David Loader is a pioneering Australian educator best known for his groundbreaking role in creating the world's first laptop classroom as principal of Methodist Ladies College (MLC). Loader was born in Queensland in 1941 and educated in New South Wales after his family relocated to Sydney in 1946. Following his graduation from North Sydney Technical High School in the late 1950s, he accepted a scholarship to study teaching at the University of Sydney. Loader began his teaching career in 1964 at Cabramatta High School. In 1967, he accepted an offer to work with young people and teach in Alberta, Canada. While teaching in the Canadian senior high school system he participated in a progressive education program that had a significant and lasting impact on his approach to education. The program was informed by the constructivist educational philosophy of John Dewey and emphasised student-led inquiry-based learning. Loader returned to Australia in the late 1960s and began working at a Sydney private boys' school, while also completing a Master of Education degree. His leadership credentials were enhanced by both - he initiated significant change at the school and produced a thesis that explored educational leadership. Loader became a school leader in 1971 when he was appointed principal of Presbyterian Ladies' College Orange (PLC Orange). This private girls' school was based in the regional New South Wales city of Orange. During his tenure (1971-1976), he oversaw remarkable institutional change. This included the transformation of the school into a co-educational school and its subsequent merger with a former local boys' school (Wolaroi College) to become the Kinross Wolaroi School. He also encouraged more progressive approaches to teaching and learning at the school, approaches he described as emphasising "exploration, invention, experimentation" (Johnson, 2003). In 1978, Loader became principal of Melbourne's Methodist Ladies College (MLC). He was just the fifth person to hold this role since the school opened in 1882. MLC was the largest single-sex school in Australia, but enrolments had been falling through the 1970s. Loader set to rejuvenating the school. He reorganized the school structure, engaged staff in reviewing school practices and empowered them in decision-making, and encouraged a more modern and progressive approach to education. By the mid-1980s enrolments were on the rise and it was evident that the changes overseen by Loader were working. Still, his most significant innovation was yet to come! In 1988, Loader attended the launch of the Sunrise School, a research and development initiative of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Melbourne Museum that explored how computers might reshape education. He was impressed by the way in which the Sunrise School demonstrated how computers could expand and enhance the type of self-directed, inquiry-based learning central to his own educational philosophy and vision for MLC. He contracted ACER to establish a Sunrise Centre at MLC to begin work in 1989. Following the success of the MLC 'Sunrise' classes of 1989, Loader expanded the program in 1990 and also instigated the introduction of one-to-one 'personal computing' classes. All Grade 5 students would have access to their own laptop computer at school and home. These laptop classes were a world first and Loader further committed MLC to becoming a laptop school. By 1994, all students in Grade 5 and above had a laptop as well as all staff. MLC established an international reputation as a leader in educational computing, attracting a steady stream of observers from across Australia and the world. In 1997, Loader left MLC to become Principal of Wesley College in Melbourne. This was Australia's largest school at this time. During his tenure (1997-2002) he was a driving force in the introduction of laptop computers at the school and a number of other major initiatives, including the establishment of the Year 9 residential program at Clunes. In 2003, Loader left Wesley and retired from school leadership. He remained active in the education sector as a consultant, academic in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, and member of a range of boards including Swinburne University and Cornish College. Loader is the author of three books: The Inner Principal: Reflections on Educational Leadership, Jousting for the New Generation: Challenges to Contemporary Schooling, and Our School Our Future (with Brian Caldwell). His contribution to educational leadership is widely recognized. In 1999, he received the Sir James Darling Medal from the Australian College of Education. In 2000, he was awarded the Centenary Medal 'for outstanding services to education' and in 2008, he received the Gold Medal from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders. In 2010, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for distinguished services to education, as a principal, mentor and author. Sources Johnstone, B. (2003) Never Mind the Laptops: Kids, Computers, and the Transformation of Learning, iUniverse, Lincoln. Loader, D. (1993) 'Reconstructing an Australian School', in Grasso, I, & Fallshaw, M (Eds.). Reflections of a learning community: Views on the Introduction of Laptops at MLC. Melbourne: MLC. Loader, D. (1993) 'The Audacity of Sunrise', in Grasso, I, & Fallshaw, M (Eds.). Reflections of a learning community: Views on the Introduction of Laptops at MLC. Melbourne: MLC. Loader, D. (1997) The Inner Principal, Falmer Press, London. Stager, G. (2015) 'Most Consequential Principal of Past Three Decades Coming to CMK 2015!', Constructing Modern Knowledge Conference Website, https://constructingmodernknowledge.com/most-consequential-principal-of-past-three-decades-coming-to-cmk-2015/

More Information