Craig Johnston

Biography

Dr Craig Johnston joined the School of Education and Tertiary Access in 2021. He completed his PhD, focusing on constructions of Australian identity as a response to multiculturalism, at the University of Edinburgh, then went on to a successful and well-travelled career in the wine industry for over a decade. He is a sought-after speaker at dinners and other events.

A move from Sydney to Brisbane prompted a career change. Craig was in the final cohort to complete the GradDipEd at QUT, graduating with Distinction. He then taught at two very different Brisbane schools; one a large, new state school, and the other a much smaller, long-established independent school for girls, where he was the Senior Modern and Ancient History teacher and 2IC of English and Humanities.

Craig is a historian first and foremost, whose teaching philosophy is founded on a dialectical model of constructivism and experiential learning. Drawing on a broad subject knowledge and recency of teaching practice, he aims to instill passion for History pedagogy in a new generation of willing learners, a new generation of leaders of learning in Queensland High Schools: to encourage them to question and examine life and to demonstrate to them that an understanding of History is more relevant now than ever before.

Craig is an elected member of the Management Committee of the Queensland History Teacher’s Association (QHTA), where he is a regular panelist at the State Conference and contributor to the annual journal, QHistory. In 2024 he was elected president of the Joint Council of Queensland Teachers' Associations (JCQTA) and became the Queensland board member of the Australian Professional Teachers Association (APTA).

Teaching areas

• EDU358/EDU741 Teaching Junior Secondary History
• EDU359/EDU742 Teaching Senior Secondary History
• EDU356/EDU739 Teaching Junior Secondary Geography
• EDU357/EDU740 Teaching Senior Secondary Geography
• EDU421/EDU717 Using Data for Learning

Professional memberships

• Joint Council of Queensland Teachers' Associations (JCQTA) – president
• Australian Professional Teachers Association (APTA) – board member
• Queensland History Teachers’ Association (QHTA) – executive member
• Queensland College of Teachers

Awards/Fellowships

• UniSC SETA Pilot Research Grant, 2023-2024
• Reh Kendermann Bursary, Institute of Masters of Wine, 2007
• Dean’s Letter of Commendation, Faculty of Arts, University of Edinburgh, 1999
• Jeremiah Dalziel Prize for History, University of Edinburgh, 1996
• Northcote Travelling Scholarship, Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, University of London, 1994