Teaching that transforms: Why education remains the heart of our university
From first-year foundations to career-changing mentorship, meet the educators whose teaching is transforming lives.
As AI, automation and economic change reshape how we live and work, universities face renewed scrutiny, with some questioning the value of a tertiary education altogether. But what’s often overlooked in the debate is how profoundly universities have evolved to meet this new world—often adopting new teaching methods and technologies at unprecedented speed.
Much of this transformation is driven not by government or university policy, but by innovative educators operating within the system. This is the spirit behind ‘Teaching that Transforms’, a Monash initiative that recognises the educators whose work changes students’ lives far beyond the classroom.
Six educators from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences were featured in the inaugural iteration of Monash’s 'Teaching that Transforms’ campaign; recognition that they have gone beyond traditional methods to ignite curiosity, foster critical thinking and prepare students for real-world challenges.
They are Dr Joaquin (Ximo) Sanchis Martinez, Dr Jae Pyun, Dr Steven Walker, Dr Megan Waldhuber, Emily Stokes and Associate Professor Betty Exintaris.
While their strengths, focuses and backgrounds differ, the teachers are united by a shared philosophy: that students learn best when they feel supported, respected, challenged and inspired.
Across their interviews, which we link to below, it’s clear that each one sees teaching not as a task but as a responsibility: to make difficult material accessible, to help students navigate uncertainty, to create inclusive environments where every learner feels they belong and to connect theory to real-world practice.
They speak about empowering independent thinkers, using compassion as a teaching tool, and designing learning experiences that cultivate curiosity, confidence and professional identity.
Students feel that impact immediately, as the comments below show.
What Monash students say about our Teachers who Transform
Great teaching is felt most clearly through the students who experience it. Across the Faculty, learners consistently describe their educators not just as instructors, but as mentors, guides and champions who shape their confidence and sense of purpose.
These voices reveal what the surveys and frameworks rarely capture: teaching excellence is experienced at a human level. It lives in things like the moment a student finally understands a concept that once felt impossible; their growing confidence when an educator believes in them; or the steady, skilled guidance that helps shape a future scientist, pharmacist or researcher.
At a time when both higher education and science are under scrutiny, stories like these matter. They show how Monash educators are reshaping learning to reflect the realities of a changing workforce by integrating new technologies, incorporating latest industry practice and bringing contemporary ways of thinking into the classroom.
These six educators are only a small sample of what happens every day across the Faculty and the University. But their stories reflect something larger: the enduring power of excellent teaching and the difference their work makes to students, to knowledge and to society.
We invite you to explore their individual profiles below and to celebrate all the Faculty’s teachers who continue to transform lives through education.
Click each profile to read more.
