He obtained a bachelor degree in Mathematics and his Masters degree in Education from The University of Western Australia and his PhD from the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Susan Colver Rosenberger prize for the best research thesis in the Division of the Social Sciences. He returned to The University of Western Australia, and in 1985 was appointed Professor of Education at Murdoch University, also in Western Australia. In 2007 he returned to The University of Western Australia as the Chapple Professor of Education. In 1977 he spent 6 months as a Research Fellow at the Da...