Our people - John Holmes
Coming
from a background in teaching and advising with the Education Department
and the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia, my
relatively short time with the University has ranged from lecturing in
drama, program directing to Head of School – all most enjoyable and
exciting positions. However, even after three years with the large and
evolving School of Education, my role as Associate Head of School
remains complex, difficult and far too demanding.
To alleviate the pressures of the major part of my job I retain great personal challenge by working with students at all levels – in undergraduate research courses like deconstructing sexualities, and as a wide-ranging doctoral supervisor. It is an honour to be Chair of the University’s Advisory Group for Students with a Disability, a diverse group which ensures that the University remains at the forefront in providing excellent and appropriate services for all students. My honours was in drama and english, my MA in the area of race and sexuality, and my EdD in physical theatre. Out of this diverse background I am now ranging over an octopus-like research collection: World War II diaries, the history of drama education in South Australia and the wonderfully in-your-face “cultures of the body”.
Staff home pages tell lots of stories, but not all. For example, my three children have all studied at UniSA – one uses her qualifications to work in Barcelona, one is finishing her second UniSA degree, and the third won a gold medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and studies intermittently. On the home pages we don’t refer to the annoyances of funding cuts which curtail quality teaching, or the incessant pressures that split campuses put on a school. Then again, neither do we praise an institution which actively supports diversity across all students and staff – background, ability, interest, aspiration or career change.
I am still here because of that diversity!
John Holmes is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of the school of
education.