How one academic came full circle, bringing his extensive skills and research practice to the TD School

Hailing from Canada, Matter's trajectory spans academia in Vermont USA as an anthropologist and pivoting to the private and public sectors. Upon relocating to Australia, he was engaged as a researcher for Fairfax. “My background in qualitative research methods were skills immediately transferable into design, research and service design-type projects.”

While initially hesitant about returning to academia, the TD School's commitment to engaged research and teaching resonated with Matter. “The TD school does meaningful, important work and not just academic, institutionally valued work.”

His blend of experiences – navigating complex systems and hierarchies, coupled with work with communities and social movements – ties in with the TD School's ethos of effecting social change.

Inspired by his grandfather's union activism, Matter instils social justice into his teaching, fostering critical inquiry and advocacy among students. He concedes that within the history of the anthropology discipline is a complex and even sordid connection with colonisation. “But there is also a prominent, anti-colonial, decolonisation strand in anthropology and that is what I have always gravitated towards.”

“In the BCII (Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation) subject Past, Present and Future Innovation, I have introduced human scale development as a framework. This theory / methodology developed in Latin America has been adopted in other parts of the world. The central tenet is that development needs to shift from economic growth to building infrastructure, increasing incomes, and the like. Rather it needs to focus on achieving wellbeing in the community and balance with the natural world. This leads us to sustainability, an area of immense interest across the TD School.”

Matter champions a service-learning approach, which aligns with TD School's ethos of workplace-integrated learning. He values the connection with external partners – from industry, community, or government. 

Finally, here is an institution that is truly prioritising workplace-integrated learning. It benefits the students, and it also benefits the wider society that we're working in.

We don't need the perfect, ultimate thing

"We don't need the perfect, ultimate thing," Matter emphasises, advocating for pragmatism over perfectionism.

Drawing from industry insights, he instils in students the value of progress over perfection, a vital lesson for navigating fast-paced environments. “Even though I had ‘Researcher’ in my title for a while in the private sector – one of the most important parts of that job was being able to use research to influence and be a part of decision-making.”

“That's something our BCII students have to deal with because we offer these intensive subjects, and they work really quickly.  It is terrific preparation for the real world.”

As he lays the groundwork for research endeavours at TD School, Matter sees its transdisciplinary nature as a superpower. “We can convene a team of people who look at the same issue or the same challenge from a lot of different perspectives, facilitating innovative problem-solving.”

For Matter, the TD School's environment is a continuous source of inspiration. Engaging with fellow academics and practitioners fuels his passion for transformative education.

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Find out more about the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation, or how you can benefit as an Industry Partner. 

One of the really cool things is getting to learn from so many people who are also doing amazing and important work. It's just so exciting.