Dr George Robert Teasdale

Welcome to my home page. I am a relatively recent arrival at the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education & Research (DUCIER), having been appointed in early 2008. I am here on a part-time basis, my primary role being to support the research activities of the College. I assist with the planning of the fortnightly research seminars, and serve as an academic mentor to staff and post-graduate students. I'm always happy to read and comment on drafts of thesis chapters, conference papers or journal articles. If you are a staff member or research student at DUCIER please feel free to contact me via email at any time for support of this kind. I'm also happy to discuss research proposals and assist with the preparation of funding applications.

I have worked as an educator for nearly fifty years, first as a primary school teacher in NSW, and subsequently as a tutor in education at the University of New England. I then moved to Adelaide to join the School of Education at Flinders University (1970-2003). I was founding director of the Flinders University Institute of International Education (1997-2003). I also have worked extensively on development assistance projects, and on several UNESCO programs. Most recently I was director of the AusAID-funded Nusa Tenggara Timur Primary Education Project, based in Flores, eastern Indonesia (2002-03), and of the Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education (the PRIDE Project) (2004-07), based at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. Funded jointly by the EU and NZAID, the latter project is assisting fifteen Pacific nations to rebuild their education systems on a stronger foundation of local cultures, languages and epistemologies. Since returning to Australia in 2007 I have been assisting the Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO in its programs of education for sustainable development.

Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO

Pacific Regional Initiatives for the Delivery of Basic Education (the PRIDE Project)

Life member, International Council on Education for Teaching

Past President, Australian Teacher Education Association

Member, Australian Institute for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies

BA (Honours in Education), University of New England, 1966

PhD in Education, University of New England, 1973

• Education for sustainable futures; education for peace and international understanding
• Comparative, international, Indigenous and cross-cultural perspectives on education
• International development assistance and education, especially in the Asia-Pacific region
• Indigenous ways of thinking, knowing and learning; curriculum localisation

Here are some of my recent publications:

Teasdale GR Introduction: new visions, new pathways. Chapter in Tokai E & Teasdale JI (eds) The role of TVET in Pacific secondary schools: new visions, new pathways. University of the South Pacific, Suva, Pacific Education Series #7, 2009, pp 1-12.

Teasdale GR Curriculum localization: a view from the south. Chapter in Dasen PR & Akkari A (eds) Educational theories and practices from the majority world. Sage, New Delhi, 2008, pp 125-144.

Teasdale GR Holistic approaches towards education for sustainable development. Chapter in Nagata Y & Yoshida A (eds) Sustainable education and culture. Seseragi, Tokyo, 2008, pp 32-49 (in Japanese)

Puamau PQ & Teasdale GR The urban and the peripheral: new challenges for education in the Pacific. Chapter in Pink WT & Noblit GW (eds) International handbook of urban education. Springer, Dordrecht, 2007, pp 265-284.

Teasdale GR & Puamau PQ (eds) Educational planning in the Pacific: principles and guidelines. University of the South Pacific, Suva, Pacific Education Series #1, 2005, xviii+131pp.

Nan-Zhou Z & Teasdale GR (eds) Teaching Asia-Pacific core values of peace and harmony: a sourcebook for teachers. UNESCO, Bangkok, 2004, ix+280pp.

Teasdale GR Le rôle de l’éducation dans la survie des petites cultures autochtones. Chapter in Akkari A & Dasen PR (eds) Pédagogues et pédagogies du sud. L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004, pp 53-84.

Nagata Y & Teasdale GR Education for peace and international understanding. Chapter 46 in Keeves JP & Watanabe R (eds) Handbook of educational research in the Asia Pacific region. Kluwer, Dordrect, 2003.

Teasdale GR Education and cultural rights: an Asia-Pacific perspective. Chapter in Wilson M & Hunt P (eds) Culture, rights and cultural rights: perspectives from the South Pacific. Huia, Wellington (NZ), 2000, pp 117-128.

Teasdale GR & Ma Rhea Z (eds) Local knowledge and wisdom in higher education. Pergamon, Oxford, 2000, xxxi+264pp.

Teasdale JI & Teasdale GR Alternative cultures of knowledge in higher education in the Australia-Pacific region. Chapter in Leach FE & Little AW (eds) Education, cultures and economics: dilemmas for development. Garland, New York, 1999.

Teasdale GR Local and global knowledge in higher education: a search for complementarity in the Asia-Pacific region. International Journal of Educational Development, 1998, 18(6), 501-511.

Teasdale JI & Teasdale GR Pathways to where? Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in vocational education and training. NCVER, Adelaide, 1996, xi+125pp.

Luteru PH & Teasdale GR Aid and education in the South Pacific. Comparative Education, 1993, 29(3), 293-306.

Teasdale GR & Teasdale JI (eds) Voices in a seashell: education, culture and identity. USP Institute of Pacific Studies, Suva; UNESCO, Paris, 1992, vi+76pp.