Peta Spyrou
Peta Spyrou (‘11), Lecturer, Adelaide Law School, strives to be ‘a seeker of truth, and doer of justice’ through her PhD research in disability discrimination in primary and secondary schools.
Peta had been an active member of the LOSA community for many years, taking on various committee roles and contributions. One of which was the conception of these Old Scholar Stories. We are so glad that we can now come full circle and share Peta’s story with the wider community.
Peta in her own words:
“Mary Ward’s infamous words, ‘be seekers of truth, and doers of justice’, replay loud in my mind as I sit at my computer on a cold September morning to type up this Old Scholars’ Story contribution. As more than a decade has passed since leaving the school gates of Loreto College Marryatville, this is not the first time a Mary Ward quote has come to my mind. In fact, I have had countless moments in both personal and professional contexts to recall Ward’s words of wisdom.
While I recognise my privilege in having attended this school, and being part of the community that comes along with it, I cannot help but think I am where I am today in part because of my Loreto education. This is because my five years of high school at this institution, not only shaped my strong sense of social justice and passion for inclusion; values I try to put into practice in my role as an academic, but it gave me opportunities and experiences which would prove to be pivotal.
The most significant experience was participating on the 2011 Loreto-Sony camp. On this four-day camp for children and young people with disability, I met a young person and his family, which would see me become his paid support workerfor over 8 years. Knowing and working with this family fostered a significant passion and intellectual interest in the disability rights movement. When I eventually got into a law degree, I used any opportunity I had to write essays and assignments that involved a disability related issue in law— and trust me, there are many. Fast forward a few years and I am now a Lecturer of Law and Director of Equality Lawyers, a law firm specialising in giving advice to people with disabilities and their supporters.
My PhD, which passed examination in April this year, looks at disability discrimination in primary and secondary schools. It has a focus on investigating the experiences of parents who support students with challenging behaviours connected to disability. This research positions me as an emerging expert in the intersection of anti-discrimination law, dispute resolution, and educational policies. I seek to be ‘a seeker of truth, and doer of justice’ by researching in this area through uncovering how otherwise secret conflict resolution processes operate when issues arise for these students. For example, my research has found that over a 5-year reporting period, a total of 92 complaints about students with challenging behaviours were received by the equality commissions in South Australia, Victoria, and at the Australian Human Rights Commission. Of these matters, 68.5% of them related to students who were in primary school.
Being an academic affords me a unique platform to share my research findings and advocate for social change from an evidenced based position. This privilege has seen me present my research at international and national conferences, publish in top journals, and be interviewed by mainstream media, including ABC Radio and A Current Affair.
There is no doubt that education leads to better life outcomes for all, but my education at Loreto truly developed my passion, interest, and values. In doing so, it has enabled me to bring my great love of learning, my values of community, as well as making a difference, to all aspects of my life.
Thank you to LOSA for asking me to share my story. If you would like to find out more about my research, feel free to follow me via my below social media accounts or checkout my research profile:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-peta-spyrou-6a6211157/
Instagram: @drpetaspyrou
