Lucas Walsh

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Professor of Education Policy and Practice, Youth Studies, Monash University

Profile Articles

Lucas is Professor of Education Policy and Practice, Youth Studies and director of the Monash Centre for Youth Policy & Education Practice (CYPEP), which created influential research such as The Australian Youth Barometer, and other investigations into young people's food insecurity, exclusion, careers education, personal finances, education and working life.

His interest is in how to better support children and young people through education. His research spans early years, compulsory and post-compulsory schooling, as well as informal and non-formal learning. He has a strong interest in the professional learning of teachers and school leaders, ITE and school funding.

Currently Lucas is exploring responses to the questions: what does the world within and beyond school look like for young people and what types of education and training do they need to navigate it? His research focuses on:

The political, economic, cultural, social and technological dimensions of young people's participation, student voice and the student experiece - in particular their transitions through school to post-school life and the implications of these for educators, other service providers and policy makers.
How evidence can be used more effectively to support those working to improve the life-outcomes of children and young people.
Educator professional learning and development in relation to the areas above.
Higher education, student experiece, policy and practice.
He has a lifelong passion for education because it is a key driver of social and economic change. The aim is to influence policy and practice by building connections and surprising alliances needed for evidence-based change.

Lucas has served as Associate Dean (Berwick), Associate Dean (Academic Staff), Deputy Dean and Interim Dean of the Faculty of Education. He has worked in corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. He was a manager within the International Baccalaureate in the UK, held four research fellowships and was Director of Research and Evaluation at the Foundation for Young Australians.

Lucas has worked extensively in collaboration with universities, NGOs, governments and the private sector. His work has included joint research, education and evaluation projects with industry, philanthropy and government, engaging with youth entrepreneurs and change-makers, and educators seeking to make a difference.

Professor Walsh champions research translation to wider audiences, policymakers and practitioners through real world applications.

Lucas has advised local and commonwealth governments and briefed state and federal ministers and senior policy advisers.

He has published in and provided commentary to every major news outlet in Australia and numerous international news publications. He has, for example, provided regular commentary for the U.S. publication Newsweek.

He has led interdisciplinary teams and received over $12 million in competitive grants, project and philanthropic funding.

Lucas has conducted research in Australia, South East Asia, Solomon Islands, France, Türkiye, Canada, and the UK. He has been chief investigator on projects for the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, South Australian Government, Western Australian Government, Federal Department of Education and National Curriculum Board (ACARA). Notably, Lucas was a chief investigator on The Q Project (Quality Use of Evidence Driving Quality Education) funded by The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

He is currently a chief investigator on: Invisible labour: Principals' emotional labour in volatile times, which is funded by the Australian Research Council.

Experience

• 2018–present Professor, Policy & Practice, Youth Studies, Monash University
• 2021–present Director, Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice, Monash University
• 2019–2020 Interim Dean, Faculty of Education, Monash University
• 2017–2020 Deputy Dean, Faculty of Education, Monash University
• 2017–2017 Associate Dean (Academic Staff), Faculty of Education, Monash University
• 2012–2016 Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Berwick), Faculty of Education, Monash University
• 2014–2015 Co-Leader, Academic Community: Work, Learning and Leadership, Monash University
• 2012–2013 Senior Research Fellow, The Foundation for Young Australians
• 2008–2012 Senior Executive, Research and Evaluation, The Foundation for Young Australians, The Foundation for Young Australians
• 2009–2012 Fellow, Centre for Everyday Life, Murdoch University

Education

• 2002 Monash University, PhD
• 1992 University of Melbourne, Bachelor of Arts (Honours, Political Science)
• 1991 University of Melbourne, Graduate Diploma in Education

Publications

• 2026 How to Use Research Evidence Well in Education, Routledge
• 2026 Evidence and Insights to Inform Early Years Practice, Routledge
• 2024 Understanding Quality Use of Research Evidence, Routledge
• 2023 Decisions and Dilemmas of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education, Routledge
• 2019 Imagining Youth Futures: University Students in Post-Truth Times, Springer
• 2019 Young People in Digital Society: Control Shift, Palgrave
• 2018 Rethinking Youth Citizenship After the Age of Entitlement, Bloomsbury
• 2016 Educating Generation Next: Young People, Teachers and Schooling in Transition, Palgrave
• 2011 In Their Own Hands: Can Young People Change Australia?(with Rosalyn Black), ACER Press
• 2009 Building Bridges: Creating a Culture of Diversity (with Fethi Mansouri, Louise Jenkins and Michael Leach), Melbourne University Publishing
• 2007 Recognition in Politics: Theory, Policy and Practice (edited with Julie Connolly and Michael Leach), Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Research Areas

• Education (13)
• Education Systems (1301)
• Comparative And Cross Cultural Education (130302)
• Political Science (1606)
• Sociology Of Education (160809)
• Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation And Social Impact Assessment (160801)

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