Our Academic Advisory Board brings together experts in philosophy, education and educational psychology to provide us with expert advice and guidance and to collaborate in bringing our ethics curriculum to more schools in more locations. The Board’s expertise enriches our program and ensures that we remain at the cutting edge of developments in education and ethical discourse.
Meet our Advisory Board
Board Members
Simone Thornton, Environmental Philosopher
Simone Thornton is an educational and environmental philosopher and lecturer at the University of Wollongong. She is a member of the International Advisory Board for the journal Childhood & Philosophy, Brazil. Simone has numerous publications in philosophy in schools, including the co-edited history book Philosophical Inquiry with Children: The development of an inquiring society in Australia. Her most recent book, Eco-Rational Education: An Educational Response to Environmental Crisis, explores the role of philosophy in both creating and responding to the environment crisis and the implications for education.
Gilbert Burgh, Associate Professor
Gilbert Burgh is an Honorary Associate Professor in Philosophy in the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland, where he taught philosophy of education, ethics, social and political philosophy and environmental philosophy. He was the founding President of the Queensland Association of Philosophy in Schools (1994-1996) and President of the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations (2002-2003). He has published widely on educational philosophy, especially democratic education, civics and citizenship education and collaborative philosophical inquiry as pedagogy. He has several co-authored books, including Teaching democracy in an age of uncertainty: Place-responsive learning (2022) (with Simone Thornton).
Daniella J. Forster, Senior Lecturer
Dr Daniella J. Forster (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education at University of Newcastle, Australia. Daniella is an educational ethicist with a concern for education’s role in strengthening social justice and democracy. She was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2023 and previously a Primary Ethics volunteer at her children’s school. She uses philosophical tools, policy analysis and conducts empirical studies to better understand ethical decision making and practice in schooling. She is the Vice President of the Philosophy of Education Society Australasia and holds qualifications in philosophy and as a secondary school teacher.
Jacqueline Ullman, Associate Professor
Associate Professor Jacqueline Ullman is a pre-service and in-service teacher educator at Western Sydney University. Given her background across sociology of education and educational psychology, her research explores the impact of school climate, including classroom diversity, on students’ social and academic outcomes. A/P Ullman’s research is funded by the Australian Research Council and she has a substantial scholarly publication record. She serves as a member of the Research Advisory Board for the James Martin Institute of Public Policy and is the recipient of the Australian Association of Research in Education’s Raewyn Connell Award for Significant Leadership in Research.
Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn, Research Director
Dr Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn has worked in primary and secondary schools in New South Wales as a teacher, school leader and education researcher for more than 25 years. She currently is Director of Research (Pre-School-Year 12) at Trinity Grammar School and an Honorary Industry Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) (https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Kimberley.Pressick-Kilborn). Kimberley previously was a Senior Lecturer in UTS’s Teacher Education Program, with a specific focus on primary education. She has a particular interest in practitioner research and teaching innovation informed by collaborative research. Kimberley previously has taught Philosophy with children in K-6 classrooms and currently teaches Theory of Knowledge in the IB Diploma program.
Nick Brancazio, Curriculum Specialist
Formerly a PERL Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Nick now works with Primary Ethics as a curriculum and research specialist in addition to training new volunteers. She is an active researcher in the philosophy of science, with a focus in embodied cognitive science and interaction, and is affiliated with the Philosophy Department at the University of Adelaide. Nick has been a volunteer teacher with Primary Ethics for four years and previously worked with Philosophical Horizons through the University of Memphis. She is based in Wollongong.
Jarrah Aubourg, Chair
Jarrah is a philosopher, educator and curriculum author committed to ethics education. Holding a Masters in Educational Psychology from the University of Sydney and First Class Honours in Philosophy from the University of Wollongong, Jarrah brings a deep understanding of education theory and philosophical inquiry to his work. As the Director of Education for Primary Ethics, he oversees curriculum development, teacher training programs and classroom support initiatives.
Kelby Mason, Philosopher-in-residence
Kelby has been a trainer for Primary Ethics since 2011 and an ethics teacher since 2012, during which time he has trained thousands of volunteer teachers and taught hundreds of students. He has a University Medal in philosophy and a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney; he did his graduate work in philosophy at Rutgers, where he was a member of the Moral Psychology Research Group and a fellow at the Center for Cultural Analysis. Kelby wrote the Primary Ethics high school curriculum and currently provides philosophical advice, trains and provides classroom support for new ethics teachers.