Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
David Didau — education consultant, teacher trainer, and author of Making Kids Cleverer and Intelligent Accountability — and Dr Jenny Donovan — inaugural CEO of the Australian Education Research Organisation and former head of the NSW Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation — join the Centre for Independent Studies to make the case for systemic reform over individual teacher improvement.
Didau challenges the prevailing deficit view of teachers, arguing that educators already behave rationally within the systems they work in, and that redesigning those systems is a far more powerful lever than targeting individual practice. He frames every teaching decision around three core questions: is every student paying attention, do they understand what's being taught, and are they actually improving?
Donovan brings a research and policy lens to the discussion, drawing on her extensive work translating education evidence into real classroom impact at both the state and national level. Together, the panel explores teacher beliefs, school leadership, the smart use of classroom observation, and the opportunity cost of focusing on home environments rather than where teachers have the most direct impact — in the classroom.
The discussion is chaired by Trisha Jha, Research Fellow in the Education Program at the Centre for Independent Studies, and recorded live at CIS in Sydney, Australia.
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David Didau — education consultant, teacher trainer, and author of Making Kids Cleverer and Intelligent Accountability — and Dr Jenny Donovan — inaugural CEO of the Australian Education Research Organisation and former head of the NSW Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation — join the Centre for Independent Studies to make the case for systemic reform over individual teacher improvement.
Didau challenges the prevailing deficit view of teachers, arguing that educators already behave rationally within the systems they work in, and that redesigning those systems is a far more powerful lever than targeting individual practice. He frames every teaching decision around three core questions: is every student paying attention, do they understand what's being taught, and are they actually improving?
Donovan brings a research and policy lens to the discussion, drawing on her extensive work translating education evidence into real classroom impact at both the state and national level. Together, the panel explores teacher beliefs, school leadership, the smart use of classroom observation, and the opportunity cost of focusing on home environments rather than where teachers have the most direct impact — in the classroom.
The discussion is chaired by Trisha Jha, Research Fellow in the Education Program at the Centre for Independent Studies, and recorded live at CIS in Sydney, Australia.
👉 Support CIS Research:
🔹 Become a member: https://www.cis.org.au/membership-2-step-1/
🔹 Make a donation: https://www.cis.org.au/support/donate/today/
🔹 Learn more: https://www.cis.org.au/
👉 Further reading:
______________________________________________________________________________________________
CIS promotes free choice and individual liberty and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can prosper. Follow CIS on our Socials;
Twitter - twitter.com/CISOZ
Facebook - facebook.com/CentreIndependentStudies
Linkedin - linkedin.com/company/the-centre-for-independent-studies
Telegram - https://t.me/centreforindependentstudies
📖 Read more from CIS here: https://www.cis.org.au/
💬 Join in the conversation in the comments.
👍 Like this video if you enjoyed it and want to see more, it really helps us out!
🔔 Subscribe to our channel and click the bell to watch our videos first: youtube.com/channel/UC5c-JkKHb0YxFZ81XBtFCmw?sub_confirmation=1
⏲️ Missed this event live? Subscribe to CIS to be up to date with all our events:
https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
📝 Subscribe to CIS mailing list- https://www.cis.org.au/subscribe/
💳 Support us with a tax-deductible donation at - https://www.cis.org.au/support/
