Elizabeth Tudball

Libby is currently the Director of Undergraduate Programs in the Faculty of Education.

She is President of the Social and Citizenship Education Association of Australia and has been involved in the revitalisation of civics education in this country as an expert advisor on the development of the new Australian curriculum for civics and citizenship.

'In Australia we often hear claims that we will have a world-class 21st-century curriculum,' Libby says. 'But that can't be achieved unless we have citizenship education. For young people to be able to participate as informed and active citizens, they need to have a sense of identity - of who they are and where they belong, as well as of their values and their connection to community.'

Libby's work in this field also involves collaborative links with academics involved in the international CITIZEd network and in England, Japan and Hong Kong. Such global connections crop up repeatedly in her research

'In this era our work needs to go beyond the borders of the nation,' she says, but warns that internationalisation is more than 'marketisation and commodification'.

'It is about capacity building, but it's also about looking at the role of the university in the 21st century world and issues such as the divide between rich and poor.'

As the leader of an international teaching practicum developed with colleagues at the Monash South Africa campus, Libby was impressed by the way her education students there handled teaching experience in schools that ranged from the highly privileged to those that lacked basic facilities.

International input also benefits her other research, including a joint project on teacher mentoring with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. An international online survey instrument is being utilised that is not only a vehicle for data collection for further research, but an immediately valuable resource for teacher mentors.

Not all Libby's horizons are so wide. Her rigorous self-study on teacher education, for example, brings the focus right back to developing quality and innovation in her own teaching. She has also been involved in strategic planning reviews of schools, writing commissioned research reports for the Victorian government.

Of her many interests, perhaps the one that best sums up her own approach is aiming to develop transformative practice in education at the school and higher education levels.

'It's about teaching that leads to greater community engagement, authentic purpose and real life learning for younger people, so they are involved in learning that has value beyond school.