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Professor and Director of the Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice, Monash University

Lucas is Director of the Monash Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice.

Lucas is co-chief investigator with Mark Rickinson on The Q Project (Quality Use of Evidence Driving Quality Education) funded by The Paul Ramsay Foundation, and Invisible Labour: Principals Emotional Labour in Volatile Times with Jane Wilkinson, Amanda Keddie, Fiona Longmuir and Christine Grice funded by The Australian Research Council.

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

1. The political, economic, cultural, social and technological dimensions of young people's participation - in particular their transitions to post-school life and the implications of these for educators, other service providers and policy makers. Current areas include youth transitions to employment and young people's experiences of citizenship.

2. How evidence can be used more effectively to support those working to improve the life-outcomes of children and young people.

3. Teacher professional learning and development in relation to the areas above.

Other areas of interest include developing better approaches to school-community partnerships addressing the needs of young people.

Lucas has worked in corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. He was a manager within the International Baccalaureate in the UK, has held four research fellowships and been invited to consult local and commonwealth governments. He has worked extensively in collaboration with universities, NGOs, governments and the private sector throughout his career and has briefed State and Federal Ministers and senior policy advisers.

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). Lucas was also Director of Research and Evaluation at the Foundation for Young Australians.

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

  • 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)