Education academic wins media award
University of the Sunshine Coast education academic Dr Michael Nagel has won a national media award for an article he wrote about training educators.
The article, entitled “Teaching the Teachers”, featured in Copeland Publishing’s parenting magazine Sydney’s Child in Sydney and the magazine’s equivalents in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide in March.
The publisher nominated Dr Nagel’s article for the Professional Teachers Council NSW Media Award – an award that recognises those who contribute positively to changing the public’s perception of the significance of teaching as well as identifying the value to the community of teaching as a profession.
Dr Nagel will receive his award from NSW Education and Training Minister Verity Firth in Sydney on Tuesday 16 December.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “Firstly, the award was unexpected, and secondly, it’s recognition by a professional teaching organisation that has said my article was valuable in describing how we teach teachers.”
Dr Nagel said his article emphasised that teaching was both an art as well as a science, and that great teachers were those who enabled students to be happy and engaged in learning.
“As a teacher you can learn as much theory as you like but, at the end of the day, it’s whether students enjoy coming to your classroom or not that will determine how well they learn,” he said.
Dr Nagel said the highly personal approach taken by University of the Sunshine Coast education academics provided a strong example for pre-service teachers.
“We try to, as much as talking the talk, to walk the talk as well,” he said.
“There’s also no question that we’re very privileged to have such good partners in our area. We have got some outstanding schools and teacher mentors that we work with.”
— Terry Walsh