Barbara Falk Award for Teaching Excellence
The Barbara Falk Award is an annual, University-wide teaching award that recognises overall teaching excellence in any of the following fields: Arts; Education; Law; and Music.
Application Selection Criteria (Applicants must address all criteria):
- Approaches to learning and teaching that influence, motivate and inspire students to learn
- Development of curricula and resources that reflect a command of the field
- Approaches to assessment and feedback that foster independent learning
- Respect and support for the development of students as individuals
- Scholarly activities that have influenced and enhanced learning and teaching
All selection criteria will be given equal consideration by the Selection Committee. Applicants should provide sufficient details and evidence to enable the Committee to make judgments according to the selection criteria.
* Please refer to the 2021 Excellence Awards Guidelines for full application criteria
About Barbara Falk
Dr Barbara Falk was a pioneer of university teaching development in Australia at a time when academic staff were widely assumed to need no professional preparation as educators. Appointed senior lecturer in the University of Melbourne’s School of Education in 1960, she soon established what became the University Teaching Project (UTP), a consultancy service to improve teaching and learning across the University. The UTP later merged with the Educational Research Office and the Visual Aids Department to form the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE), with Barbara as its foundation chairman (later director), a role she held until her retirement in 1975.
Barbara Falk had a long association with the University of Melbourne, beginning in 1929 when she commenced her undergraduate studies after winning a scholarship to Janet Clarke Hall. She graduated BA (Hons) in 1933 and later undertook postgraduate study and professional work in the UK and the USA, including at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and Yale. She married Werner (David) Falk in 1936 and returned to Australia in 1950.
Before her university appointment, Barbara worked as a remedial teacher, served as principal of Mercer House at the Associated Teachers’ Training Institute, and represented Victorian independent schools on the University’s Academic Board. Through the UTP and later the CSHE, she led collaborative, theory-informed approaches to improving university teaching, responding to needs later articulated in the Martin Report (1964). Her model influenced practice both nationally and internationally.
After retiring in 1975, Barbara remained an active scholar and Principal Fellow in the Department of Historical Studies. In 1980 she received the University’s first honorary doctorate of education. She is remembered as a determined, politically astute, and formidable presence in a male-dominated environment, as well as for her generosity, wisdom, and support of colleagues. Her legacy continues in the ongoing work of the CSHE.
