We are delighted to welcome Bernard Brown, Caroline Ferguson, Bryan Smith, and Jia Ying Neoh to the 2025 Social Educator Editorial Team.

The Social Educator, the official journal of SCEAA, serves as a dynamic forum for sharing innovative practices, exploring new teaching methodologies, and presenting scholarly research in social and citizenship education. This peer-reviewed journal provides a collaborative space for practitioners, researchers, and anyone engaged in social and citizenship education to share ideas, research, and practices.

We welcome article submissions throughout the year – all of which undergo a peer review process.

We are inviting SCEAA and community members from diverse contexts to join our team as Advisory Editors. Your expertise will help enrich the journal and contribute to its ongoing excellence. Please send us an email at [email protected] to express your interest.

We are also now accepting papers for the first 2025 issue of The Social Educator.
Theme: International perspectives on citizenship education
Sub-questions:

• What are the pressing issues for citizenship education in national contexts?
• How is the future of citizenship education conceptualised in the context of global volatility, shifting geo-political dynamics? (eg. post-covid complications/inequality/conflict/rise of right-wing politics/democratic and ecological backsliding)
• What does education for belonging and inclusion mean in contemporary times and what role does citizenship (education) need to play in this work?
• What are the current critical policy trends or concerns impacting civics and citizenship education?​

Save the date! Join SCEAA in Townsville, QLD on June 27 and 28, 2025.

​Theme: Place, Democratic Participation, and the Futures of Citizenship Education
Dates: June 27 and 28, 2025
Venue: James Cook University,  Bebegu Yumba (Townsville) Campus, Queensland
​Featuring a keynote from Professor Stewart Riddle, University of Southern Queensland.

The conference’s primary focus will be on three distinct sub-themes:

1. The role of place and local contexts for fostering citizenship and democratic practice, with a focus on various perspectives;
2. Engaging young people democratically and actively as citizens across contexts;
3. The future(s) of democratic and citizenship education in regional and urban contexts.

Head to the webpage for more information and to keep up to date:

Thank you to all our members who attended our Annual General Meeting. We're excited to announce our Committee for the next 12 months:

Executive

• President: Dr. Neoh Jia Ying (NSW)
• Vice President: Dr. Caroline Ferguson (Hong Kong)
• Treasurer: Associate Professor Libby Tudball (VIC)
• Secretary: Dr. Deborah Green (SA)
• Journal editors: Dr. Bryan Smith, Dr. Neoh Jia Ying, Dr. Bernard Brown & Dr. Caroline Ferguson

General committee

• Dr. Keith Heggart (NSW)
• Dr. Bernard Brown (ACT)
• Robyn Coase (QLD)
• Philippa Marsh (SA)
• Marc Pruyn (VIC)
• Grace Emanuele (SA)
• Mitchell Sprague (VIC)

If you are interested in getting involved in either the general Committee or as part of The Social Educator, please reach out to [email protected] - we are welcoming new members to both!

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters adopted an inquiry into civics education, engagement, and participation in Australia on 27 March 2024, following a referral from the Special Minister of State, Senator the Hon Don Farrell.

On behalf of our members, SCEAA gathered the voices of our community and submitted a formal contribution to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters’ inquiry into civics education, engagement and participation. In our submission, we advocated for greater support in education to strengthen teaching and research in civics and citizenship education. Our recommendations emphasized expanding the understanding of civics education, engagement, and participation beyond formal modes, such as voting, to better align with and reflect people’s lived experiences. You can read the full submission below.

The SCEAA Executive Members were invited to represent SCEAA at a Senate hearing on 16 October 2024, where we again presented evidence-informed recommendations to guide future policies on civics and citizenship education. Several of our committee members were also invited individually to contribute their recommendations to the inquiry.

Preliminary findings from collaborative research conducted by the University of South Australia, The University of Melbourne, and The University of Sydney were requested and have since been submitted to further support SCEAA’s recommendations. The full report may be accessed here.
This engagement highlights the importance of our collective efforts and motivates us to continue providing opportunities for SCEAA members to connect, collaborate, and develop partnerships that advance social and citizenship education.

Read more about the inquiry on the Parliament of Australia website here.