Sustainable Learning began in 2013 with Lorraine, Jeanette and Anne’s reflections on what made good inclusive teaching. At that time we were all were associated with the University of New England in Armidale, Australia. Our work together resulted in the publication of Sustainable Learning: Inclusive Practices for 21st Century Classrooms (Cambridge, 2015). We were subsequently joined by Lisa, when we had the opportunity to work with the ideas from Sustainable Learning in Ecuador in 2018 and 2019. The four of us have worked together ever since and recently published Responsive Teaching for Sustainable Learning: A Framework for Inclusive Education (Routledge, 2024). We are all now affiliated with the University of Melbourne and continue our work together and separately in a range of domains of inclusive education.
In 2013, Lorraine, Jeanette and Anne spent time deeply reflecting on their work in inclusive teaching and inclusive teacher education, in order to crystallise what it was they were doing and teaching about. Lots of whiteboard discussions led to the conceptualisation that is the basis of our continued work in inclusive education – Sustainable Learning: Learning for all. Learning that lasts. Teaching that matters. Our thinking was that inclusive teaching needed to be unpacked because it is more than including learners who are traditionally excluded or marginalised into classrooms. We settled on the foundational tenet that our approach must have principles that are pertinent for all learners, including those with disabilities, experiencing learning difficulties, who have experienced trauma, those for whom the education system is a cultural mismatch, and those who are gifted. Sustainable Learning is learning for all.
We also considered what we wanted the outcomes of our teaching to be for all these learners. We want them to be set up for continued learning after school and throughout their lives, that is, we want students to experience learning that lasts. A way for to move towards this goal is to focus on the capabilities that are needed to support lifelong learning and students’ adaptation to the amazingly dynamic world in which we live. We considered the range of capabilities being used in curriculum and decided on five that encapsulate what sustainable learners need: Active learning; Thinking, Relating to others; Using language and other symbol systems and information communication technology; and Managing the self.
We then turned our attention to how best to teach the incredibly diverse learners in our classrooms. We want to instil outcomes that support our students throughout life and we came to define this as teaching that matters. Teaching matters enormously! It is the difference between learning and not learning for many students. After much more discussion, we determined that the teaching that matters needed to respond to the learning needs of the students, and therefore Responsive Teaching was what made the difference. Thus, we generated the content of our first book together, Sustainable Learning: Inclusive practices for 21st Century Classrooms.
Working within the Learning Intervention Academic Group at The University of Melbourne provided the context for an extension of Sustainable Learning and Responsive Teaching into educational casework. Many students are the focus of educational caseworkers who are specialist teachers, school psychologists and other professionals. Driven by Jeanette, a school psychologist and teacher, this volume, Learning Intervention, was published in 2018. The emphasis in Sustainable Learning on knowing ‘students as learners’ was also the basis for the development of two subjects in courses offered by the Faculty of Education at The University of Melbourne.
In 2018, our team had the privilege of taking the Sustainable Learning work to Ecuador. We provided intensive inservice workshops for practising teachers in Inclusive Education and Sustainable Learning. Transforming the ideas in Sustainable Learning into practical workshops lay the Foundation for our third book, Responsive Teaching for Sustainable Learning, published in 2024.
Lorraine Graham is Professor of Learning Intervention at The University of Melbourne. Her work focuses on the effective teaching of students with learning difficulties, sustainable learning, self-regulation and teacher professional learning. Lorraine is a Fellow of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, and received recognition as a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to inclusive learning in 2023.
Jeanette Berman has been a teacher, school psychologist and teacher educator in Australia, and a teacher of educational psychologists in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since retirement she is Principal Fellow, Associate Professor, in the Learning Intervention team at the University of Melbourne. Jeanette received an Order of Australia Medal for services to education in 2023.
Anne Bellert is Senior Lecturer in the Learning Intervention Academic Group at The University of Melbourne. She has extensive experience advising school leaders and teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities in school settings. Anne co-ordinates core subjects in initial teacher education, and teaches postgraduate subjects in inclusive education and leadership.
Lisa McKay-Brown is Associate Professor and Co-Lead of the Learning Intervention Academic Group at The University of Melbourne. Lisa has worked in a range of education settings, with a particular focus on students with disability. Her research is at the nexus of health and education, and focuses on school attendance problems, positive behaviour support, and inclusive education.
Collaborators – Who are we?
Sustainable Learning has had a global impact since 2017. We are proud to showcase the work of Claudia Pulido. Speech Pathologist, teacher and researcher, who has an unwavering commitment to inclusive education. Claudia has led comprehensive communicative rehabilitation programs in schools within vulnerable communities in Colombia. Collaborating with the Sustainable Learning team, Claudia has been instrumental in leading the teacher training program in Ecuador which reached over 20,000 educators across all levels of the public and private sectors. Claudia’s commitment to education has accelerated our global influence. Currently a doctoral student at The University of Melbourne, Claudia’s deep interest in inclusive education and professional learning drives her research into the challenges that teachers face in inclusive classrooms.
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