Karen Yager
Karen Yager has over 25 years’ experience in education in the public and private sectors and over 18 years in leadership. She is currently Deputy Head Student & Teaching Excellence K-12 at Knox Grammar School in Sydney and has been appointed as the new head of Hills Grammar School in 2022. She was a university lecturer, tutor and ICT integrator at the University of New South Wales for 12 years in English Method.
Karen has provided critical advice to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) on syllabus implementation, and is a life member and vice president of the English Teachers Association NSW. Karen is the 2022 president of the Professional Teachers’ Council NSW (PTC), director of Australian Professional Teachers Association (APTA), the 2022 president of Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE).
In 2006, Karen was awarded the NSW Premier’s Scholarship to travel to the UK to research using Shakespeare in schools. She has published three English texts with the Oxford University Press, winning a national publishing award. In 2020, Karen was awarded the National Reading Australia fellowship to research how to improve student writing and created a website of resources developed for primary and secondary teachers:
https://sites.google.com/view/enrichingstudentwriting/home.
In 2020, she received a leadership scholarship to travel to China to visit leading schools. Karen is a Lab Champion for Learning Creates Australia that is researching alternative credentials for pupils.
Karen’s ongoing commitment to education is evidenced by the recognition she has received. She was awarded the first International Teaching Fellowship by the Singapore Ministry of Education in 2011, and the NSW PTC award in 2009, the APTA award in 2014 for her contribution to the teaching profession and 2021, the NSW PTC award for exceptional contribution to the teaching profession over a significant period.
Karen is currently doing a PhD with a focus on how an effective professional learning model can enable teachers to foster global competency and academic excellence.