Rate My Professor Robert Parkes

Professor Robert Parkes is Professor and Head of the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He earned a Bachelor of Education (Honours) with Class I Honours and the University Medal from the University of Sydney in 2000, a PhD from the University of Newcastle in 2006, and a Graduate Certificate in the Practice of Tertiary Teaching from the University of Newcastle. His academic career includes positions at Charles Sturt University as Associate Lecturer and Lecturer in Learning Theory and Social Studies Education from 2003 to 2006. At the University of Newcastle, he served as Lecturer in History Education, Teacher Research, Curriculum and Pedagogy from 2007 to 2009; Deputy Head of School, Teaching and Learning from 2008 to 2012; Acting Assistant Dean, Teaching and Learning from 2010 to 2011; Acting Head of School from 2018 to 2020; and currently Acting Head of School Curriculum Studies, History, Social and Media Education, as well as Program Convenor for Secondary Teacher Education programs since 2022. He was also a Visiting Research Fellow at Umeå University, Sweden in 2013.

Robert Parkes is an internationally recognised researcher specialising in history education, examining how history teachers' thinking influences their pedagogy. His research interests encompass epistemic cognition and historical theory in history teacher education, historical consciousness, public history, historical culture, curriculum history, theory and politics, and the history, culture, pedagogy and anthropology of martial arts. He founded and is Editor-in-Chief of Historical Encounters, a double-blind peer-reviewed open access journal published by the University of Newcastle’s History Education Research Network (HERMES), which he convenes; the journal achieved a Q1 ranking in Scimago Journal Rankings in 2020. Key publications include Eskrima Taktika: An Introduction to the Tactical Methods of Grand Master William 'Boy' Bernas (2024); Bernas Estocadas Volume 1: Abesedario (co-authored, 2022); Historical Thinking for History Teachers: A New Approach to Engaging Students and Developing Historical Consciousness (co-edited, 2019); and Interrupting History: Rethinking Curriculum After 'The End of History' (2011). His work addresses engaging with traumatic pasts through pedagogies involving children’s literature, film and virtual reality, and explores historical empathy and epistemic reflexivity in pre-service teachers.