The Australian College of Educators (ACE) is an Australian national professional association for educators.
Membership is open to all professional educators working in the
early childhood,
school, and
tertiary education sectors, as well as to
education research
Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects of education including student learning, teaching methods, teacher trai ...
ers and managers.
The College advocates for its members in seeking improvements in the status of the education profession.
History
The College was established in 1959 as the Australian College of Education at a conference held at
Geelong Grammar School at the instigation of the then-headmaster
James Darling.
It was renamed as the Australian College of Educators in 2002. Darling was the first National President of the ACE and was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
for his services to education and broadcasting in 1968. The
Buntine Oration, a biennial invited presentation made at the ACE conference, was established in 1960 by the four then-surviving children of
Walter Murray Buntine
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
(1866–1953) in his memory.
The inaugural Buntine Oration was presented by
Professor Peter Karmel, and was entitled ''Some Aspects of the Economics of Education''.
The College has been based in Victoria for most of its existence; it did move to Canberra in 1988, though it has since returned to Melbourne was based at the
Melbourne Graduate School of Education,
and then became part of the
Australian Council for Educational Research in 2019. The first
Jean Blackburn Jean Blackburn may refer to:
* Jean Blackburn (artist), American visual artist, illustrator, and educator
* Jean Edna Blackburn (1919–2001), Australian educator
{{Disambiguation ...
Oration was held in 2014, given by
David Gonski,
author of the
Gonski Report which was an important election issue in the
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
and
2016 federal elections.
Buntine oration
Walter Buntine had a significant role in the development of education in Victoria from his position as headmaster of
Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...
(1896–1932)
and his descendants have continued to be actively involved in education. His son,
M. Arnold Buntine (1898–1975), earned a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
in education from the
University of Edinburgh and was headmaster of
Camberwell Grammar School in Victoria and later the
Hale School in
Western Australia prior to
World War II after the war as headmaster of
Geelong College.
Arnold was married to
Gladys (Jim) Buntine (1901–1992), who was an educator in her role as Chief Commissioner of the Australian
Girl Guides and their son, Robert Buntine (1929–2014) had leadership roles at
The King's School and
Newington College in Sydney. Professor
Mark Buntine
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
of
Curtin University of Technology is the most current of the Buntine family of educators.
The inaugural oration was given by
Peter Karmel in 1962 at the third annual ACE conference.
The oration has been given by a series of high-profile people, including Sir
Paul Hasluck (Minister for External Affairs at the time, later the
Governor-General of Australia
The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.[Zelman Cowan
Sir Zelman Cowen, (7 October 1919 – 8 December 2011) was an Australian legal scholar and university administrator who served as the 19th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1977 to 1982.
Cowen was born in Melbourne, and attended ...](_blank)
(while he was Governor-General of Australia), Sir
Michael Somare (then-
Chief Minister of
Papua New Guinea and becoming the inaugural
Prime Minister on independence),
Peter Doherty (
Nobel Laureate in Medicine 1996 and
Australian of the Year
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...
in 1997),
Michael Kirby (then President of the
New South Wales Court of Appeal and later a
Justice of the High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is composed of seven Justices: the Chief Justice of Australia and six other Justices. There have been 56 Justices who have served as Justices of the High Court since its formation under the ''Judiciary Act 1903''. Un ...
) and
Robert French (then the Chancellor of
Edith Cowan University and later the Chief Justice of the High Court). Inaugural ACE National President Sir James Darling gave the 1972 oration of responsibility;
Barry McGaw Barry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name
* Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 1950 ...
is the only other National President to have been so honoured.
ACE National Presidents
Awards
At the national level, the College awards Fellowships (FACE) to "highly valued and exemplary educators" and also gives a writing award to students of education and teaching.
The most prestigious award from the ACE is the College Medal, awarded to one individual annually, "to acknowledge significant and distinctive contributions to the advancement of Australian education in any field, level or sector."
Various awards are given by individual states and regions.
References
External links
College Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian College of Educators
Education in Australia
Educational organisations based in Australia
Education policy in Australia
1959 establishments in Australia