Peter Botsman Award 2011
Michelle Ragen
Michelle Ragen is an outstanding teacher of English whose innovative curriculum design and delivery encourage students to fully engage in a range of traditional and contemporary literacies. She is a generous professional who works tirelessly to ensure she is abreast of the current research in her field.
Beyond her own classroom, Michelle is highly committed to helping to inspire and provide opportunities for the professional development of other teachers. At a school level, she empowers other English teachers by modelling best practice teaching and learning and by creating units of work which encourage student engagement and subject area mastery. In addition, her own tertiary studies in librarianship and her present action research project that focuses on the reading practices of adolescents, have helped to generate innovative curriculum developments and professional reflection among her peers.
A member of the ETAQ Management Committee since 2007, Michelle has actively sought to contribute positively and productively to the Association on a number of levels: as book sales convenor, as a frequent workshop presenter, as a member and Chair of the Professional Development Sub-committee, as a convenor of PD activities, and as a member of the steering committee planning the AATE/ALEA National Conference to be held in Brisbane in 2013.
Michelle’s generosity in the sharing of her time and work at local, state and international conferences has been substantial. Her presentations at various seminars and conferences and at the International Boys’ School Coalition Conference, held in London this year, are evidence of her firm belief in the vital importance of supporting the wider English teaching and learning community.
As an English teacher and as a teacher-librarian, Michelle consistently models professionalism, inspires collaboration, affirms others and plays a leading role in leading her peers through the rapidly changing landscape that is the 21st Century English classroom.
