The look on my shocked students’ faces as Malcolm Turnbull walked into the room to teach them about political campaigns was inspiring and special.
After bringing back a third-year unit on Political Campaigning following a long hiatus, it seemed critical to have significant campaigners provide first-hand insights – so it was a privilege to have our 29th Prime Minister deliver the first lecture.
This subject opens up a rare opportunity to engage in a tradition that some pedagogists perceive to be terribly old-fashioned, but which maybe deserves a retro-cool revival – learning, listening, and sparring in a classroom. Don’t let anyone tell you that the in-class lecture cannot still change the world!
Without betraying classroom confidences, Malcolm Turnbull answered every student question from the media bubbles that push people toward extremes, to the ethics of campaigning in 2026, and the potential rise of greater right-wing sentiment in Australia. I even asked about my favourite political moment of his – the leather jacket on Q&A. He was also gracious in answering questions about Australia, comparisons with the U.S. campaign system, and concerns about political polarisation.
It says a lot about Australia and the leaders it produces that you can have a moment like this, where leaders from the top jobs want to engage with and listen to undergraduate students.
It’s not simply that what is old is new again – it’s that learning demands the best of the old and the best of the new. And the risks for academics are not just found in introducing the new things in their very new ways, but in reimagining and delivering the incredibly valuable long-established teaching methods in clever ways to reach our students.
After Malcolm Turnbull spoke, one student emailed me and said: “I wanted to say thank you for such an incredible lecture today in GOVT3644. Having Malcolm Turnbull as a guest made it especially memorable. I really appreciated the discussion around the idea that even if you don’t agree with someone ideologically, the focus should still be on seeking out the best ideas.”
In my teaching, ‘transformational teaching’ means a greater focus on problem-based learning scenarios, where we provide our students with the learning, critical thinking, and real-world problem-solving skills (and access to guest lecturers) to turn their lectures and assessments into portfolio development that aligns the literature and critical thinking with experiential, real-world learning to meet the moment.
This will clearly not work in every unit, nor will it be ideal for every student. But Universities are not Starbucks; we do not make coffee – we make ideas. And for the rest of my students’ lives they will remember Malcolm Turnbull walking into their Week 1 lecture to introduce new ideas as they approach politics in 2026 and beyond.
Dr. Chris Pepin-Neff is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Sydney.