Professor Field Rickards was appointed Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at The University of Melbourne in August 2004, following four years as an officer of the Academic Board (of which he was President 2003-July 2004). He was appointed to the Foundation Chair in Education of Hearing Impaired Children at The University of Melbourne in 1994 after four years of Reader in charge of the Deafness Studies Unit.
Prior to this, he was Senior Lecturer in Audiology in the Department of Otolaryngology, University of Melbourne, where he led Australia’s first post-graduate course in Audiology in 1974. He is a Fellow of the Audiological Society of Australia, the Australian College of Educators and the Australian Council of Educational Leaders.
His research in the 1980s led to the commercial development of an automatic evoked response audiometer (ASSR) which can accurately measure hearing in infants. The system is manufactured in the US and has been translated into standard international practice as an important tool in the diagnostic assessment of very young infants and children who have failed hearing screens.
His move from audiology to education of the hearing impaired focussed his research on early detection (the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program) and early diagnosis of hearing impairment, early intervention (play development and social competence) and factors affecting the educational outcomes for hearing impaired. He has previously had a close involvement with the Advisory Council of Children with Impaired Hearing, which has run a state-wide early intervention program since the early 1970s, and chaired the Victorian State Infant Hearing Working Group. The working group was the major catalyst for the introduction of Universal Newborn Screening in Victoria. He has studied the onset of Otitis Media in Aboriginal Infants in association with the Menzies School for Health Research in Darwin. He has been a co-investigator on the ARC funded Young Learner’s Project, a collaboration between the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and the Australian Scholarships Group. The project, which began in 2008, sought to identify personalised learning strategies for strong literacy outcomes in children in pre-school and the first year of school. His collaborations with Dr Melissa Wake and colleagues have investigated the prevalence, impact and genetics of slight and mild hearing loss; the outcomes of children with congenital hearing loss; the outcomes of universal newborn versus risk-factor hearing screening and improving working memory to prevent early academic problems.
As Dean, he has guided the transformation of the Faculty of Education to the Melbourne Graduate School of Education on 1 January 2008, and the reform of the professional training of teachers with the introduction of the new clinical Master of Teaching program. He was a member of the Commonwealth’s Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group in 2014.
He concluded his role as Dean in July 2017, but continues his focus on education reform through the Melbourne School of Government and the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. He has been granted the title Dean Emeritus by the University.
Find out more about Field Rickards' experience
Field Rickards' highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Academic Outcomes 2 Years After Working Memory Training for Children With Low Working Memory A Randomized Clinical Trial
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Projects
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Project Types
4
Research Grant
2
Research Contracts
1
Internal Research Grant
Scholarly Works
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Keyword Analysis
News
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Honours, Awards and Fellowships
Sir James Darling Medal
FACEL - Fellow of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders
FAUDSA - Fellow of the Audiology Society of Australia
FACE - Fellow of the Australian College of Education
Credentials
Positions
Professorial Fellow
Melbourne School Of Government
Honorary
Melbourne Graduate School Of Education
Chair
International Alliance of Leading Education Institutes
Chairman
Asia Education Foundation Board
Director
Royal Children’s Hospital Education Institute
Member Of Council
The University of Melbourne
Director
Australian Hearing
Chairman
National Acoustic Laboratories Research Committee
Member
Australian Hearing Human Research Ethics Committee
Chairman
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Vice Chairman
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Member Of Executive Committee
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Director
The Bionics Institute
Member, Research Committee
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Member Of Council
Wesley College, Melbourne
Chairman, Research Committee
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Member Of Coordinating Committee Of Professional Services
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Member (Ak/2/1 Otological And Audiological)
Standards Association of Australia Subcommittee
Member Of Executive
Audiological Society of Australia
Trustee
Deafness Foundation, Victoria
Honorary Consultant
Advisory Council for Children with Impaired Hearing
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Melbourne
Master of Education
The University of Manchester
Bachelor of Science (honours)
University of Melbourne