Dr David Zyngier

David works in the Faculty of Education at Monash University as a Senior Lecturer in the areas of Curriculum and Pedagogy and is an Associate Professor at Southern Cross University. He was previously a teacher and school principal. His research on Democracy in Education was awarded $366,000 from the Australian Research Council for 2013-2015 and $265,000 from the Canadian Social Science Research Council. In 2016 – 2018 David will lead an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade funded ($44,000) project using the expertise and experience of Australia’s proven excellence in Civics and Citizenship Education to assist in the development of a national educational framework in Thailand as the country moves forward to full democracy in conjunction with Thai Civics Education Network, the Basic Education Commission of Thailand (OBEC) and schools in Thailand, the Faculty of Education, Chulalongkorn University, the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University. 

His research focuses on teacher pedagogies that engage all students but in particular how these can improve outcomes for students from communities of disadvantage. David focuses on issues of social justice and social inclusion. He has a strong national and international research reputation as well as being widely recognised locally in school education as having a high level of expertise in curriculum theory and practice. He works within a critical and post-structural orientation to pedagogy that is distinguishable by its commitment to social justice (with interests in who benefits and who does not by particular social arrangements) investigating how school education can improve student outcomes for all but in particular for at risk students.