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Keynote and Theme Paper Speaker Presentations Who Should Attend? Why Attend Conference Themes Program Information Invited Speakers Preliminary Program Pre-Conference Workshops School Site Visits - Thursday, 17 May 2006
Who Should Attend?
Teachers, Administrators, Teacher Educators, Pre-Service Students, Parents, Community and Agency Representatives.
Why Attend?
The Conference will enable participants to:Identify approaches for engaging young adolescents in rigorous and intellectually stimulating learning environments to build bright and rewarding futures for young people Focus on a balanced and meaningful approach to catering for the diverse needs of students in the middle years Consider ways for all stakeholders to work together in achieving these outcomes Network with others to share a common vision for the middle years of schooling
Conference Themes
1. Building Family and Community Partnerships
Family involvement in education; working with families and agencies outside schools; community partnerships to enhance learning; related research with an emphasis on middle years2. Building Adolescent Wellbeing
Adolescent growth and development; health and wellbeing; addressing the needs, interests and characteristics of adolescents; related research3. Building Professional Learning and Leadership
Organisational change; leadership for reform; professional learning communities; related research with an emphasis on middle years4. Building Innovative Learning Communities
Relevant curriculum; student participation in learning; authentic assessment; catering for diversity; related research
Program Information
The program will feature international and national keynote speakers, theme papers, presentations showcasing effective practice, school site visits and student participation. It is anticipated the program will highlight the successes of those reaching new heights in catering for the diversity of learners in the middle years of schooling.
Invited Speakers
Professor Tania Aspland
Julia Atkin
Professor Guy Claxton
Professor Neil Dempster
Dr Nancy Doda
Dr William Flora
Dr Michael Nagel
Professor Peter Renshaw
Ms Lisa Smith
Preliminary Program
Thursday, 17 May
09:00 - 18:00 Registration desk open
09:30 - 15:30 School site visits
11:00 - 17:30 Pre-conference workshops
18:00 - 18:45 Conference opening
18:45 - 20:00 Welcome reception
20:00 onwards Evening at leisureFriday, 18 May
08:00 - 16:00 Registration desk open
09:00 - 15:50 Conference sessions
19:00 - 23:00 Conference dinnerSaturday, 19 May
08:00 - 16:00 Registration desk open
12:45 - 13:45 Poster Session
09:00 - 15:30 Conference sessions
Pre-Conference Workshops
Eight pre-conference workshops will be held on Thursday, 17 May 2007 at Conrad Jupiters. The aim of these workshops is to provide delegates with an opportunity to access optional workshops provided by invited presenters in areas of their expertise.All these workshops will be held at Conrad Jupiters. Please be aware of different starting times for workshops so you will be able to attend one workshop only.
Times for some school site visits and pre-conference workshops overlap. Please check times carefully when registering.
Workshop 1 - Facilitative Leadership
Workshop 2 - When the kids come first: Planning meaningful, integrated curriculum
Workshop 5 - So you want to lead a middle school?
Workshop 6 - Building learning power: How to expand your students' capacity to learn
Workshop 7 - Y Generation - What do teachers need to know?
Workshop 8 - Creative thinking - Putting the 'And' back into education
School Site Visits - Thursday, 17 May 2007
PLEASE NOTE: You can register to attend ONE TRIP ONLY. All coaches depart from Conrad Jupiters at the times specified below. All school site visits cost A$45.Times for some school site visits and pre-conference workshops overlap. Please check times carefully when registering.
School Site Visits 1 & 2 - Upper Coomera State College
School Site Visit 3 - Trinity Lutheran College
School Site Visit 4 - St James Catholic Primary School
School Site Visit 5 - Canterbury College & Calamvale Community College
School Site Visit 6 - Assisi Catholic College
School Site Visit 7 - All Saints Anglican School
School Site Visit 8 - Coomera Anglican College
School Site Visits 1 & 2 - Upper Coomera State College
This state college has 2,230 students from Preschool to Year 12 and is organised into three sub-schools - Junior School (P-6), Middle School (7-9) and Senior School (10-12). Currently in its fifth year, the College has a strong commitment to individual student learning journeys. This is supported through the strong commitment to literacy and numeracy via journey grouping. Teams of teachers develop a productive relationship with the students and their parents over their three year stay in each stage.Within the Middle School there is a daily focus on Trans-Disciplinary Studies (TDS), a deeply integrated study of all key learning areas (KLA) that still maintains the integrity of each KLA. A key KLA, known as an 'organiser' is used to focus the planning for each term. Each team of teachers is given a 'planning day' to develop a unit for their particular students. Units include components of negotiated learning so vital to middle years pedagogy. TDS takes place in the home class grouping allowing classroom teachers to form vital connections between literacy and all other learning experiences. Each day students participate in an elective subject which they choose for the term.
Visit 1: 09:30 - 13:30
Visit 2: 11:00 - 15:00
Includes: 30 minute bus transfer each way, lunch, and school visit
Maximum Participants: 30 per tourNOTE: If numbers not obtained these two visits will be combined into one with participants being advised of time slot.
School Site Visit 3 - Trinity Lutheran College
Middle School at Trinity Lutheran College caters for students in Years 6 - 9 where there is a strong focus on pedagogical best practice. Key features are: inquiry based learning; differentiation in integrated units to cater for needs of all students; an innovative approach to integration across 5
key learning areas - English/SOSE/ Maths/Science/IT; limited numbers of core teachers in Years 8 and 9 teaching a combination of subjects, e.g. English/SOSE/Maths/Science; innovative curriculum leadership - Teaching and Learning Facilitators rather than Heads of Departments or Subject Co-ordinators; a wide range of experience subjects/electives; All strands of The Arts are offered - Dance, Media, Art, Music and Drama; facilities are purpose built; integrated IT through use of mini computer labs incorporated across sets of two classrooms.Time: 10:00 - 14:00
Includes: 20 minute bus transfer each way, lunch, and school visit
Maximum Participants: 48
School Site Visit 4 - St James Catholic Primary School
Middle years students at St James School on the Tweed Coast are fully immersed in inquiry learning, a process that draws on real life relevance and specific teaching and learning tools and strategies. Students are aware that learning can happen anywhere and at any time.In 2007 all students in the school will begin the year participating in integrated units of work that develop their understandings of how we best learn and the many physical and environmental factors that "switch on" or "switch us off" to learning. Staff and students alike continue their journey into a learning framework that encourages positive learning environments and success for students.
Time: 10:00 - 14:00
Includes: 30 minute bus transfer each way, lunch, and school visit
Maximum Participants: 30
School Site Visit 5 - Canterbury College & Calamvale Community College
Canterbury College is Prep - Year 12 co-educational independent school of 1300 students, affiliated with the Anglican Church. The College is structured into three Focus Areas - Junior, Middle and Senior Years. The Middle Years Focus Area is relatively new, with an exciting and energetic teaching team working to facilitate the change and to develop the middle years culture in a manageable, yet dynamic, manner. In alignment with the 20th anniversary of the school, specific learning facilities are due to be
completed in early 2007 for the 400 Middle Years students. The features of the Middle Years Focus Area are: Pedagogy - integrated Year 7 program; Curriculum - literacy across the curriculum; Boys in education - 'Rock and Water Program' (Year 9); Special Program - The Integrated Arts (Year 7 & 8).Calamvale Community College is a P-12 state school which opened in 2002 as a purpose-built college. The Middle School caters for 580 students aged 12 to 14 years and offers an integrated curriculum underpinned by innovative structures such as teamwork, flexible use of time and space and small learning communities. It is designed to improve and enhance student learning. Strong, positive relationships connecting a range of learning partners, and supported by the College's multi-age approach called MAYOP (Move At Your Own Pace), cater for the needs of all students and provide an
optimal learning environment.Time: 09:30 - 15:30
Includes: 30 minute bus transfer to Canterbury College and 45 minute bus transfer from Calamvale Community College, lunch, and visits to both schools
Maximum Participants: 34
School Site Visit 6 - Assisi Catholic College
The design of Assisi College (P- 12) has received a number of awards, including: an international Merit Award through DesignShare/SCN, Assisi College being the only Australian recipient. The award reflects the design of the Middle years Technology Centre (MYTEC), but also acknowledges the special design characteristics of the four clusters. The College also received two awards at the 2005 Master Builders Association Regional Awards for Best Educational Facility ($2 - $10m) and Best Educational Facility for the Queensland climate. The MYTEC design is specifically arranged around the concept of connectedness. It has inspired the development of connected curriculum tasks in Years 8 & 9, using the 'jigsaw' approach. Students from four subject areas form learning teams and contribute to collaborative projects. The teachers become facilitators of the 'expert' groups in their particular subject areas.The general building design reflects the Franciscan philosophy of the College. Environmentally friendly structures cater specifically for the local climate and allow for the recycling of water from Lake Trasimeno in the centre of the school.
Time: 10:15 - 14:15
Includes: 30 minute bus transfer each way, lunch, and school visit
Maximum Participants: 30
School Site Visit 7 - All Saints Anglican School
All Saints School is a P-12 co-educational school, restructured in 1988 into three sub-schools - Junior, Middle and Senior. The Middle School caters for 500 students in Years 7 - 9, aiming to provide an atmosphere in which the development of relationships between all those involved in the students' learning is of primary importance; where a love of learning is encouraged; where experiences are relevant and purposeful. Teachers also aim to provide a safe, stimulating and flexible learning environment that encourages "Learning to Live and Living to Learn"Time: 10:30 - 14:00
Includes: 15 minute bus transfer each way, lunch, and school visit
Maximum Participants: 48
School Site Visit 8 - Coomera Anglican College
Coomera Anglican College is a co-educational, P - 12 school established in a rapidly growing region on the northern end of the Gold Coast. The campus for Years 7 - 9 began in 2006 after several years of investigation and research by interested staff. The teachers are developing an integrated approach to
the curriculum that seeks to focus on a problem or concept that has global or national significance but connects to student interest. The integrated tasks are supported by traditional disciplines and all year levels have access to specialist facilities and teachers. Students have a limited number of teachers. The core teachers (English/ SOSE and Maths/Science) work in pairs with each of their classes developing close relationships with the students and providing pivotal contact for parents. Pastoral Care has a vertical structure in House groupings. There is a designated area for these students, so enabling them to take ownership and develop a sense of belonging. Teachers working with the middle years students have a passion for these young people and are keen to create the best possible learning experiences for them.Time: 10:15 - 14:15
Includes: 30 minute bus transfer each way, lunch, and school visit
Maximum Participants: 19
Professor Tania Aspland
Professor in Teacher Education and Director of Education Programs, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Professor Aspland is currently Professor in Teacher Education and Director of Education Programs at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Professor Aspland has been a leader in course development in Teacher Education for many years and is currently engaged in a number of research projects in higher education pedagogies, in learning engagement and disengagement, in assessment and learning, and in critiquing the middle years of schooling teacher education undergraduate and graduate courses.
Julia Atkin
Learning by Design
Julia Atkin is an independent education and learning consultant who works across education settings in Australia and internationally. Her work with educators over the past twenty years has focussed their reflection and dialogue around two key questions: What is powerful learning? and, What is it powerful to learn? Julia is passionate about developing educational services that: nurture the human spirit of individuals and the organisation; are personalised and customised; help the learner learn to think and learn to learn; integrate the best of learning technology with information and communication technologies; are collaborative; and result in learning that has deep personal meaning and is thus transferable from one context to another. Julia's work is characterised by an innovative approach that
bridges the gap between theory and practice. She has received a number of prestigious awards in recognition of her work. In 2000-2004 she was named a Distinguished Educator by Apple Computers Australia. In 2000 Julia was made a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators and awarded the Sir Harold Wyndham Medal 2000 in recognition of the contribution her work has made to the learning of teachers and the children of Australia. In October 2003, The Bulletin named Julia as one of Australia's Smart 100 - a list of one hundred people, making a difference to Australian society through innovation.
Professor Guy Claxton
Professor of the Learning Sciences, University of Bristol Graduate School of Education, United Kingdom
Guy Claxton is Professor of the Learning Sciences at the University of Bristol Graduate School of Education. He is the UK's foremost expert on expanding young people's capacity to learn and is originator of the highly practical and successful Building Learning Power approach to classroom teaching and school development. He is the author and editor of over 25 books including Wise Up: Learning to Live the Learning Life, and the best-selling Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind which John Cleese called 'The essential guide to creativity'.
Professor Neil Dempster
School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Mt Gravatt Campus, Griffith University, Australia
Neil Dempster is a Professor in Education at Griffith University and Dean of the Faculty of Education. Neil's professional research interests are in school governance and leadership, school improvement and the role that professional development plays in policy implementation and organisational change. Neil's teaching interests centre on the development of school leaders and involve initiatives in both government and non-government schools. Professionally, he has been engaged in the introduction of School Councils in Queensland government schools in recent years. He works on matters of Board Governance in independent schools and not-for-profit organisations, as well as on strategic planning and review, nationally and internationally.
Dr Nancy Doda
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, National-Louis University and Middle School Education Consultant, USA
Dr Nancy Doda began her career in 1974 as a middle school Language Arts teacher in a Florida middle school acknowledged as an exemplary, model middle school. Nancy witnessed remarkable results through the use of teams, an advisory program, multiage classrooms, interdisciplinary teaching, a block schedule and a student-centred philosophy. Her commitment to middle school took hold. While teaching there she completed her Masters and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction/Teacher Education at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and began conducting workshops for educators on middle school theory and practice. During those seminal years, she authored a regular column for the Middle School Journal, entitled, "Teacher to Teacher" , which became an NMSA monograph. Since then, she has worked as a professional development consultant with middle school educators in all 50 states, Canada, Europe and the Far East.Her service to middle school education has also included five years as a member of the NMSA Board. Today, she serves as a charter member of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. She has received outstanding educator and service awards from the Virginia Middle School Association, NELMS and Connecticut Association of Secondary Schools. In 2001, she was awarded the National Middle School Association's most prestigious John Lounsbury award. She has authored numerous articles, tapes and books. Her most recent publication is entitled Transforming ourselves:
Transforming schools (NMSA, 2002). Nancy designs and conducts professional development experiences for educators engaged in middle school reform. Her workshops span a breadth of areas including but not limited to effective teaming, interdisciplinary curriculum and instruction, middle school
development, classroom teaching methods, differentiating instruction, affective education programs and practices, learning communities, middle school philosophy, curriculum integration and relationships.
Dr William Flora
Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Radford University, Virginia, USA
Dr William Flora is currently an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at Radford University, Virginia USA. Dr Flora has been a public school teacher, public school administrator and central office administrator. He has worked in both large suburban school districts as well as small rural districts. He has presented in many venues on the subject of Educational Leadership, School Reform and Organizational Structure. His current research interests are focused on increasing rigor in middle level education and high school reform.
Dr Michael Nagel
Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Dr Nagel is an academic at the University of the Sunshine Coast where he researches and teaches in cognition and learning, human development and early learning, neurological development in children, and the middle years of schooling. A national and international speaker to students, teachers, school leaders and parents alike, Dr Nagel's insights have been well received for linking theory with the every day realities of raising and working with children. His primary goal in all that he does focuses on enhancing the total school environment for boys and girls.
Professor Peter Renshaw
Head of School, School of Education, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, Australia
Professor Peter Renshaw is the Head of the School of Education at the University of Queensland. He has taught in universities in New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland as well as in Europe and North America. He was President of the Australian Association for Research in Education in 2001. He has had a long term interest in education for social justice, due in part to his own experience as a "Bankstown boy" who benefited enormously from access to educational opportunities in the 1960’s and 1970’s. For the past decade, Peter’s research has been inspired by the theoretical insights of Vygotsky regarding the cultural and social foundations of learning.Since 2005, Professor Renshaw has been working with colleagues at Griffith University and the University of Queensland to examine how middle school teachers are designing learning opportunities for diverse students during these current times of increased standardised testing and external accountability pressures. Such pressures tend to narrow the curriculum and increase the pressure on teachers to stream learners into ability groups. From a Vygotskian perspective, this way of managing student diversity creates systematic barriers to growth and limits the potential of a large proportion of learners. Developing more inclusive and challenging learning communities for all students remains an on-going focus of his research.
Ms Lisa Smith
Minds At Work
Lisa is a big-hearted, agile-minded, pointy-shoed gal with a wealth of ideas and experience. She grew up on a dairy farm, moved to the big smoke, climbed the corporate ladder and then had a much, much better idea half the way up. She's currently the driving force behind the Minds At Work "Creative Problem Solving Program" in conjunction with Emergency Management Australia, which means she's sharing Minds at Works favourite thinking strategies with fire fighters, SES and crack police response teams. Over the last few months Lisa has worked with groups of farmers, teachers, principals, corporate high-fliers, 'community builders', truck builders and bull semen traders.
Workshop 1
Facilitative LeadershipTime: 11:00 - 17:00
Presenter: Mark Creyton, Manager Education & Research, Volunteering Queensland and Perry Hembury, Manager Governance Training & Consultancy, Volunteering Queensland
Cost Per Person: A$120 (includes lunch and afternoon tea)
Maximum Participants: 50This workshop provides an interactive approach to exploring leadership for Middle Years Co-ordinators/ Heads of Middle School/ Heads of Department - Middle Schooling or those in a similar leadership role within a school or other institution. The workshop provides the opportunity to focus on the processes for effective leadership, to share strategies and network with peers, including:
Conversations around approaches to leadership – theory and practice Working with teams and staying well. Leading and sustaining change efforts
NB This program has been delivered across Queensland, as well as in Newcastle and Melbourne during the past two years. At the workshop, the combined learnings and thoughts of previous participants will be summarised and presented as part of the day.
Workshop 2
When the kids come first: Planning meaningful, integrated curriculumTime: 15:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Dr Nancy M. Doda, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, National-Louis University and Middle School Education Consultant, USA
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)
Maximum Participants: 50Students query: "Why are we learning this? What does this have to do with anything we care about?", and what do we tell them? Thanks to the phenomenal work of James Beane and other devoted progressives, we can answer students by including student voice as a fundamental part of curriculum and instruction. Join me, along with some local students, in a hands - on session where we will learn how we can plan big themes of study when we start with students’ voice at the front and centre.
Workshop 3
Tests and worksheets don't build dendrites: Working with the 21st century adolescent brain to reach new heightsTime: 16:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Dr Michael Nagel, Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of Sunshine Coast
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)
Maximum Participants: 80This workshop provides a framework for merging adolescent neurological development with learning and behaviour in the 21st century school environment. Limitations of traditional schooling practices are examined within a context of new ideas towards building innovative learning communities with a greater understanding of adolescent behaviour and learning styles. Moreover, contemporary research in neurology and cognitive science is used to provide insights and strategies for managing all aspects of working with students towards enhancing the motivation and meaning behind the day-to-day interactions of middle school endeavours.
Workshop 4
Try it on MondayTime: 16:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Peter Dry, Vice Principal and Head of Middle School, Huntingtower School, Victoria
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)
Maximum Participants: 40Need to enliven your classroom? Need to get the students to think more deeply? Need to encourage students to work more cooperatively? This hands-on workshop will enlarge your repertoire giving a range of strategies to apply in the classroom on Monday! Together we will examine how effective teaching includes more than good unit design and delivery, but requires instructional strategies that are devised to achieve a specific outcome. While teachers need certain routines to guide the behaviour of students, they also need specific practices to scaffold and guide the thinking of students. These are called ‘thinking routines’. They are simple, have a name, guide a specific
type of thinking and are widely applicable. This workshop will look at several thinking routines as well as several simple strategies that will not only encourage deeper thinking, but will also engage and enthuse young adolescents.
Workshop 5
So you want to lead a middle school?Time: 16:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Dr Roderick Crouch, Principal, Moreton Bay Boys’ College, Queensland
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)
Maximum Participants: 100Over the last five years, all sectors of education have responded to the enormous interest in middle schools, middle schooling and more generally the various needs of young adolescents in Australia with both policy statements on middle schooling and/or the establishment of middle schools. Little
research has, however, been undertaken into those who desire to be heads or principals of middle schools. For middle schooling (ie the teaching and learning) to occur, what leadership is required? More specifically, what should the principal or head of middle school be doing? Is it necessary to
create such a position? If so, how different should it be from a head or principal of a primary or high school? Is there an ideal role description for a head of middle school? How does it differ from the reality? This workshop will draw upon the presenter's own doctoral research in order to answer these questions. The workshop will also explore the practical implications involved in leading a structure called middle school, whether that middle school is part of a larger P-12 campus or a stand alone school in its own right. Finally, the workshop will examine professional development required for school staff and leaders in building the future to support students in reaching new heights.
Workshop 6
Building learning power: How to expand your students' capacity to learnTime: 16:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Professor Guy Claxton, Professor of the Learning Sciences, University of Bristol Graduate School of Education, United Kingdom
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)Early adolescence is the critical time to confirm young people’s passion for lifelong learning – or to kill it. The drive to ‘raise standards’ can lead to spoon-feeding and increased dependency, or to refining and strengthening young people’s capacity to learn – in school and out. The Building Learning Power (BLP) approach offers a portfolio of small, safe changes to teaching habits and school organisation that systematically cultivates the most powerful set of positive learning dispositions (and, incidentally, gets better examination results). Where other approaches to learning often vacillate between ‘fine words’ and ‘hints and tips’, BLP delivers the goods. This workshop gives a practical introduction to the methods.
Workshop 7
Y Generation – What do teachers need to know?Time: 16:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Dr Donna Pendergast, Senior Lecturer and Program Director, University of Queensland
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)Generational traits are useful as a tool for understanding young adolescents in formal education settings today and well into the next decade and beyond. ‘Y’ or ‘MilGen’ adolescents inhabiting our classrooms have unique traits that must be understood and appreciated for effective teaching and learning to take place. It is important to consider the effectiveness of the way we go about educating young people, about the systems and structures that support this education, and about the teaching practices - specifically what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess it - to meet the needs of this generation. This session will consider the unique generational traits of MilGen’s and the implications for teachers and their pedagogical practices.
Workshop 8
Creative thinking – Putting the ‘And’ back into educationTime: 16:00 – 17:30
Presenter: Lisa Smith, Minds at Work
Cost Per Person: A$65 (includes afternoon tea)
Maximum Participants: 50Creativity isn’t something you pay for… it’s something you’re born with. Of course, after a few years in the system, most of us learn to put our imaginations to one side and get on with playing the game. Let’s open those minds and get them firing again. We teach, we learn, we play. We laugh a lot. We share ideas and insights garnered over many years of practical experience. The session is designed to help both the individuals and team to throw off ritual and habitual thinking, excise everyday ruts, and rekindle the creative fires of a more youthful and productive age.
Keynote and Theme Paper Speaker Presentations
PDFs of PowerPoint presentations from the keynote and theme paper speakers at the Conference can be accessed by clicking here. Please note that at the request of some speakers, not all presentations are available.
Conference Organiser: ICMS Pty Ltd, 3rd Floor, 379 Kent Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Telephone: +61 7 3307 4000 , Facsimile: +61 7 3844 0909