Alumni Magazine Issue 5

Perhaps there was more to Oliphant than his physics. I had found a secret history that placed Oliphant among the maelstrom of World War Two’s most defining moments. Furthermore, after the war he became a thorn in the side of the British, American and Australian governments. He joined the likes of the famous British philosopher Bertrand Russell in a scientist-led peace-movement that wrestled to put the atomic genie back in the bottle. Fast forward two and half years and my extensive archival material has enabled me to move from Master of Philosophy to PhD. I have received more than 100 documents from the British archives, 300 pages fromOliphant’s ASIO file held at the National Archives in Canberra, 80 fromOliphant’s own archive at the University of Adelaide, 20 from University of California Berkeley, 15 from the Library of Congress in Washington and even 11 from the FBI in Washington DC. Before I started this work I did not realise howmany librarians and archivists there are around the world, standing guard over miles of shelves holding thousands of dusty boxes. I thank them all—as these archivists live for the moment that some interested student on the other side of world asks them to ‘pull some boxes’. Bridging the gap in early childhood education Dr Christine Robinson DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (EDUCATION) CLASS OF 2017 A team of early childhood education experts – led by Notre Dame Senior Lecturer Dr Christine Robinson – has created a national guide for play-based education for very young children. While there is growing acceptance of the importance of play in early childhood education, there is currently no formal guide that bridges the gap between formalised learning and quality early childhood play-based practice. Dr Robinson and five other senior education experts from around Australia aim to bridge the gap with their new book, Learning to Play, which translates the theory of play into practice. They aim to create a shared understanding of play and play-based teachings that positively influence the everyday practices of educators and improve the learning experience for children from birth to age eight. Alumni Magazine – Page 21 R E S E A R C H