One gets to an age when one realises that certain people you met on life’s journey hold significance long after any interaction or connection has passed.
This is just a personal acknowledgement of the ten Years that have passed since Prof. Jack Keating died.
I briefly became aware of Jack and his work with the VSTA [Victorian Secondary Teachers Association], although I first had the pleasure of meeting Jack professionally, when he was working on the “Kirby Review”. We met again, he as Professor, I as student, in one of the first intakes to the master of education policy international course that he helped establish.
I also had the surprising pleasure of Jack simply “popping in” to my home in the hills one day in late 2008 when he was travelling back to Melbourne, encouraging me to consider even further study and research. Events transpired that meant this was not to be, although we also discovered we shared some common neighbourhoods in our childhood [although separated by a few years!] and many similar interests.
Always inspiring and always encouraging.
Always committed to his work and the power and democracy of education.
Jack left a long and lasting impression on me.
John Polesel, a colleague of Jack’s, a professor of education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne wrote these wonderful words in 2012.
They are worth reading again.
Vale Prof. Jack Keating