SENIOR SCHOOL
Clayton Massey, Doctor of Education
The Head of the Senior School, Dr
Clayton Massey, was recently conferred
the title of Doctor of Education – the
culmination of five years’ work following
the submission of his 338 page thesis titled
“Curriculum Innovation in an independent
boys’ school: A case study of the social,
cognitive and multi-model development of
early adolescent males.”
Dr Massey’s study focused on the Personal
Learning Program at Guildford Grammar
School, and his research was the first
longitudinal boys’ education research
project in Australia, and the world, since
2008. Notably, the research was the first
ever closed-system study of social, cognitive
and multi-model learning – the academic
way of explaining how teaching cooperative
‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ through targeted
skills improves learning.
His thesis laid out the detail of “Preferred
Environment, Non-Preferred Skill” theory,
an idea based on the belief that, without
challenge, boys will default to their
preferred learning strategies. The theory
proposes that engaging tasks, in inspiring
environments, increase the capacity to
develop new skills. The theory is at the very
foundation of our Catalyst curriculum.
What we learnt:
• In early adolescence, boys need
challenge and choice.
• Middle schooling (bridging primary
and secondary) is not the answer.
Year 7 is a time for challenge and
an opportunity for schools to set
up high expectations, change and
develop social and intellectual
attitudes.
• Choice is critical to engagement.
Dr Clayton Massey
Clayton’s thesis examiners were:
• Professor Wayne Martino – University of
Western Ontario, Canada.
• Professor Mairtin Mac an Ghaill –
University of Newman, Birmingham UK.
• Dr Kevin Davison – Australian Catholic
University, Victoria, Australia.
Congratulations to Dr Massey on what has
been an innovative and very successful and
ongoing project, benefiting all our junior
secondary boys.
Excerpts from the Examiners’ reports:
Of the Catalyst curriculum:
One of the hallmarks of the curriculum approach is that it does not fall into
the trap of gender essentialism but rather attempts to meet the challenges of
boys’ academic needs by re-thinking the learning environment so that it might
accommodate skills.
– Dr Kevin Davison
Of the research:
One of the strengths of the research and the curriculum innovation is its
commitment to