Session details

Pre-conference sessions (Thursday, 3 June 2010) 3.00 - 5.30 p.m.

Both workshops will run for a total of 2hours 15minutes with a short break for afternoon tea

Special registration date for ACSF pre-conference session - registrations must be received before May 13.

Early Bird Member Rate closes 30 April 2010 (applicable to those current financial members for registrations received or postmarked on or before this date)

Pre-conference Session Block P (Choose 1 of 2)

P1 Understanding and Applying the Australian Core Skills Framework, ACSF

Philippa McLean

The ACSF is the validated set of benchmarks that provides a consistent national approach for identifying,  describing and discussing performance in the core skills of learning, reading, writing, oral communication andnumeracy.  The ACSF is now being used extensively throughout Australia.
This workshop will introduce participants to the underlying principles and the key elements of the ACSF.  Participants will have the opportunity to apply the ACSF to validating assessment tasks and moderating learner responses across the core skills.
Philippa McLean has extensive experience in quality assurance, professional development and resource development in adult education, with particular expertise in adult language, literacy and numeracy. Philippa is a member of the project team that developed the Australian Core Skills Framework, ACSF.  

This workshop is limited to 25 participants.
Participants must bring along a copy of the ACSF. 
Free copies can be obtained from adultlit@deewr.gov.au
Once places are confirmed participants will receive an email with further information and a request to indicate knowledge of the ACSF.  This will enable us to cater appropriately for the group.
Registrations for this workshop must be received before May 13. 

Philippa McLean has extensive experience in quality assurance, professional development and resource development in adult education, with particular expertise in adult language, literacy and numeracy. Philippa is a member of the project team that developed the Australian Core Skills Framework, ACSF.

P2 Another LLNP: Language, Literacy, Numeracy...and Parliament

Rod Espie and Daryl Evans, Education Office, Parliament of Victoria

The year 2010 is a year of elections. What do your students know about the Parliamentary process? Do they know about the various legislative frameworks that impact on their daily lives?

This workshop will provide teachers with a wide range of resources and suggested teaching programs to introduce learners to parliamentary government and their own part in the democratic process as voters in this election, or the next ...

You will leave with quite a few teaching materials!

Sample themes - an understanding of procedures, analysis of issues, perhaps your classroom can become a Chamber of argument, a venue for your local MP as guest speaker, a committee room to plan your next tour of Parliament House...

Rod Espie, Senior Education Project Officer, Parliament of Victoria; presenter at Australian Electoral Commission Education Centre; adult literacy and adult ESL teacher.
Daryl Evans, adult literacy teacher, administrator and researcher for 35 years.

This workshop is interactive and will require a minimum of 10 people in order to run.

Conference Sessions (Friday, 4 June 2010)

8.45 am Opening

Parkville String Quartet

Welcome – Ann Haynes

Official Opening
The Hon Joan Kirner AM, former Premier of Victoria, National co-convenor of Emily's List, board member of Museum Victoria and VALBEC patron

Keynote -  Kate Perkins

Learning from and through experience
People who work in the fields of adult literacy, language and numeracy come from diverse backgrounds and career pathways. The collective knowledge, experience and skills of the field are extraordinary and provide a potential treasure trove on which to draw and build. But how can we ensure that our wealth of experience and expertise is indeed a powerhouse that drives us forward and not a prison that traps us in the past?

Kate has observed that one of the problems with expertise is that the more expert a person becomes in any field, the more challenging it can be to maintain that sense of enquiry that underpins real learning. How many of us still venture willingly into the ‘Learning Pit’ with all its frustrations and angst? And how do passionate, committed, and probably overworked practitioners find time and energy to share knowledge and experience in ways that encourage deep reflection? The VALBEC conference is a good place to start!
In her opening keynote Kate will share some of the models and strategies that have had a profound impact on her approach to professional learning. She will challenge you to think about ‘real’ learning in new ways and share your learning experiences.

Kate Perkins is a specialist in the leadership and management of innovation and change. Through many years of research and practical application, she has identified a range of powerful tools and concepts that help individuals and groups learn from and build on, while tapping into their knowledge and experience.

Kate draws on a background in education and training with extensive experience in the literacy and numeracy field as a practitioner, education manager, researcher and strategist. She was a member of the team that developed the Australian Core Skills Framework, is the author of the recently published NCVER paper Adult literacy and numeracy: Research and future strategy and has been involved in LLN workforce strategic planning. Her work in the VET sector has included co-authoring ‘The Future Now’ on the knowledge and skills requirements of VET professionals in WA and facilitation of national consultations on VET Training products for the 21st century .Kate has worked across a wide range of industry sectors in Australia, NZ and the USA, from health to horticulture, engineering to environment and meat processing to manufacturing.

Morning Tea

Session A - 60 minutes - choose 1 of 4

A1 Sport meets Freire - the Mt Evelyn Football/Netball Club History project

Kerrin Pryor (Morrisons) and Philippa McLean

This project was inspired by the Tynecastle Initiative set up by Edinburgh's Adult Learning Project that followed Paulo Freire's principles of focusing on dialogue and the experiences of the participants, using soccer as a hook to engage footy fans in literacy practices. This project focused on the use of digital literacies to create a history of the local Mt Evelyn Football Club. An organic methodology was used to engage the club members in the journey to create the history. The presentation will reflect on the process and what was learned along the way and how the approach could be applied in other contexts.
Kerrin Pryor has worked in Adult Literacy for over twenty years and on numerous projects including Integrating New Literacies into Classroom Practice. She now works as Education Coordinator at Morrisons.
Philippa McLean has extensive experience in quality assurance in vocational education and training, with particular expertise in adult language, literacy and numeracy. Philippa is a member of the project team that developed the Australian Core Skills Framework, ACSF. and currently works on a number of national projects in VET.

A2 Making a difference - Positive Parenting Pupil Participation (PPPP)

Julie Neeson (Southern Grampians Adult Education), Melissa Collits Project Officer Positive Parenting  Pupil Participation and Dr Kaye Scholfield Manager RMIT Hamilton Learning  Centre

Positive Parenting Pupil Participation (PPPP) seeks to break the cycle of family dysfunction and marginalisation in communities by creating a welcoming environment for parents at the primary school. A partnership was established with George St Primary School and Southern Grampians Adult Education (SGAE) to provide adult education courses in the school centre that focused on lifeskills, literacy and numeracy. RMIT worked with the George St Primary School Council in an Action Research program to monitor school engagement. The project provides a model for rural schools struggling with relatively small numbers of families who may be caught in a cycle of poverty, anti-social behaviour and low literacy levels. This presentation will focus on ways in which PPPP is making a difference in local communities and reflect on outcomes to date.

Julie Neeson, Executive Officer at SGAE has developed literacy as an integral part of all programs including the development of literacy resources for teachers of CGEA.

Melissa Collits is the Project Officer Positive Parenting  Pupil Participation.

Dr Kaye Scholfieldis Manager at RMIT Hamilton Learning  Centre

A3 Finding a ‘real’ audience - publishing in The AGE online

Tim Morris (RMIT)
Other presenter: CGEA student

Getting published with The Age newspaper online offers adult learners a range of benefits including the development of IT research skills, reading skills, collaboration and team work. The key benefit though is the confidence developed through finding a 'real' audience for their work beyond the classroom as well as seeing their name on the website and sharing in other social networks. This session will illustrate the process and provide teachers with resources to apply in different classroom contexts. This practical presentation will share a simple but effective teaching approach and offer observations on the impact of this approach on the learner’s self-image and confidence.

Tim Morris teaches in the English and Further Study School of Education, RMIT, TAFE.

A4 Catering for learner needs - Chinese Heritage Culture

Serena Seah (Swinburne University of Technology – TAFE)

Who is a Chinese learner? Are they influenced by a common ideology? How do they learn and what influences their learning? How different are ethnic Chinese from other nationalities? These questions are raised as numbers of Chinese learners increase in adult education programs and their different needs and expectations become more evident. This presentation will provide insights into Chinese Heritage Culture and strategies to cater for differences and similarities and how to best meet the needs of Chinese learners in the classroom.
Serena Seah, is an ESL teacher to new migrants at Swinburne TAFE. Her Master’s thesis was based on research on the Chinese Learner and she has conducted several successful workshops on this topic drawing on her personal experiences as a migrant to share with her audience.

Session B - 60 minutes - choose 1 of 4

B1 The bigger picture – international perspectives on adult learning

Sally Thompson (Adult Learning Australia)

Adult Learning Australia (ALA) is the national peak body representing organisations and individuals in the adult learning field. While maintaining an Australian focus, (ALA) maintains a range of connections with Adult Learning peak organizations across the world. As the new ALA Executive Officer, Sally brings to the role an extensive background in Adult Literacy and Learning, having been an adult literacy teacher, former president of VALBEC, and worked in community education, TAFE and indigenous higher education in diverse settings within Australia and in China. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the international trends in AdultLliteracy and Adult Learning and will explore what they might mean in an Australian context.
Sally Thompson is the CEO of Adult Learning Australia and the former EO of ACEVic.

B2 Tools for the Trade: developing communication skills for employment pathways

Lilliana Hajncl and Jacky Springall (AMES)

The AMEP Employment Pathways Program is a national pilot program funded by DIAC that aims to assist new migrants and refugees learn English while also gaining familiarity with Australian workplace culture and practices. AMES has delivered over 90 courses in this program in both metropolitan and rural settings across the state, to adult ESL learners from beginner ESL/unskilled level to upper intermediate ESL/professional level. This workshop will outline the model and approach for delivering industry contextualised ESL which has focussed on both language delivery and developing an awareness of workplace cultures in Australia. The model is highly adaptable to youth and community programs. This workshop will draw on the experience and data collected over 18 months of classroom delivery and will feature some of the activities and resources that can be used to develop the underpinning language, literacy and employability skills ESL learners need to successfully get and keep a job.

Lilliana Hajncl has worked in teaching, resource development and project management for 30 years. She has managed resource development projects for national and state government departments and peak non -government service agencies, including the Australian Human Rights Commission and National Innovative Literacy Program. She coordinates resource development and evaluation for the AMEP Employment Pathways program.
Jacky Springall has taught in the AMEP in Victoria for many years and currently manages the AMEP Employment Pathways program for AMES. She is the author of two recent teaching resources, Taking Care and Keys to Work, designed to assist learners to successfully participate in the Australian workplace.

B3 Dealing with diversity in the numeracy/science class

Chris Tully and Vicki Doukas, (Kangan TAFE)

Teachers face many obstacles in the Maths/Science classroom, but what happens when the learners are of different ages, educational backgrounds and ethnic groups? The challenge is to engage everybody despite different abilities and entry levels. The workshop will provide examples of successful techniques and approaches and some generic take away worksheets that will aid facilitating learning for a diverse range of students.
Chris Tully and Vicki Doukas originally taught in secondary schools and now teach across a variety of programmes in the TAFE sector including VCE, VCAL and CGEA.

B4 New Resources Showcase

CGEA Sample Assessment Books
The presenters will showcase the new CGEA Sample Assessment  Books: Cert I – Australian Government; Cert II – Health  and the draft of the third book in the series: Cert I (Intro) – Water
The presenters will briefly talk about why the assessments were put together and participants will have an opportunity to view the books.
Lidia Interlandi and Pauline Morrow (Kangan)

Travel and Tourism, On the Road and a Year of Celebrations
Three books from a series developed and designed specifically for teachers of the CGEA and trialled in youth, adult literacy and ESL literacy programs.  
Julie Neeson and Sestina Chambers (SGAE)

Watch this – learning English using videos on portable devices
AMES provides downloadable portable videos on issues relating to everyday life and accompanying activities to mediate the learners understanding of the content and the language and promote independent learning.
Marion Simmelmann and Mikaila Lindeman (AMES)

1.00 -1.45 pm Lunch

Session C - 60 minutes - choose 1 of 4

C1 Keeping learners connected - Innovative Family Literacy Models

Ann Leske and Leonie Francis TAFE NSW – Wagga Wagga

Adult Literacy practitioners are encouraged to develop collaborative community partnerships to facilitate lifelong and lifewide programs. Partnered programs can successfully achieve individual, community and social capital outcomes. The TAFE Wagga Wagga STEPS Program is underpinned by a partnership approach to engage marginalised people in adult literacy programs. Commencing in 2004, the program and partnerships have continued to evolve, building on strengths and outcomes in response to local demographics and community needs. Four innovative Family Literacy Models, each with unique intent and involving diverse cultures, will be explored in this presentation. Strategies and approaches regarding perspectives of literacy, identifying potential partners, evaluation and reporting will be included. This workshop will offer practical ideas and practitioner experiences of developing cross-sectoral partnerships to address barriers to social inclusion and learning in the community.
Leonie Francis, Head Teacher Foundation Studies and Ann Leske, Adult Literacy teacher are members of a department committed to programs embracing social justice through literacy. The TAFE STEPS program was initially funded through DEEWR National Adult Literacy and Numeracy Innovative Project and due to its educational focus and outcomes achieved has continued to receive contestable funding. In 2007 the program was awarded the Adult Learning Australia Runner Up‚ Adult Learning Program of the year.

C2 Exploring Essential Questions

Liz Suda (Melbourne Museum)
What is an Essential Question? How do we encourage learners to pose a question that will then invite further questions? Most adult educators understand the power of a good question to get students thinking and wanting to know more. The Titanic exhibition currently on show at the Melbourne Museum will provide a context for an Essential Question - Why did an unsinkable boat, the Titanic, sink? Participants will be invited to join a question trail to explore how such questions can take learners on a fascinating journey of discovery. This workshop will explore the theory of Essential Questions and how they can be used to promote Inquiry learning and enhance learning in a wide range of contexts.  
Liz Suda is an educator with many years of experience in secondary, tertiary and further education. She has written extensively and is passionate about putting learning theory into practice.

C3 Strategies for developing a Learning Plan

Bronwyn Stretton (Gordon Institute of TAFE)

How to present the CGEA Certificate l (Intro) unit Develop and document a learning plan and portfolio so that each student can work through it at their own pace?
This was the challenge taken up by Bronwyn when she launched into devising an online learning resource that would enable learners to take control of their learning without missing out on valuable teacher input. This workshop will provide an insight into the process of developing the online resource and journey into the world of Wimba Create, the Blackboard Learning System and Vista. Participants will be given the opportunity to view the online resource, reflect on and discuss its application to their own teaching contexts and provide feedback.
Bronwyn Stretton teaches in General Education at the Gordon Institute of TAFE. She has taught English and English Literature at secondary level in WA, taught migrants and developed teaching resources in AMES WA, and taught literacy and other programs in Adult and Community Education as well as the TAFE sector in NSW.

C4 Sudoku without tears

Bronwen Hickman (CAE)

Never tried Sudoku? Put off by all the numbers? Or are you a Sudoku nut who has to solve The Age Sudoku each day? Puzzles are a great way to massage the brain and open up new ways of learning. How can teachers assist their learners to develop Sudoku skills that enhance other skills such as careful observation, clear thinking, problem solving and alternative learning strategies?
This workshop will provide participants with a practical approach to Sudoku-by-colours, an easy, non-threatening version that can be easily constructed in an environmentally friendly way for classroom use to suit learners of all ages and abilities.

Bronwen Hickman has been teaching at the Centre for Adult Education for 25 years and has written several books for literacy learners and teachers. 

Afternoon Keynote – Merv Edmunds

Feel Good, Think Smart - the role of emotion in learning

New insights from biology, neuroscience and sociology come together in this presentation that explains the primacy of emotion above logic in driving engagement, focus, thinking and learning. The presentation highlights the way recent understandings of the brain, mirror neurons, pattern matching and the limbic system give fresh recognition to the way humans learn naturally. The learning approach regarded by many as the one most aligned with brain biology, cognitive apprenticeship will be explained in reference to actual classroom practice. Using experiences from an award-winning national curriculum project to develop soft skills including creativity, visualisation, emotion management the presentation will offer many strategies and ideas for implementation.
Merv Edmunds is a teacher, trainer and therapist, and the first Australian to become qualified in the Human Givens approach to emotional health. He has run seminars and workshops for health professionals, teachers, training organisations, and presented at many conferences here and overseas. Merv brings to the seminar room the benefits of award-winning teaching, the experience of private practice, and the passion from a life well-lived. You will be engaged, stimulated, and inspired.

Review and close

Annual General Meeting

Refreshments and networking

 

The conference is supported by Adult Community and Further Education