INSPIRE Associates
INSPIRE is setting new standards for the design of teaching and learning services through its implementation of a 12-month INSPIRE Associates program.
Six INSPIRE Associates were recently selected from a pool of talented educators within local ACT schools and through working at INSPIRE with the ACTETD, will be accredited to deliver high quality professional development grounded in current practice and practical ideas of how this can be utilised for learning
Introducing…
Dan Bray
Hawker College, ACT
“Re-design, refine and redefine learning.”
With a passion for pedagogy design and disruptive innovation in education, Dan is a year coordinator at Hawker College and can often be found teaching music to his students. Rarely without a device in his hand, he is always looking for ways to re-design, refine and redefine learning by embracing technology and creativity. When Dan isn’t teaching his students, he is out playing gigs as a Jazz saxophonist or composing and producing projects in his home studio.
Tiffany Mahon
Melrose High School, ACT
Tiffany has been an executive teacher with the Department of Education for the last ten years. She was a member of the small team who developed and wrote the Every Chance to Learn ACT Curriculum Framework, and more recently was a national curriculum writer in History. Tiffany has also been involved in the implementation of the Quality Teacher Framework at a system-wide and school level, and is deeply committed to Arts education in the ACT.
Ian Thompson
Kingsford Smith School, ACT
“Innovation can be messy.”
Ian comes to teaching with extensive experience in the film industry, producing films that played at Tropfest, Flickerfest and a number of international festivals including the Edinburgh Film Festival and LAFest. He has been fortunate enough to work in a wide array of settings including high school, college and P-10 environments, in a diverse range of roles including Physical Education, Drama, English, Sociology, Psychology and Media Studies. Ian has also been involved in executive roles within Special Needs and Pastoral Care components of a school. His greatest education passions include encouraging teachers to take strategic risks within the classroom. He himself lives by the adage that “innovation can be messy”. Ian is also inspired by seeing teachers use their own unique talents and hopes to see more and more teachers bring what they love into their own classrooms.
Peter Smythe
Gungahlin College, ACT
“Embrace your inner nerd.”
With a background in Science and Science Communication, Peter is naturally interested in observing, discussing and trying to understand complex problems. These experiences have informed his journey in education where he actively observes, experiments and reflects regularly on his practice, building his professional thinking and capability. He actively models “the art of embracing one’s inner nerd” for his students: They seem to be catching on.
Sophie Bissell
Macquarie Primary School, ACT
“The classroom is the place to make a difference.”
Sophie believes that if you want to make a difference, the school classroom is a great place to do it. She has spent her career challenging and supporting students to achieve their best through the use of innovative pedagogies in both primary and middle school settings. Sophie thoroughly enjoys the freshness and unpredictability working with young minds brings, which has meant she has maintained strong ties with the classroom in her current executive role at Macquarie Primary School.
Trish Ghirardello
Mawson Primary School, ACT
Trish is an experience educator and a product of the University of Canberra, having completed a Bachelor and Masters of Education at this institution. Her interest in ICT is to use it as a contemporary learning model to include and engage all students in learning, including the outliers of the education system. Trish is studying, and interested in, neuro-education and the application to pedagogy and learning.
