R.S. Warry
President Q.I.E.R.

The J.A. Robinson Memorial Lecture was established by the Institute to provide, each year, a focal point for the Institute's annual program of lectures, workshops and seminars; to provide an opportunity for a highly respected educator to share with the educational community his or her views on a substantive topic relating to educational research, through the medium of a formal lecture; and to commemorate the contribution of J.A. Robinson to the work of the Queensland Institute for Educational Research and the Australian Council for Educational Research.

James Alexander Robinson started his career as a pupil teacher with what was then the Queensland Department of Public Instruction. He subsequently took leave from the Department to matriculate and complete the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was a foundation member of the staff of the Teachers Training College in Brisbane, and continued on the staff of that institution until enlisting to serve, with distinction, in the First world War. Upon his return, J. Robinson was appointed Principal of the Rockhampton State High School, and in 1935 he succeeded John Morris as Principal of the Teachers Training College. In 1939, he also succeeded Morris as the Queensland Institute for Educational Research's representative to the Governing body of the ACER, a position which he held until his retirement in 1954.

The inaugural J.A. Robinson Memorial Lecture was delivered on the [date illegible] February 1972, by Professor [now Emeritus Professor] G.W. Bassett, on the topic of "Perspectives of Educational Change".

Those who have delivered subsequent J.A. Robinson Memorial Lectures have included Professors Bill Connell, Betty Watts, Glen Evans and Colin Power; Dame Leonie Kramer; and Associate Professor Millicent Poole. All highly respected educators with distinguished careers and well qualified to speak authoritatively on substantive topics relating to educational research.

The tradition that has been established with the J.A. Robinson Memorial Lectures is continued in 1987 with the Lecture delivered by Mr G.F. Berkeley, who retired in November last year as Director General of Education, after a career with the Department spanning 40 years. The distinguished nature of that career is well known. It should suffice for me to note that George Berkeley was throughout his career deeply interested in educational research, He was a very experienced and highly successful practitioner in the field, and he subsequently held a series of positions within the Department, and in national education forums, in which he was required to consider and act upon the results of educational research, He is, therefore, well and possibly uniquely placed to reflect upon the impact of research on educational policy and practice. The Institute is pleased to publish the text of the 1987 J.A. Robinson Memorial Lecture by Mr George Berkeley.

Please cite as: Warry, R. S. (1987). The J.A. Robinson Memorial Lecture. Queensland Researcher, 3(2), 5-6. http://www.iier.org.au/qjer/qr3/memorial-lect.html