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 Early childhood is a stage in human development following infancy and preceding middle childhood. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterward. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. ...

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

, and

tertiary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

sectors, as well as to education researchers 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 , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"(1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ty ...

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 The Buntine Oration is a biennial invited presentation and speech made at the conference of the Australian College of Educators (ACE). It was established in 1960 by the four children of Dr Walter Murray Buntine who survived him – Dr R. M. Bu ...

, 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 The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), established in 1930, is an independent educational research organisation based in Camberwell, Victoria (Melbourne) and with offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Dubai, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lond ...

in 2019. The first Jean Blackburn Oration was held in 2014, given by

David Gonski David Michael Gonski (born 7 October 1953) is an Australian public figure and businessman. In 2008, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' described Gonski as "one of the country's best-connected businessmen" and dubbed him "Mr Networks" for being "a ...

, 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 in education from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and was headmaster of

Camberwell Grammar School , motto_translation = By our deeds may we be known , established = , type = Independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school , denomination = Anglican , slogan ...

in Victoria and later the

Hale School Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to b ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

after the war as headmaster of

Geelong College , motto_translation = Thus one goes to the stars , established = , type = Independent, co-educational, day and boarding, Christian school , denomination = in association with the Unitin ...

. Arnold was married to Gladys (Jim) Buntine (1901–1992), who was an educator in her role as Chief Commissioner of the Australian

Girl Guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

and their son, Robert Buntine (1929–2014) had leadership roles at The King's School and

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

in Sydney. Professor Mark Buntine of

Curtin University of Technology Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

is the most current of the Buntine family of educators. The inaugural oration was given by

Peter Karmel Peter Henry Karmel (9 May 192230 December 2008) was an Australian economist and professor. He chaired the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission that produced the report ''Schools in Australia'' in 1973. Biography Karmel was ...

in 1962 at the third annual ACE conference. The oration has been given by a series of high-profile people, including Sir

Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding min ...

(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 (while he was Governor-General of Australia), Sir

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

(then-

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and becoming the inaugural

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

and later a Justice of the High Court of Australia) and

Robert French Robert Shenton French (born 19 March 1947) is an Australian lawyer and judge who served as the twelfth Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 2008 to 2017. He has been the chancellor of the University of Western Australia since 2017. Fren ...

(then the Chancellor of

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Aust ...

and later the Chief Justice of the High Court). Inaugural ACE National President Sir James Darling gave the 1972 oration of responsibility; Barry McGaw 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