education as a school teacher, deputy principal, an academic in Australian, British and North American universities, as an education policy advisor at both Commonwealth and State government levels, as well as an author, editor and public speaker, he has researched and published extensively in the field of English literature, language and literacy, as well as in the area of professional teaching standards and ethics. His PhD was conferred on him by The University of New England in 1985.
His more than 130 publications include single-authored books, co-authored books, co-edited books, monographs, chapters in books, refereed journal articles, and poetry. He has also delivered nearly 200 academic and professional papers to international and Australian conferences and forums. His most recent books were his autobiography, A Passion for Life (ABC Books, Sydney, 2004); co-authored with Dr John Hughes, Reform and Resistance in NSW Public Education: Six Attempts at Major Reform, 1905 – 1995 (NSW DET, in collaboration with Sydney University Press, Sydney, 2008); co-editor with Associate Professor Jacqueline Manuel, Associate Professor Wayne Sawyer, and Don Carter of Imagination, Innovation, Creativity: Re-Visioning English in Education (Phoenix Education, Sydney, 2009); and single author of Towards Schooling in the 21st Century: ‘Back to Basics’ or ‘Forward to Fundamentals’, ACEL Monograph Series 49, 2011.
Dr Brock was awarded the Australian College of Educators Sir Harold Wyndham Medal in 2002 for his career-long contribution to education. In April 2004 James Cook University conferred on Dr Brock an Honorary Doctorate in Educational Studies for what the Citation called “exceptional contributions to the advancement of human well-being”. The NSW Minister for Education and Training awarded Paul Brock the 2006 Meritorious Service Award and Medal for Service to Public Education in NSW: the highest award that is given within NSW public education. In the same year he was presented with the Professional Teachers’ Council of NSW Exceptional Service Award.
In 2006 Dr Brock was inducted as a General Member in the Order of Australia “for service to public education, particularly as an adviser and author in the areas of strategic policy development, to maintaining high standards of teaching and professionalism, and to people
with Motor Neurone Disease”. In 2009, Dr Brock was selected by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the five most influential people in NSW education within that newspaper’s list of Sydney’s 100 “most influential people” for that year. In 2010 he was awarded the inaugural Dorothy Hoddinott Medal for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement, by the Australian Professional Teachers Association. In July 2012 he was awarded the Patrick Duignan Award by the Australian Council of Educational Leaders (ACEL). In October 2012 he was awarded ACEL’s Hedley Beare Award for Educational Writing.