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Rupert in Doha

Professor Rupert Maclean AO (OTG 1961-64)

After undertaking a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne, Rupert Maclean commenced his career as a teacher of History and Economics at Dandenong High School. Rupert went on to work for the United Nations, and various universities worldwide. In 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, and in 2017 was inducted into the Trinity Gallery of Achievement for his contributions to education internationally.

Tell us about your experience at Trinity Grammar School, Kew.

I undertook my secondary schooling at Trinity after my family moved to Melbourne from South Australia. I had a wonderful learning experience at Trinity. I enjoyed everything about the school, in particular the excellent teachers who were very caring, positive and student centred in their approach to education; the wide range and high quality of teaching and learning content; materials and facilities at the school: and the great camaraderie amongst students and the Trinity school community as a whole.

When you were at school, what sort of career did you imagine you would have?

Probably as a result of my positive and thoroughly enjoyable experience at Trinity, I decided I wanted a career in education. At the beginning I didn’t have clear, specific ideas about what precisely I would like to do in education, although even at that early stage the idea of working internationally with and for developing countries, and also possibly undertaking education research and teaching in universities, was in my mind.

Tell us about your work with the United Nations.

I worked with the United Nations agency UNESCO in the area of education. I held senior postings over two decides in various UNESCO offices in Yangon, Bangkok, Paris and Bonn. My work involved helping developing countries improve, strengthen and upgrade the relevance and effectiveness of their education and schooling systems with particular reference to promoting educational innovations for development. The program areas I specialised in personally were the reform of teacher education, secondary education reform and ways of improving the bridge between education and the world of work. I also worked in various universities worldwide, including in Oxford, Hong Kong, Doha, Melbourne and Hobart.

You have lived and worked around the world. Where was your favourite place to be, and why?

The world is such a varied and interesting place that I do not really have one favourite place. In my work I travelled to and worked with most developing (and many developed) countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Africa, and to a lesser extent with countries in Latin America. I enjoy working in different cultural settings and do not have one favourite country.

Where did your passion for education stem from?

My great interest in education stemmed from my time at Trinity, and my later tertiary studies at the University of Melbourne and at Monash University.

I have come to realise, through my personal experience working for UNESCO, the enormous power of education and schooling to transform individual lives and whole societies. My work has shown me that if we educate a population, help them become literate and provide them with a chance to develop their talents to the full then society will be richer, and individuals will be empowered to contribute to developing a more equitable, sustainable and peaceful world.

What is the most important lesson or value that you took from Trinity?

Trinity taught me the importance of following your interests when choosing the type of work you want to do. Also, the importance of being goal orientated and working hard in a disciplined way to achieve those goals.

To those students interested in international development and education, any advice?

The important thing to do is to work out some clear goals, and then develop a realistic strategy to achieve those goals. For students interested in working in international development there are several worthwhile possibilities and career pathways such as working for the Australian Government in Foreign Affairs; for United Nations agencies, such as UNESCO or UNICEF; for development banks, such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank; or for nongovernment organisations (NGOs), such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International and Doctors without Borders.

TRINITY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, KEW

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