Dr Carl Leonard

The pursuit of academic excellence that maximises outcomes for ALL students sits at the heart of Dr Carl Leonard's work.

For the past 30 years. he has aimed to be the strongest advocate for public education, inclusivity and diversity. 'Access to quality learning should be the right of all students regardless of socioeconomic status, ability or location,' Carl said. 

For most of this time, standing with one foot in schools and the other in academe, Carl has worked tirelessly to provide the best learning conditions possible for students, further developing and refining his professional knowledge 'in the real world',  to better support the growth and development of the teaching profession.  

Dr Carl (not that Dr Karl), has a track record of delivering outstanding educational outcomes for students in his care, via holistic, innovative, communication-rich leadership structures featuring outstanding stakeholder involvement, high student, staff, and parent-carer satisfaction, a core focus on wellbeing, and teaching and learning structures embedded in implementation science and universal design for learning, as the springboard for success. 

'Happy, motivated and inspired students, outstanding outcomes, highly effective, valued and cared-for teachers and exemplary working relationships with parents, carers, community and industry stakeholders are at the heart of my work.'

In addition to working full-time in schools up until mid 2019, Carl has achieved significant scholarly output: 1 sole-authored book, 1 co-authored book chapter, 2 co-authored articles in refereed journals, 1 co-authored article in a non-refereed journal, numerous non-traditional research outputs, and over 20 sole- and co-authored paper presentations at national and international conferences. Upon taking up his full-time Senior Lecturer position at the UoN, Carl said his focus was furthering his scholarly output, leading teaching excellence in special and inclusive education,  and increasing engagement and collaboration, both within and beyond UoN. 

'Schools are complex systems. I believe I've demonstrated through innovation and sophistication, transformative success can be achieved at a rapid rate - much faster that some people may think possible. Critical elements are: highly effective strategic planning, involving multiple stakeholders; sophisticated approaches to teaching and learning, curriculum delivery, financial management and resource deployment; and, all these elements embedded in an inclusive approach to enhancing and celebrating the work and wellbeing of multiple stakeholders - students, staff, parents, carers and community.'

Ongoing and current advocacy and involvement in the governance of teacher education includes: NESA Primary Maths & Science and Technology Specialisations Expert Advisory Panel Member; AITSL Accreditation Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Panellist; and, certified AITSL (NESA) External Observer for Teachers Seeking Higher Level Accreditation 

Maximising outcomes for our students is inextricably linked to the capacity of teachers and school leaders to facilitate and support their growth and development across all educational domains. My previous research work and future research will focus on the application of evidenced-based approaches to inclusive learning environments,' Leonard says.