As the newly appointed principal of Dickson College, Mr Edwards intends to keep that reputation running, with plans to better tailor the school's approach to student needs.

Mr Edwards attracted praise for developing Gungahlin's Artpreneurs program in 2014, which enabled students to produce artwork that could be put on the market or in galleries rather than in the classroom.

He said he hoped to encourage teachers to think outside the square when designing their classes, with each staff member assessing their methods with a personal research project.

"If a teacher wanted to experiment with a particular practice or program that might look to increase student engagement or enhance learning, there's scope within that [program]," he said.

"We want to focus on quality teaching, getting our teachers to be looking at their own practice and to be effective at what they're doing."

The greatest change from Mr Edwards' previous roles came from the hands-off approach to teaching that becoming a principal entailed.

"When I started I didn't necessarily want to be a school principal; it was because I wanted to be a teacher and loved teaching," he said.

"My love of teaching now needs to come through my influence of the teachers at the school."