Professor Brian J. Caldwell is Managing Director of Educational Transformations Pty Ltd in Melbourne and Associate Director of iNet (Global) (International Networking for Educational Transformation) of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in England.  He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Science (1962) and Bachelor of Education (1968) from the University of Melbourne, and Master of Education (1975) and Doctor of Philosophy (1977) from the University of Alberta.

From 1998 to 2004 he served as Dean of Education at the University of Melbourne where he is currently Professorial Fellow. His previous appointments include Head of Education Policy and Management (1995-1998) at the University of Melbourne; Head of Teacher Education (1988-1999) and Dean of Education (1989-1990) at the University of Tasmania; and Research Assistant Professor (1979-1981) at the University of Alberta, Canada. He has held leadership positions in schools in Australia (1963-68) and Canada (1968-1977).

International work over the last 25 years includes more than 500 presentations, projects and other professional assignments in or for 39 countries or jurisdictions on six continents, including Australia, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Korea, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar (Burma), Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Scotland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam and Wales, with several assignments for the Asia Development Bank, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF and World Bank.  

He has served as Wei Lun Visiting Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Visiting Professor at the National College for School Leadership in England, Special Professor at the University of Nottingham, Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Southern California, and Invitational Research Fellow for the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He is Honorary Professor at the University of Hull. He was consultant to an APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) project on ‘Best Practice Governance:  Education Policy and Service Delivery’ in 2003-2004 commissioned by the Australian Government. From 2005 to 2007 he served as chair of the Quality Assurance Panel for a project in school reform (STRIVE) in the Philippines funded by the Australian Government.

He served as project director and co-author of several major projects that were completed in 2007 and 2008 including (1) a history of state aid to non-government schools in Australia commissioned by the Australian Government and published in 2007; (2) a study of parental engagement in schools in Queensland commissioned by the Queensland Government; (3) the International Project to Frame the Transformation of Schools conducted in Australia, China, England, Finland, United States and Wales, funded by the Australian Government and the Welsh Assembly Government with partnership support from institutions in the other four countries; (4) a nation-wide study of principal autonomy in Australia under a commission from the Australian Government; and (5) a review of leadership development for the Welsh Assembly Government.

In addition to approximately 150 published papers, chapters and monographs, Brian Caldwell is author or co-author of books that helped guide educational reform in several countries, most notably the trilogy on self-managing schools: The Self-Managing School (1988), Leading the Self-Managing School (1992) and Beyond the Self-Managing School (1998), each with Jim Spinks. He was co-author of Creating an Excellent School (1989) (with Hedley Beare and Ross Millikan), The Return of the Mentor (1993) (with Earl Carter), and The Future of Schools: Lessons from the Reform of Public Education (1998) (with Don Hayward). In 2005 he wrote School-Based Management for the International Academy of Education and published by the International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP) of UNESCO. Re-imagining Educational Leadership was published in 2006 by ACER Press (Australia) and Sage (London). Raising the Stakes: from Improvement to Transformation in the Reform of Schools (Routledge), his fourth collaboration with Jim Spinks, was published in 2008. Seven publications based on the International Project to Frame the Transformation of Schools include a book Why Not the Best Schools (with Jessica Harris) and six separate country reports (Australia, China, England, Finland, United States and Wales), all published by ACER Press in 2008.

Brian Caldwell is co-director with David Loader of a national project for Teaching Australia (Australian Institute for Quality Teaching and School Leadership) on building the capacity of schools to develop a futures focus in their educational planning. The Future Focused School Project involves workshops in every state and territory in Australia in March and April 2009 and the development of online professional learning materials.

He provides frequent comment in the media on aspects of education, including op-ed features in The Age (Melbourne) and the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), and has appeared as a guest on morning national television programs on Channels 7, 9 and 10 as well as The 7.30 Report (ABC). His views have been sought by most radio and television stations in every state in Australia. Media Key serves as media liaison for Brian Caldwell and Educational Transformations. He was an invited participant at the Australia 2020 Summit in April 2008.

Brian Caldwell was Chair of the Advisory Board of the Asia Education Foundation from 1998 to 2004. He is a director and Deputy Chair of the Board of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and a member of the Board of Patrons of The Education Foundation. He is a Fellow and Life Member of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) and a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (ACE). He was President of ACEL from 1990 to 1993 and was awarded its Gold Medal in 1994. In July 2005 he received the College Medal of ACE. In 2004 he was awarded the Sir James Darling Medal of ACE (Victoria) and the Hedley Beare Educator of the Year Award of ACEL (Victoria).