About

About Me:

I’m an expat American from NY and have been living in Australia for almost 20 years. Before I became a teacher, I had a varied background, which started in the United States Marin Corps, where I was an infantry sergeant. Post military I worked as a personal trainer, US postal service mailman, plumber’s labourer, bar tender and bar owner.  Currently I am a Prof in Education at the University of Notre Dame Australia (profile). I am also the co-founder and board president of the Dayamani Foundation, a not-for-profit charity based in Australia dedicated to improving the educational possibilities for under-privileged in disadvantaged communities in Tenali, AP, India. I am also currently the Vice President of the NSW Institute for Educational Research.

I am passionate about education and the educational possibilities of young people everywhere. The tagline for this website: Maximising Student Potential is something I tell every student that I come into contact with. This profession is not about teaching – if you’re worried about teaching, you are in the wrong place.  The name of the game is student learning, we are simply tools in that process. I aim to inspire and encourage teachers to maximise the potential of their students through an understanding of what students need and how they learn. Hopefully, some of my insights will resonate with you, but I’m sure some of them won’t. There is nothing easy about the learning and teaching cycle and there is no shortage of views out there, but my goal is to help you understand your profession and understand yourself as a teacher. I want to maximise your potential as a teacher, so that you can maximise the potential of your students as a teacher.

Qualifications

PhD – Beginning Teacher Induction – 2012, UOW, AUS

MEd (Special & Inclusive Ed) – 2023, UNDA, AUS

MEd (Ed Leadership) w/ Distinction – 2005, UOW, AUS

Graduate Certificate in Education (Special Needs) – 2021, UNDA, AUS

BA – Major History / Minor Education – SBU, NY, USA

MBA – 2020-Current, UNDA, AUS