The Scots College Research Centre exists to support the College’s approach towards fostering excellence in education through research, based upon the College’s philosophy of forming young men with brave hearts and bold minds.
Established in 2012 through the vision of Principal, Dr Ian PM Lambert, the Centre facilitates a wide range of projects, programs and publications to enrich the scholarly life of the College and serve the common good.
Our Objectives
Its objectives are to:
- encourage and coordinate the research-led practice of staff and students in the College, and contribute to staff training
- locate, assess for suitability and implement world’s best practice in boys education
- build the College’s reputation as a thought leader and a contributor to the information economy
- support institutional research which will build the College’s effectiveness and efficiency as a leading Christian educator of boys
To find out more information on the research carried out at The Scots College, please visit scotsresearch.org
Projects
The Scots Research Centre develops and supports a growing number of research projects, including:
- Collaborative research projects with universities and other schools in Australia and overseas, such as a major Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with the Australian Catholic University, exploring the impact of quality Indigenous education.
- Action Research cycles for teachers, including those with the International Boys’ Schools Coalition Action Research Program.
- Support for staff undertaking higher degrees by research, with over 15 staff involved in pedagogical or discipline-specific degree programs.
- Master Teacher mentoring project.
Programs
The Scots Research Centre convenes a range of programs for students, staff, parents, alumni and the wider community, including:
- ScotsIdeas: a regular public forum bringing leading academics and practitioners together for compelling conversations in education. Topics have included boys and motivation, sports science, sustainability, ethics and more.
- The Clark Lecture Series: a unique annual visiting fellowship, conference and public lecture series, inspiring the best of thinking about faith, learning and leadership by bringing to Sydney the world’s finest scholars. Fellows have included Professor John G Stackhouse, Jr. (Theology, Regent College), Professor David Bebbington (History, University of Stirling) and Professor Ian Hutchinson (Physics, MIT).
- Conferences for teachers and students: including the annual Ethos Conference on faith and learning, and the International Boys’ Schools Coalition Conference for Teachers New to Boys’ Schools.
- Research Studies: Preliminary HSC Course and student research projects.
- Student tours to international summer schools: this includes the University of Oxford and the University of St Andrews.
Publications
The Scots Research Centre publishes the fruits of research in boys’ education through a range of means, including:
- The ScotsResearch Papers Series, publishing action research and conference presentations by Scots staff. Papers have included topics such as boys’ literacy, men in teaching, and creativity in the classroom.
- The Scots College Dictionary of Biography, a major collaborative database and biographical register of Old Boys, teachers and families
- Annual Reports on research activity at The Scots College
- An extensive collection of video resources, including interviews with visiting academics, recordings of research events, and profiles of Scots staff engaged in research projects
For more information about research at The Scots College, please visit scotsresearch.org or contact Dr Hugh Chilton, Research Fellow and Director of Research and Professional Learning, at h.chilton@scots.college.
