Academy Fellow

Laureate Professor Jennifer Gore is Director of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre at the University of Newcastle. In November 2017, she was named the University of Newcastle’s first female Laureate Professor and first Laureate in the humanities and social sciences. A hallmark of Professor Gore’s research is her steadfast commitment to improving the lives of students, particularly from marginalised communities. To this end, she has been awarded more than AUD $33 million in research funding, including grants from the Australian Research Council, the philanthropic Paul Ramsay Foundation, and multiple State Departments of Education. Widely published and cited internationally, Professor Gore tackles persistent educational inequities through comprehensive programs of research on teacher development, pedagogical reform, and enhancing student outcomes. She is renowned for her impactful research on improving the quality of teaching and student outcomes through her pedagogy-based approach to professional development, Quality Teaching Rounds. She has been lauded for outstanding contributions to education reform (Australian Council for Deans of Education); to social justice and evidence-informed policy, practice, and research (Paul Brock Memorial Medal); and for her rare expertise across diverse research traditions (as elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association). In 2022, Professor Gore was named Australia’s leading researcher in Australia in the field of teaching and teacher education, an award that filters for both quality and impact.

The significant and lasting influence of teachers on student learning has led to a burgeoning industry in teacher professional development (PD) worth billions of dollars internationally. Yet few studies have shown rigorous evidence of PD’s impact on teaching practice or student learning. Professor Gore’s ground-breaking research has demonstrated that Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR), her unique approach to PD, can simultaneously transform the quality of teaching, teacher morale, and student achievement. No other approach is founded on such a comprehensive pedagogical model or attends so carefully to the power relations inherent in teacher collaboration. Professor Gore employs rigorous experimental and longitudinal designs, as well as fine-grained qualitative analyses, in an ambitious program of research dedicated to sustainable improvement in teaching and learning, core to building a better world.

Professor Gore’s research is driving innovation to address three of the most pressing problems facing the profession – how to improve student learning outcomes, how to address inequities through schooling, and how to build, retain, and sustain the teaching workforce. A major accomplishment of this research is its demonstrated impact across school types, curriculum areas, grades, and at all points of teachers’ careers. Independent cost-benefit analysis shows QTR to be a low-cost intervention with strong return on investment. Collectively, this outstanding body of Australian evidence demonstrates the genuine scalability of QTR.

Laureate Professor, School of Education, The University of Newcastle (2017–present)

Director, Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, School of Education, The University of Newcastle (2013–present)

Professor, School of Education, The University of Newcastle (2000–2017)

Visiting Professor, University of Oxford (2018–2021)

Dean of Education and Head of School, School of Education, The University of Newcastle (2008–2013)

Fellowships: 

• Royal Society of NSW (2021)

• American Educational Research Association (2020)

Memberships:

• Editorial Board member, Oxford Review of Education (2023–present)

• Editorial Board member, Learning and Managing (2023–present)

• Schools Expert Reference Council, Social Ventures Australia (2021–present)

• External Expert, The Q Project (Quality Use of Evidence Driving Quality Education), Monash University (2021–2022)

• Editorial Board Member, Teaching Education (2019–present)

• Expert Panellist, Education Research Funding Programme (ERFP), National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore (2019–present)

• Member, Australian Research Council Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences panel for Engagement and Impact Assessment (2018)

• Expert Panellist, International Research Review Panel (IRRP), National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore (2017–2019)

• Member, Research Use and Evaluation Committee, Social Ventures Australia (2015–2021)

• Editor, Teaching and Teacher Education (Elsevier) (2015–2018)

• Member, International Editorial and Advisory Board, Sense Publishers (The Netherlands) (2014–present)

• Editorial Board Member, Australian Journal of Education (2012–2017)

• Member, National Initial Teacher Education Advisory Committee, Australian Institute for Teaching and School leadership (AITSL) (2012–2014)

• Associate Editor, Teaching and Teacher Education (Elsevier) (2003–2010)

• Executive Member, Australian Association for Research in Education (2001)

• President, NSW Teacher Education Council (2000–2002)

• Executive Member, Australian Council of Deans of Education (2000–2002)

• Editorial Board Member, Sport Education and Society (Taylor & Francis) (1990–present)

Awards:

• Distinguished Contribution to Research in Educational Leadership Award, ACEL South Australia Branch (2023)

• Dr Paul Brock Memorial Medal, Australian Council for Educational Leaders, NSW (2018)

• ACDE Award for Outstanding Service to Education, Australian Council of Deans of Education (2017)

• Radford Lecture and Award, Australian Association for Research in Education (2016)

• Springer Prize for Best Paper, Australian Association for Research in Education (2016)

• Carolyn D Baker Memorial Prize, University of Queensland (2015)

• Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2007)