Dr Keith Graham OAM

Arts, Education and Law's 2022 Outstanding Alumnus

Graduate Certificate in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) / Bachelor of Education (Advanced Professional Development)

Share a conversation with Dr Keith Graham OAM and it’s easy to see why he’s beloved in the world of teaching. Effortlessly energetic and inspiring, Keith is in his element when connecting with people. The drive for human connection and a feeling of making an impact steered him towards a career in teaching, and it’s that same desire to help others succeed that sees him named as one of Griffith University’s Outstanding Alumni Award recipients for 2022.

“I’m pretty humbled,” he says. “There are hundreds of thousands of people who have gone through Griffith University, and I imagine many of those would be worthy. It’s exciting.”

In 2021, Rochedale State School was awarded School of the Year in the Australian Education Awards, with Keith also being awarded Primary School Principal of the Year. But he’s not in the job to win solo awards.

"To me, the school award meant a whole lot more because I only get an individual award when all the people at work are doing great things.”

Keith’s career and passion for education began in the classrooms and progressed to roles as deputy principal and principal; but you can now find him travelling around the country reviewing schools.

“Every state school in Queensland is reviewed every four years using the National School Improvement Tool,” he explains. “There are ten of us who are serving principals, seconded out of our schools to review schools around the state to help them with their direction forward and next steps, and hopefully improve outcomes for students.”

The desire to have an impact is something that has continued to pop up throughout Keith’s career, and this secondment allows him to do it on a much larger scale.

“I always wanted a job where you could make a difference,” he says of his decision to enter the world of education. “As a teacher I always thought I'd impact the 28 kids in my class, and then I became a Deputy and it was couple of hundred kids in a sector.

“As a Principal I thought, ‘Hopefully I can positively impact 1,000 students at my school.’

“Now I’m helping schools around the state, I have the chance to positively impact potentially around 600,000 students in Queensland, so that feels really good.”

Far from resting on his laurels and evaluating others, Keith is thrilled to have the opportunity to also pick up new tips to bring back to his home school in Rochedale. “It’s great learning. I think the best thing you can do as a teacher is watch other people teach. It's great to go out and see how other principals run their school.

"I'm hoping I give as much value as I'm taking away. I hope to be a better principal at the end of it than when I started.”

Keith says the adage is true with him: if you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. “Teaching, to me, is a job you get a lot of self-satisfaction from. You can see the difference you make.”

Keith's impact doesn’t stop at the classroom door.  Between work and study, Keith coaches kids' sport. "I'm in deeply involved in school sport because it's not always about literacy and numeracy; schools can offer opportunities in music, in the arts, in sport, in languages... anything.”

One of his proudest moments was attending the Commonwealth Games in 2018 and seeing his former students kicking goals for their country. “I watched the Women’s Rugby Sevens play New Zealand in the gold medal final. About five of those girls I coached in under-12s in touch football.

“To chat to them again and know their love for their career started with a teacher on an oval on a Friday afternoon, giving up their lunchtime to coach them, was just incredible.”

Keith is a bit of a career learner himself, having attended Griffith to study as both an undergraduate and post graduate student. Several degrees and universities later, he’s back at Griffith undertaking a PhD and helping educate the next generation of teachers as a guest lecturer.

“What Griffith offer to our students these days is absolutely world-class,” he says. “It's not just the course work, I think the values that are instilled by Griffith around teaching are really wonderful, it’s why I keep coming back.

“It’s a university that creates teachers first and graduates second.”

Keith's advice to current students is to pursue things they are truly passionate about and aim to make what you do matter. “Staying connected with the passion of your career is extremely important,” he says. “When you sit up at night doing your undergraduate and it's late at night and you're trying to cram, remember you're doing it because you're going to be the best person. You're going to influence many, many lives.

“Every student needs a great teacher.”