ISA prepared this submission in response to the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia’s (the Academy) and the Australian Association for Research in Education’s (AARE) consultation paper on their Decadal Plan for Australian Education Research.
The consultation paper outlines key priorities for education research over the next decade. ISA’s response focuses on the identified key areas of advancing justice, quality and equity across the education system, and on strengthening the teacher workforce.Drawing on Independent school case studies, this submission emphasises the importance of research that is grounded in lived experience, responsive to diverse contexts and capable of informing effective, sustainable policy. ISA’s response highlights the need for collaborative, place-based and system-wide research approaches. These approaches should address intersecting forms of disadvantage, workforce pressures, and structural inequities across early childhood education and care, schooling, and post-school pathways.