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Associate Professor David Hastie

Associate Professor David Hastie

Associate Professor of Education; Deputy Vice President Development

0422971246
Contact David Hastie

David is Deputy Vice President, Development, at Alphacrucis College. This is a strategic role in establishing school partnerships, teacher recruitment pathways, research, advocacy and thought leadership. Previously he was Education Strategist for the Anglican Schools Corporation (ASC). David is committed to strategically growing Australian student outcomes across multiple schools, school systems and tertiary sectors, by enhancing learning outcomes and school culture, many schools at a time. His PhD (Macquarie) examined the effects of religious schooling in Australia. He is the Executive Director of NECSTEP (National Education Cross Sector Teacher Education Pilot), has served on the NSW Council of Deans of Education, and has published widely in academic and broadsheet media, education and religious sector media, and presented extensively at education conferences. He has also written numerous policy and Parliamentary submissions, including being called as a witness to its public hearings. David has also served in a range of other teaching and education management roles in NSW rural and urban schools since 1997.

David is a member of the Teaching School Hubs (NECSTEP) and Faith-Based Education research clusters.

Qualifications

PhD (Macquarie University)
Dissertation Title English Teaching in NSW Protestant Schools. A study of religious effect. 2016

B.A.(Hons, 1st) (University of Sydney)
Dissertation Title Radical Politics in the Late Roman Republic 1992

Current Research

Research into the global school autonomy with accountability policies (SAWA) movements in the Island States of the South Pacific

Critical approaches to researching the global school autonomy with accountability policies (SAWA) movements have refined significantly in recent years through, amongst others, the ReformEd project and the SAWA Atlas resource. The project has thus far focused on Europe and the Americas, but with no significant collation of the SAWA movements in the 14 sovereign states, 2 Free Associated nations and 19 dependencies of the South Pacific. Particularly following the recent adoption of the Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA) (Belisle, Cassity, Kacilala, et.al, 2016;  SPBA 2013; Tobin, Lietz, Nugroho, et.al. 2013), examining SAWA movements in the Pacific Islands affords an opportunity to present a paradigmatic case study for some of the key concerns of EERA network 23, including ‘Europeanisation and the politics of globalisation’, and the extents to which notions of ‘reconnecting communities’ in Europe and beyond are shaped by Eurocentric perceptions of community and education, constructs which, in the global SAWA movements, can form an incongruous fit for the complex ethnicities of Education in the South Pacific. It also presents an opportunity to apply a hitherto absent critical education sociology lens to the PILNA programme as it unfolds. The paper seeks to begin by a proposal to update the data for the SAWA Atlas, by setting the frames for researching the 12 largest pacific nations (excluding Australia and New Zealand), Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Their problematized education systems are briefly surveyed, along with the public claims by their governments about their approaches to school education accountability and autonomy. A closer focus is then presented through multiple semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga, based on the sample profile of the ReformEd methods in Europe and the Americas (Fontdevila, 2019: 4). Methods for framing evaluation of gaps between claim and practice are explored, along with the cultural and material challenges that contribute to these gaps, including the global geopolitical pressures, most notably implications for the rise of Chinese influence in the Pacific, and the ongoing complex relationships between the Pacific Islands, and Australia and New Zealand.

Finally, a further field study is proposed of the widespread phenomena of ‘village schools’, as a subset of a Pacific village teacher- training initiative that the author and colleagues are pioneering as a foreign aid / soft diplomacy initiative with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), modelled on the regional Australian clinical teacher training Hubs model, that had its first academic presentation by the author at the 2019 EERA conference in Hamburg.  

Training ‘on country, for country’. Local teacher training through Clinical Training Clusters as a solution to community disadvantage

Alienation of sub-communities in Western societies poses a risk to liberal democracy, perhaps its greatest risk. When democracy fails to ameliorate systemic disadvantage, then disaffected peoples withdraw from the social contract. It has long been understood that education based in liberal democratic ideals empowers and liberates such communities, inducting them into the materials and tools of social participation, and the dignity of work. Yet maintaining the quality of education amongst the marginalized remains an expensive challenge. One of the key causes is inconsistent teacher quality. This inconsistency is fuelled in part by an intrinsic repellence of talent away from the challenges of living and working amongst disadvantaged groups, often fed by geographic isolation, the lower quality of life, limited access to services, and perceived safety and opportunity risks to the young families of teachers. In the Australian regional, rural and remote (RRR) context, it has been shown that ‘importing’ teacher talent into disadvantaged communities through incentives and inducements has largely failed to redress the teacher-quality problem, as such teachers mostly leave after a required tenure. I argue that the solution lies in halting the exodus of talent from these communities in the first place, such teachers already having a family and sentimental attachment to the genius loci of their homes, and a heightened interest in advancing their home communities or, to employ an Aboriginal term, ‘on country’. I examine an initial teacher education (ITE) pilot project in the NSW Hunter Region, that seeks to train teachers ‘On country, For country’, through an innovative blend of financial and community incentives, the clinical practice model for initial teacher education, and a ‘business to business’ partnership between consortia of schools in a tertiary partnership. The programme seeks to attract and retain local talent into teaching- training, by locating training entirely onsite through a mixed mode of delivery, and a bonded minimum viable numbers model. It is also attracting the attention of national policy makers who are increasingly frustrated with conventional ITE approaches. As the model is currently being developed in Remote indigenous teacher training, I propose that the model may be scalable to a range of contexts in Europe and beyond, including European concentrated migrant and refugee communities, ethnic minorities, Mountain Communities and European and Nth American indigenous communities. 

The History of Independent Schools

Research Interests

Education policy, initial teacher education, new school development and planning, Australian education sector comparisons and statistics, models of religious education, secondary English education, text censorship in schools, Australian education history, education and society, literary arts

Book Chapters

  • 2017
    • Hastie, D. (2017). An unexpected shift in the Australian educational social contract In Collier, J., Goodlet, K., & Goerge, T., Better learning: Trajectories for educators in Christian schools (pp. ). Barton Books.
  • 2014
    • Hastie, D. (2014). Transforming the curriculum: English In Goodlet, K., & Collier, J. (eds.), Teaching well: Insights for educators in Christian schools (pp. ). Barton Books.
  • 2012
    • Hastie, D. (2012). English teaching in Anglican schools In Frame, T., Ministry in Anglican schools: Essays and reflections (pp. ). .

Journal Articles

  • 2018
    • Hastie, D. (2018). Should we ban books in schools? Arguments from the public history of Australian school text censorship.. English in Australia, 53 (3). | External link
  • 2017
    • Hastie, D. (2017). Religious education and the challenge of pluralism. International Journal of Christianity & Education, 21, (1), 85-86.
    • Hastie, D. (2017). The Latest Instalment in the Whig Interpretation of Australian Education History: Catherine Byrne's JORH Article “Free, Compulsory and (not) Secular”. Journal of Religious History, Volume 41, (3). | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2017). Teacher and institutional self-censorship of English texts in NSW Protestant schools. English in Australia, 52 (1), 36-45.
  • 2012
    • Hastie, D. (2012). Satanic portals and sex-saturated books: Parent complaints about English texts in NSW protestant schools. English in Australia, 49, (1) 63-71. | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2012). In search of holy transcripts: Approaches to researching religious schools. Journal of Education and Christian Belief, 16 (1). | External link
  • 2010
    • Hastie, D. (2010). The retreat from Critical Literacy in the new Australian English Curriculum. Journal of Christian Education, 53, (1).

Internal and External Grants

  • 2024
    • Collaborative Research Grant, $5000, AC

Presentations

  • 2024
    • The Church and the Schools in Sydney: Legacy and Leadership (2024), Annual Moore College Lecture, Sydney, 06 Jun 2024
  • 2019
    • Training ‘On Country, For Country’. Local Teacher Training Through Clinical Training Clusters As A Solution To Community Disadvantage (2019), European Educational Research Association (EERA): 'Education in an Era of Risk – the Role of Educational Research for the Future', Hamburg, 03 Sep 2019
    • (transcript) Public hearing evidence at House of Representatives standing committee on Employment, Education and Training's inquiry into the status of the teaching profession (2019), House of Representatives standing committee on Employment, Education and Training's inquiry into the status of the teaching profession, Sydney, 05 Mar 2019
  • 2018
    • Submission 50 House of Representatives standing committee on Employment, Education and Training's inquiry into the status of the teaching profession (2018), Parliament of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 20 Dec 2018
    • Submission 84 to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee's inquiry into legislative exemptions that allow faith-based educational institutions to discriminate against students, teachers and staff (2018), Parliament of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 22 Nov 2018
    • Submission 84 to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee's inquiry into legislative exemptions that allow faith-based educational institutions to discriminate against students, teachers and staff (2018), Parliament of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 22 Nov 2018

Engagement Publications

Books

  • 2018
    • Hastie, D. & Greenwood, K. (eds) (2018). THRIVING IN COMMUNITY. A Christian Schools Australia Curriculum Guide in response to Element 6 of the National Safe Schools Framework. Christian Schools Australia.

Popular Articles

  • 2021
    • Hastie, D. (2021). Alan Tudge's Healthy Ambition. Crucis, . | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2021). Teaching history and civics in Australian schools: What has the National Curriculum Review rectified, and what has it neglected?. ABC Religion & Ethics, . | External link
  • 2020
    • Hastie, D. (2020). It’s time to rebuild the apprenticeship system. The Australian, June 16, 2020.
  • 2019
    • Hastie, D. (2019). Trade deal opens up a niche export market. The Australian, May 29, 2019. | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2019). Here's a plan to create more inspirational teachers. The Australian, February 21, 2019.
  • 2018
    • Hastie, D. (2018). The battle for Christian schools. Eternity, November 28, 2018. | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2018). School war has unraveled our national story. The Sydney Morning Herald, August 5, 2018. | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2018). Labor risks voter whirlwind with attack on faith-based schools. The Sydney Morning Herald, December 6, 2018. | External link
  • 2014
    • Hastie, D (2014). Big secularism or the Australian sprawl? Why Marion Maddox is wrong about Christian Education. ABC Religion and Ethics Online, April 28, 2014. | External link
    • Hastie, D. (2014). Liberty and equality: Australia's history of schooling that Marion Maddox doesn't tell. ABC Religion & Ethics Online, May 28, 2014. | External link
  • 2012
    • Hastie, D. (2012). Unbending public system renews faith in religious schools. Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, The Age, National Times.com.au and WAToday.com.au, July 23, 2012.
    • Hastie, D. (2012). Put ideology to one side for a moment and look at the work chaplains do. Sydney Morning Herald and Brisbane Times, The Age, Canberra Times, National Times.com.au, August 10, 2012. | External link
  • 2011
    • Hastie, D. (2011). Why the great narratives must be passed on. Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, The Age, National Times.com.au, The Times of India, November 4, 2011.

Other Publications

  • 2019
    • Hastie, D., Hutchinson, M., & Jensen, N. (2019). Response to the National Regional, Rural and Remote Education Strategy (NRRRES). | External link

Current Supervision

  • Current
    • Brown, M, Re-imagining parent partnership in Christian education: the impact of parent teacher coaching in building parent partnerships (PhD thesis)
    • Wilkes, J, Christian Approaches to Special Education: The Relationship Between Religious Belief and Attitudes Towards Inclusion. (PhD thesis)
    • Norman, M, The value of religious education (SRE and GRE) to a multicultural Australia (PhD thesis)

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