Reimagining education through purpose

Schools and systems need to make some choices, because while we can do almost anything, we can’t do everything and we can’t keep doing what we’re currently doing. Of course, our choices have to be good choices that will have the greatest positive impact on children and young people.

So, how do we go about make these good choices? What can be learned from South Australia, where public education started by listening to our children and young people, and our wider community? The implications of developing a clear, shared purpose and reimagining our approach to education are profound. Our purpose guides our curriculum, assessment, leadership, the definition of success in schools, and even the confidence to put AI into classrooms through 1,500 students and their teachers. Our ambition is unwavering: to ensure all children and young people are equipped to learn and achieve, thrive and prosper wherever they find themselves in the world. This pursuit of purpose is underpinned by our guiding principles of collective responsibility, evaluating for impact, trust-and-verification, and being tight-and-flexible; maintaining a tight focus on purpose while being flexible in each site context.

In South Australia, we are a learning system with the ethos of "being the best at getting better". Our approach has already taken us to some interesting places! Come with us as we in learn from each other, drawing on the collective intelligence of educators and foster an educational ecosystem that thrives on innovation, collaboration, and the occasional productive failure.

Martin Westwell

Martin was appointed Chief Executive of the Department for Education in April 2022, following a successful 4 years as Chief Executive of the SACE Board.

Martin has worked extensively with education systems and other organisations in using evidence to inform policy, practice, innovation and impact in education.

He was a Chief Investigator in the national Australian Research Council (ARC) Science of Learning Research Centre, and has worked with UNESCO using evidence to inform strategic planning of education in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2018, Martin received the prestigious Australian Council for Educational Leaders’ (ACEL) Gold Medal, awarded for the most outstanding contribution to the study and practice of educational administration and leadership.

In 2007 Martin and his family moved to South Australia where he took the position of inaugural Director of the Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century and then Strategic Professor in the Science of Learning at Flinders University.

Martin completed his degree and PhD at Cambridge University and was a Research Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford University in biological chemistry.