May 1 marked an incredible milestone for Murdoch University's School of Education - 50 years of training and guiding the world's educators.

State and Federal MPs, alumni, students, staff, and distinguished guests gathered at Boola Katitjin to celebrate the occasion. 

The School of Education was one of the six foundation schools established for the first cohort of students who arrived at the South Street campus in 1975. The other five Schools greeting students on the opening day were Veterinary Studies; Environmental and Life Sciences; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; Human Communication; and Social Inquiry.

The pioneering cohort of the first 510 Murdoch students represented a big departure from the norms of the day. It was more diverse and with a larger mature-aged demographic. Almost half of the cohort were women, compared to the national average at the time of just 34%.

Speaking at the celebration was Emeritus Professor Brian Hill, the last of the 10 Murdoch Foundation Professors still with us. 

Born in Perth in 1934, Brian Hill became a high school teacher and travelling secretary of the interschool Christian Fellowship of NSW after completing a Bachelor of Arts at UWA in 1955 and Diploma of Education in 1956. Later, he was awarded a Master of Arts by the University of Sydney, and PhD from the University of Illinois in 1973. He arrived in Perth later that year when the University was still a pine plantation.

In his speech, Professor Hill outlined some of the pioneering ideas that emerged in the early days. Days when the School of Education began planning its curriculum in two rooms of the Noalimba Migrant Hostel in Bateman. 

Common practice at that time was to leave the training of primary teachers to Teachers Colleges.

Murdoch University decided to launch a degree specifically for school leavers hoping to become primary teachers. A revolutionary idea that drew criticism at the time.

In addition, Professor Hill and his team helped transform the methods for Education student’s practical experience in secondary schools.

“At the secondary level in almost all Australian universities it was common policy to offload the organisation and supervision of teaching practice onto local Teachers Colleges. Our alternative was to employ staff called Tutor Supervisors (TS) who focused on the practical component. A group of students would be assigned to a TS who accompanied them to a particular school and stayed with them through the fortnight of practical study," he said.

"I discussed this with local high schools and asked if we could borrow a spare room during this time for this purpose. None of them had any spare rooms. So, we decided to create a 4-metre caravan that would serve variously as the TS’s office, a space for group seminars and micro teaching where needed. A fleet of three was ready for use in early 1975 and for 25 years the fleet grew in number and served us well.”

President of the Australian Senate, Senator the Hon Sue Lines, attended the celebrations. A Murdoch alumna, Senator Lines was a graduate of the BA in Primary Teacher Education referenced in Professor Hill’s speech that was created in the School’s opening year.

Fellow Education alumna, The Hon. Sabine Winton MLA, Minister for Education; Early Childhood; Preventative Health; Wheatbelt was a primary school teacher for 27 years after graduating from Murdoch. In a speech she outlined how her time at the university was key in shaping her thinking and beliefs.

I am thankful for the role Murdoch played in not only shaping my teaching career, but I’m convinced it gave me my passion dedication and commitment to social justice – that’s really what education is  about - advocating, and it was really developed during my time here.
- Sabine Winton MLA

The next speaker was The Hon Dr Tony Buti MLA, Attorney General; Minister for Commerce; Tertiary and International Education; Multicultural Interests. Dr Buti taught at Murdoch’s Law School for a decade, which cemented his views on how Murdoch differed to other universities of the period.

“While you had different departments and faculties, there was great collaboration between the faculties – this is the university that encouraged diversity of opinion and held a strong emphasis on learning in different areas, not just in the subject students had come to university to study,” said Minister Buti.

The essence of the celebration and the ethos of the Murdoch School of Education was perhaps best encapsulated in a toast given by the Schools’s current Dean, Associate Professor Peter Whipp.

“Tonight, we celebrate a truly remarkable milestone – 50 years of education, innovation and impact at Murdoch. For five decades our School has helped thousands of teachers, leaders and changemakers – each one carrying forward the spirit of Murdoch into classrooms, communities and beyond," Associate Professor Whipp said. 

"As we look to the future, we honour the visionaries who built our foundations, the staff and the students who have strengthened them, and the alumni who continue to make a difference around the world.”