Professor Debra Bateman
Debra Bateman is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Deakin University. She is extraordinarily interested in futures studies, and how school practices are shaped and involved in shaping the ways that learners perceive their futures. Debra is particularly interested notions of innovation – whether in space, time or practice. In 2010, she was awarded an ALTC Citation for Outstanding Innovation in Teaching and Learning.
The schools involved in this project have challenged my own thinking, and much of the literature around effective learning spaces. Insofar as the design of physical spaces is important, the innovations are undoubtedly linked to the craftsmanship and skill of school leadership teams, teachers in classrooms, communities and the students. For me, the concept of innovation continues to be quite subjective as what appears to one person as an innovation doesn’t seem as fitting for another. At the very least, innovations in education are always creative and responsive in considering complex aspects of learning.