A native of Melbourne, Australia, Tony Stead earned his master of education degree from the University of Melbourne and worked for fourteen years as a K-6 teacher in five different school settings in Melbourne, and lectured for three years. He visits the United States and Canada at least four times a year to consult in literacy education with school districts.
When in Australia, he does some consulting, but spends most of his time in classrooms with children and writing teacher resource materials. He believes that professional development should be "hands-on, relevant, reflective, engaging, empowering." He encourages teachers to "take off the teacher hat and replace it with that of the learner," and to celebrate success, no matter how small.
