Snapshot of transforming studies

Video series shows diversity and impact of research from Christian education centre

The launch of a video series today gives a snapshot of how researchers at Avondale are helping transform our understanding and practice of Christian education.

The series features two-minute clips of academics and educators connected with the Christian Education Research Centre describing their project then explaining how it connects with Avondale’s ethos and mission and what good it will do.

In one, School of Education Head Beverly Christian tells of visiting a primary school’s market garden to study its impact on children’s learning, personal development and wellbeing. In another, Associate Professor Darren Morton reflects on the mental health outcomes of first-year tertiary students who enrol in the unit Foundations of Wellbeing. And Dr Peter Williams from Avondale Business School explains how he is helping improve the process of building leadership capability within the North New South Wales Seventh-day Adventist school system.

“If you thought our research focused only on what happens in the classroom, the series should make you think again,” says centre director Associate Professor Peter Kilgour. “Christian education is about revealing Jesus in any learning environment. He specialised in one-on-one settings and those with 5000 at a time.”

Diversity is one thing; impact another. Kilgour says watching the series will grow confidence in Avondale as a provider of “cutting-edge” learning. “Avondale’s mission hasn’t really changed since 1897, but the work of our academics shows it’s at the forefront of expanding and modernising the content, methodology, and accessibility of Christian education research.”

The series is part of the Avondale Researchers | Here For Good brand, which aligns the mission of Avondale with its research agenda. “Research can often be perceived as an activity that’s abstract, individualised and impractical,” says Associate Dean (Research) Associate Professor Carolyn Rickett. “But our Here For Good narrative highlights the kind of research that contributes to the greater good and improves the quality of people’s lived experience.”

The brand supports the philosophical framework and practical focus of Avondale’s key research fields—education, health and society and culture—and the motivation and scope of its four research centres. Innovation and improving practice are central themes “and the Christian Education Research Centre is committed to these transformational processes,” says Rickett.

As is the university college’s new vice-chancellor and president, who has come to the role with a vision for Avondale to transform students who then go and transform their communities. “Christian education provides experiences and a faith journey that changes students from the inside out,” says Professor Kevin Petrie. “Research has the potential to play a significant role in exploring and analysing approaches that can more effectively impact the lives of our students within this journey.”