Jean-François Rischard

International Consultant

High Noon: The Urgent Need for New Approaches to Global Problem-Solving and the Role of Education Institutions

Since retiring as Vice-President of the World Bank in 2005, Rischard has been working as an international consultant and adviser to several governments (Croatia, Qatar, Algeria among others), to international organizations (World Bank, OECD), and to several business clients. He recently has worked with associations of independent schools in the US, Europe and Asia (NAIS, ECIS, EARCOS, International Baccalaureate) and begun to introduce students more systematically to the major global problems that will shape the context in which they will operate as global citizens in the decades to come.

This keynote invites participants to engage in some out-of-the-box thinking about how we could come up with a better methodology for global problem-solving, while there is still time. It then moves on to the observation that we need in fact two things on this beleaguered planet:

1. a new methodology for global problem-solving indeed, that is, one that will help us navigate the very challenging decades ahead, and

2. a new mindset in the next generation, that is, one rooted in a strong sense of being foremost a global citizen. This is where education has a huge role to play.

The keynote concludes with a discussion of a number of recent peri-curricular experiments and of four kinds of suggested curriculum changes -- all aimed at helping make that new mindset come live and turn out action oriented, and at developing in students the global issues knowledge and the leadership traits which our complex future will increasingly call for.

During conference Rischard will work with students to grow a student network in the Oceania Region. You’re invited!

Emeritus Professor Leonie Still

Generational Change and its Implications for Leadership

Emeritus Professor Still has recently retired as Director of the Centre for Women and Business and a Professorial Fellow within the Graduate School of Management, The University of Western Australia. She started in academia as a Lecturer in Marketing rising to the positions of Dean, Faculty of Commerce, University of Western Sydney, Nepean, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Edith Cowan University. She was the first woman Dean of a Faculty of Business/Commerce in Australia.

Leonie is listed in Who’s Who in Australia and the Business Who’s Who of Australia, and is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management and the Australian Institute of Management. In 2003 she was awarded the Governor-General’s Centenary Medal for services to Australian society through business leadership.

This keynote reports on a study into generational change between 300 men and women Australian managers aged between 30 and 59. Covering the Y, X and Boomer generations, the study traces the differences over time in relation to careers and managerial experiences, and personal details such as financial resources, health, social life, elder care, and private life. The findings reveal that while career and managerial experiences show only marginal differences between generations, marked change is noted between genders in the social arenas such as private lives, health, and financial resources. The findings have implications for leadership roles both generally and in the school environment.

Dr Douglas Reeves

The Leadership and Learning Centre

Leadership at Every Level: Making a Difference from the Board Room to the Classroom

Dr Douglas Reeves is the founder of The Leadership and Learning Centre. He has worked with education, business, nonprofit, and government organizations throughout the world. The author of more than 20 books and many articles on leadership and organizational effectiveness, he has twice been named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series. His monthly column on change leadership appears in Educational Leadership. Dr Reeves has also received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Parents Choice Award for his writing for children and parents and the 2006 Brock International Laureate, one of the most prestigious education awards in the world.

In this provocative keynote address Leadership at Every Level: Making a Difference from the Board Room to the Classroom, Dr Reeves will argue that board members and senior educational leaders can have a profound impact on student achievement. While policy issues may seem far removed from the daily details of classroom work, new 2008 evidence makes clear that system-level actions offer enormous opportunities to improve teaching and learning. In Leadership at Every Level, Dr Reeves draws on large scale studies involving more than half a million students in rural, suburban, and urban environments. “Even as the demographic characteristics of students change,” he concludes, “the impact of leadership on student learning is consistent and profound.” In addition to the impact of board members, Reeves explores new evidence on administrative, teacher, and student leadership.

Join Professor John Hattie and Dr Paul Brock as they discuss Where to from Here? with Tony Mackay.

Dr Paul Brock AM

is the Director of Learning and Development Research in the Office of the Director-General of the NSW Department of Education and Training with responsibility for providing the Director-General with high quality advice based on relevant research, scholarship and experience, on short term, medium term and longer term policy and strategic issues in school education.

He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney, and an Honorary Associate in the Central Clinical School of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney. He is an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of New England. Dr Brock is an elected Fellow of the Australian College of Educators; a Life Member of the English Teachers’ Association of NSW, and a Life Member of the Primary English Teachers’ Association of Australia. He is Vice-Patron of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of NSW.

Throughout his forty year career in education as a school teacher, an academic in Australian, British and North American universities, and as a policy advisor to a series of Federal and State Ministers of Education, he has researched and published extensively in the field of English literature, language and literacy as well as in the area of professional teaching standards and ethics.

Professor John Hattie

is currently Professor of Education at the University of Auckland and is one of New Zealand’s most internationally acclaimed aca-demics. Prior to joining the University of Auckland he was both Professor and Chair of Educational Research Methodology, at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He has also held senior positions at the University of Western Australia, Perth, the University of Hong Kong, and the University of Washington, Seattle.

John’s areas of research include measurement models and their application to educational problems, meta-analysis, and models of teaching and learning. He is Director of the Project asTTle (Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning) and over the past six years has headed a team introducing a model of assessment for teachers in all schools in NZ, and thus providing schools with evidence based information about teaching and learning.

 

Tony Mackay

Centre for Strategic Education

Tony Mackay is Executive Director of the Melbourne based Centre for Strategic Education, Australia, a Centre focused on leading educational thinking and practice at state, national and international levels. Tony is also an Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Education at The University of Melbourne. Tony specialises in the areas of school and system leadership, improvement and innovation.

Tony is a founding member of the Governing Council of the National College for School Leadership in England and is a Visiting Fellow at the London Leadership Centre. He is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Innovation Unit Ltd. England; an OECD Senior Consultant for the Schooling For Tomorrow Project, Improving School Leadership Project, and Alternative Models of Learning Project and a DEMOS International Associate. He is currently working on a number of ‘Next Practice Projects’ on School Leadership and School Improvement and Reform in Australia, UK, Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong. Tony is President-elect of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and School Improvement (ICSEI) and is Deputy Chair of the Australian Government’s new National Curriculum Board.

Professor Martin Westwell

Director, Flinders Centre for Science Education in the
21st Century, Flinders University

Meeting the needs of an Uncertain Future

After completing his degree and PhD at Cambridge University, Martin moved to Oxford University as a Research Fellow in Biological and Medical Sciences at Lincoln College. While at Oxford, Martin undertook a number of research projects from tropical diseases to neurodegeneration. He also began a program of work in science education and public-engagement-with-science.

Martin left academia to work in the biotech industry and then with a number of science education organizations including the Royal Institution of Great Britain, The Royal College of Pathologists, and Common Purpose (an organisation which helps leaders of civil society engage with local and national issues). Martin returned to Oxford in 2005 where he became Deputy Director of the Institute for the Future of the Mind. Here he ran the research programs and collaborations on the influence of modern lifestyles and technologies on the minds of the young and the old. Throughout all of the work at the Institute for the Future of the Mind, Martin worked with government, teachers, parents and others to provide access to scientific evidence to help inform their decision making about the learning and education of young people. Martin is the first Director of the recently established Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century.

This keynote will explore some of the recent developments in the modern world that have modified the way young people think and learn, insights for the future of education can be gained.

Professor Martin Westwell is ACEL’s 2009 Travelling Scholar.

Sheree Marris

Aquatic Scientist/Environmental Communicator

Sheree Marris is an Aquatic Scientist and Environmental Communicator who is a dynamic role-model for young environmentalists. She runs her own environmental communications consulting business called Visions of Blue. She is committed to educating the community about their responsibilities towards the environment as well as making the environment fun, engaging and entertaining. She has won the Young Australian of the Year – Environment Award and other numerous accolades including the Queens Trust for Young Australians. Sheree has been commissioned by some of Australia’s leading national organizations to provide advice and initiate environmental projects on their behalf. One of her business projects has included producing and presenting a two-part documentary series about marine life in Port Phillip Bay with Network Ten. She is a Board Member of Parks Victoria and the Australia Day Committee Victoria.

Travel with Sheree as we descend beneath the waves to discover how one woman has literally made the world her oyster and how you can make it yours. Meet the brilliantly coloured sea slug that inspired her career direction, why stuffing frozen chooks became an important part of her journey and why this young leader is leaving environmental doom and gloom at the door and using sex lives of sea creatures to save the world!

Join Emeritus Professor Hedley Beare and Professor Jerry Starratt for a conversation about new metaphors for learning and the capacity to lead. This interactive conversation will tease out the implications for leadership metaphors that are compatible with, or transformative of the learning environment that a rich and multidimensional understanding of learning would require. The focus on the learners and the quality of their agency in the learning process is central in this conversation.

Emeritus Professor Hedley Beare

ACEL Patron

Hedley is recognised within Australia and overseas as one of the great educators of our time. He is an outstanding and prolific writer and speaker on educational issues. Anyone who has attended one of his presentations or read one of his many books and papers has experienced his intellectual rigour, wit, infectious enthusiasm for life and love for his fellow man. He was the Founding Chief Officer (and chief executive officer) of the Australian Capital Territory Schools Authority and Founding Director of Education, Northern Territory Schools.

His influence on educational thinking in Australia and overseas has been significant and is ongoing with his well known books such as Creating an Excellent School, Education in the Twenty-First Century and Creating the Future School: Student Outcomes & the Reform of Education.

In recognition of his long and distinguished contribution to the Council, Hedley was awarded a Fellowship in 1982 and the ACEL Gold Medal in 1991. He was the William Walker Memorial Orator in 1998. In 2002, the Council introduced a new award -the ACEL Award for Educational Writing. This was awarded to Hedley Beare for his outstanding book Creating the Future School: Student Outcomes & the Reform of Education.

Professor Robert (Jerry) Starratt

Professor and Chair, Educational Administration and Higher Education at Boston College

Jerry Starratt ranks among the top ten scholars worldwide in addressing the place of ethics in school leadership and change. Jerry has written extensively about educational leadership and the process of change. His recent books include The Drama of Schooling/The Schooling of Drama, The Drama of Leadership, Building an Ethical School, Transforming Educational Administration and Ethical Leadership.

Among his many works in progress, Jerry is collaborating with scholars in Australia, Sweden, Canada, and the U.S. to develop a cycle of professional development seminars. The seminars, dealing with moral leadership, are intended for principals and teams of teachers.

He has been awarded the Ignatian Award for Lifetime Service by the Trustees of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association in 2003, the Donald J. Willower Award for contributions to the scholarship of ethics and leadership from the Board of Trustees by the Pennsylvania State University and the University Council on Educational Administration (UCEA) in 2005, and received the 2006 Roald Campbell Award for a lifetime of distinguished service to the field of Educational Administration from UCEA.

Kathe Kirby

Executive Director Asia Education Foundation

Kathe Kirby works across Asialink programs and has particular responsibility for Asialink’s education strategies spanning national and international activities. A foundation member of the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) since 1993, Kathe has held the positions of AEF Executive Director, National Manager and Partnerships Manager. A background in education as a teacher, university lecturer and senior policy officer in the Victorian Department of Education led to Ms Kirby's key interest in implementing educational change and innovation in areas of national interest. In 2001, she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the studies of Asia in school education in the USA, UK, Japan and Korea.

Kathe will discuss the issues school leaders face globally in providing students with the basic skills required to live, work and prosper in the twenty-first century and ask the question: “Are we confident we know what skills, knowledge and understandings are required to deliver on this?” Now, more than ever, our increasingly inter-connected world demands cultural intelligence and cross-cultural communication skills to equip every young Australians to boost productivity, promote social cohesion and work with our closest neighbours to address global challenges such as climate change. This has significant implications for every school’s curriculum.

Kathe will highlight the central role that a national initiative Leading 21st Century Schools: Engage with Asia is playing in assisting principals to focus on what steps school leaders have taken to review curriculum and build teacher capacity to equip every student for an inter-connected world in which the Asian region is playing a central role.

Darrell Fraser

Deputy Secretary, Office for Government School Education,
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development,
Victoria

Darrell Fraser is currently the Deputy Secretary of the Office for Government School Education, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. He was appointed in 2004. In this role he oversees the operation of all 1,600 government schools across the nine metropolitan and country regions of Victoria.

In his lead paper Victorian Government Schools – The Next Phase of Reform Darrell will discuss the outcomes to date of the long-term, strategic reform agenda Government Schools have been implementing since the launch of the Blueprint for Victorian schools in November 2003. Darrell’s presentation will outline the actions that have been undertaken over the past four years to improve the public education offer in Victoria, and discuss the next phase of the reform agenda.

Tania de Jong

Pot-Pourri and Music Theatre Australia

Tania de Jong is the inspiration, co-founder and artistic director of the internationally renowned singing group Pot-Pourri and Music Theatre Australia (MTA). A graduate of the University of Melbourne (LL.B. Hons.), and the Victorian College of the Arts (Opera, Music Theatre and Voice), Tania is considered one of Australia's most talented sopranos who has performed as a soloist with various opera companies and orchestras.

In 2006 Tania received the Ernst and Young Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for her work with The Song Room. Tania’s other awards include the Outstanding Individual Contribution to Australian Culture (1998) and the Accessibility Award in The Melbourne Awards (2005). She was a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards (2001) and studied overseas on a Churchill Fellowship in 1996. She has recently been inducted into the AGSE Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame. Tania is also on the Board of The National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

Journey with Tania into the magical world of song and music and discover how being told she would never make it as a singer at school unleashed this diva's potential. Tania has illustrated courageous innovation to create the leading singing group Pot-Pourri, outstanding entertainment and event company, Music Theatre Australia and the ground breaking not-for-profit organisation, The Song Room. The Song Room, a charity founded by Tania, has brought music and performing arts programs to over 100,000 disadvantaged children and communities throughout Australia.

Tania is a passionate advocate for social change and leadership and is turning her creativity, passion and commitment to new projects involving education and the arts and preventative health particularly in the areas of obesity, building healthy families.

Kate Griffin

President of the International Confederation of Principals

Kate Griffin is Headteacher of Greenford High School, a large (1700) multi-ethnic comprehensive school in Southall, West London. In addition to being a Language College, a Training and a Leading Edge School, Greenford bid successfully to become a hub for both Student Voice and for Deep Leadership. Student achievement has been recognised both nationally and internationally.

In September 2007 they won the SSAT Student Voice Competition and as a result presented at the 4th iNET Conference in Beijing. Developing leadership skills within the student body complements well the activities undertaken as part of the leadership hub. The main aim is to develop and encourage aspirant leaders and to provide opportunities for promising teachers to develop their leadership skills. New school premises presented an opportunity to alter staffing structures so that each of the learning faculties is led by an Assistant Headteacher.

To provide yet more opportunities for young leaders the school has taken part in the ‘Future Leaders’ program. This has been designed to provide a fast track to school leadership for those who are particularly high flyers or have followed a less than traditional route throughout their career.”

Emeritus Professor Patrick Duignan

President of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders

He is passionate about leadership and is a highly sought after international consultant on leadership development and formation. During his career Patrick was a teacher, deputy principal, principal, lecturer, professor and dean in tertiary institutions in Australia and overseas.

An internationally acclaimed speaker, in 2008 Patrick will inspire leaders through presentations and workshops in government and non-government education systems and schools across Australia as well as in New Zealand, Scotland, Canada, Vietnam and Cambodia. He is widely published in national and international refereed publications. He is co-editor of ‘Leading Australia’s Schools’ (2008), Canberra, DEST & ACEL and author of ‘Educational Leadership - Key Challenges and Ethical Tensions (2006), Melbourne, Cambridge University Press.

In his paper, Patrick argues that leadership is an influence relationship and effective leaders deliberately influence others in order to attain worthwhile and agreed goals; engage in meaningful authentic relationships to generate and live a shared vision; as well as to elevate the spirits and commitment of colleagues through actions and interactions that are ethical moral and compassionate.

Dr Brenda Beatty

Monash University

Dr. Brenda Beatty is designer and Director of the highly regarded Monash Master in School Leadership and Human Leadership: Developing People programs, created for the Victoria State School Department of Education. Born in Canada and a doctoral graduate of OISE University of Toronto where she studied with Andy Hargreaves, her doctoral dissertation Emotion Matters in Educational Leadership: Examining the Unexamined, won the Thomas B.Greenfield award for best Canadian doctoral dissertation of the year in educational administration. Recent publications include a chapter in Brent Davies’ edited volume, The Essentials of School Leadership and a book co-authored with Ken Leithwood: Leading with Teacher Emotions in Mind.

Brenda will discuss the results of programmatic approaches to developing leaders who are emotionally prepared to face fears with courage, inspire others to do the same and thereby, unleash their own and others’ learning leading mentoring and teaching powers, for the good of society’s children. It will report on results of research with Victorian State school participants in degree and short course programs that have been purpose built to achieve these ends. The author is the designer and director of the programs and the chief investigator into the impact of the approach on participants’ professional identity and practices.

Peter Sheahan

ACEL 2008 Travelling Scholar

International Consultant

Peter Sheahan has established a globally recognised brand as a leading expert in workforce trends and generational change. In the space of three years he has built a multi-million dollar consulting practice attracting clients such as Newscorp, Google, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal and Ernst & Young.

Peter is one of Australia’s leading talent development experts. In 2003 he was named the MBN NSW Young Entrepreneur of the Year, as well as winning the National Emerging Business of the Year award. The same year Ernst & Young nominated him in their International Entrepreneur of the Year awards, clearly demonstrating that Peter knows what it takes to be successful in the new business world. In 2006, Peter was voted by his peers at the National Speakers Association as Keynote Speaker of the Year and featured on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair and SBS Insight.

Peter has completed an extensive tour as ACEL 2008 Travelling Scholar where he provided future-focused strategies for continuing to build successful schools through courageous leadership, innovation and change. Whilst discussing workforce change and multi generation professional learning opportunities Peter and his team gathered essential research for an ACEL White Paper which will form part of his presentation.

Greg Black

CEO of education.au limited

Greg has had the opportunity to work at the cutting edge of information technology and telecommunications in education and training nationally and internationally. Greg as a Chief Executive Officer provides leadership and direction in the development, enhancement, standards and use of online distributed and managed national education network services. His current work involves oversight of a number of major national education and business projects.

Greg was a Chief Executive in the Western Australian and South Australian governments from 1987-2004. He has been the Director General of Education in Western Australia and head of the Department of Further Education Employment Science and Technology in South Australia. His Board memberships have included that of education.au, Curriculum Corporation, Australian University Quality Authority, state Higher Education Councils, Australian Education Systems Officials Committee and Australian National Training Authority CEOs. Greg has also advised governments in the UK and Malaysia on their education and training systems. Greg’s most recent work, prior to joining education.au has involved futures thinking in education, business strategies and leadership development, and international education and executive coaching.

Greg will discuss the pivotal role school leaders play in developing sustainable strategies

Christine Cawsey

Principal of Rooty Hill High School

Christine Cawsey is the principal a highly successful, cosmopolitan, comprehensive 7 – 12 school in the western suburbs of Sydney. Her influential leadership has been a major factor in establishing Rooty Hill High School as an exemplary school delivering strong academic and social outcomes. Through her commitment, educational expertise and capability she has developed a culture of sustainable growth and focused professional learning.

Christine introduced a range of programs and strategies, such as personalised learning, a structured lesson design process and a learning centre. These have contributed to the development of students and led to improved literacy and numeracy results as well as increased attendance, retention and enrolments. Christine’s contribution to the development of students and staff at her school, her support for colleagues and leadership of the profession is recognised state wide.

In her paper and presentation, Christine will explore the conference theme of Unleashing Potential and will also touch on the challenges of the other themes as she looks at some of the ways principals and school leaders can create a school of professional practice where the quality of teaching and leadership for learning is valued, taught, encouraged and embedded in ways that will enhance outcomes for students.

Drawing on ideas explored in the book she co-authored with Michelle Anderson from ACER, Learning for Leader- ship, Chris will challenge colleagues to unleash their own potential and lead strategically to unleash the potential in others.

Gail Dyer

Principal Belmore South Public School

Gail Dyer has been a user of computer technology since the first PCs appeared in the 1980s. Gail’s interest is not so much in how the machines work but how we can make them work for us, and serve to motivate students and switch them onto learning.

Ms Dyer has travelled extensively in the USA and the UK, following her desire to understand how to ensure technologies available to students out of school are readily accessible to them in school. She was recently awarded a NSW Premier’s Teachers Scholarship to travel to the UK to examine the use of games, and students making games, to support their learning. The study tour served to make her even more aware of the power of the technologies available for students today. It also clarified to her that it is of the utmost importance that students and teachers work together to advance learning and the development of new knowledge.

During the past five years the school has developed an extensive computer network and has incorporated information technology into its core priorities along with literacy and numeracy.To ensure all staff have the same understanding of and ability to use technology both personally and in the classroom staff undertook the INTEL: Teach to the Future training course and confidently use Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) amongst other technology in their classrooms.

Gail’s story is inspiring and provides rich examples of new metaphors for leadership in schools.

Barbara Vann

Principal of Penair Secondary School, Truro

Previous Chair of British Educational Leadership and Management Society (BELMAS) Member of the Government ‘Think Tank’ on transforming Secondary Education.

Barbara has an MA from the University of Leicester and PhD from the University of Tasmania. Formerly a Headteacher in Leicestershire, Barbara moved to geographically remote Cornwall in 1997 where she quickly became involved in the life of the county, being on the board on several organisations and contributing to both educational and other committees.

Barbara’s vision was to help students develop a national and international perspective and to develop a curriculum for global citizenship, using Sustainable Development as the underpinning philosophy and Information and Communication Technology as the integrating skill. The school partnered with schools in Nepal to investigate a totally different culture and geographical area.

Through Barbara’s story learn about new ways of leading and learning that are making a significant difference to student and school outcomes.

Dr Douglas Reeves

The Leadership and Learning Centre

Level Five Networks: Making Significant Change in Complex Organizations

Dr Douglas Reeves returns with new research to challenge the audience once again. In this provocative new presentation Dr Douglas Reeves argues “Change is like the weather – everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it,”. The overwhelming evidence not only in education but in global nonprofit and business organizations as well is that change is frequently proposed but seldom implemented. Dr. Reeves first considers the elements of change – direction, speed, and scope. He then considers the relative impact of hierarchy and networks as methods for creating and sustaining change. Finally, he describes five levels of potential networks and offers practical suggestions for the creation and nurturing of Level Five networks in any organization.

Susan Mann

is the Chief Executive Officer of Curriculum Corporation, a national organisation owned by all Ministers of Education in Australia and New Zealand.

Immediately prior to this position, Susan led the Learning Federation, an innovative national initiative developing distribution infrastructure and digital, multi-media curriculum materials for primary and secondary students in mathematics, science, English, languages, civics and the arts.

Susan has a long involvement in education development. At the school level, as a Victorian secondary teacher and curriculum consultant; at the state level, as a policy analyst at the Victorian State Board of Education and Curriculum Manager in the Victorian Education Department; and at the national level, leading major national and international education projects in complex and changing policy environments.

Recent work has focused on the transformative potential of information and communication technologies for education, national curriculum consistency and national assessment.

This presentation will focus on the challenges faced by school leaders to create a curriculum that equips students for a productive future. It will focus on how school leaders can create and nurture a dynamic environment of innovation and discourse in their school, particularly around the national curriculum development process, so that contagious professionalism and informed public debate on key education issues can flourish.

Dr Jim Watterston

Regional Director of the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Eastern Metropolitan Region

This high performing educational- jurisdiction is comprised of 250 secondary, primary and special schools. Prior to this appointment he was the Director of Schools in the West Coast Education District in Western Australia. Jim has also served as a Superintendent of Education and had 14 years experience as a principal in both primary and secondary schools. Jim is proud of the fact that prior to becoming a school administrator he was a year one teacher where he developed a strong and practical commitment to focussing on the individual learning needs of each and every student.

He is passionate about ensuring that schools are built upon quality relationships between all stakeholders and are lead by dynamic and well informed pedagogical leaders to ensure that success is optimised for all.

In this presentation the issue of effective school leadership is examined from both a research and practical perspective to identify whether there are common characteristics and competencies required to achieve desired outcomes for all. What does a leader need to bring to the position (nature) and what does the organisation need to contribute to ensure full effectiveness (nurture) is achieved? The presentation will include case studies in addition to the examination of a strong and contemporary evidence base in order to argue that high performance school leadership can be learned and further developed over time.

Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann

Aboriginal Artist and Educator

Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann was born in the Daly River area, Northern Territory. Her primary language is Ngan’gikurunggurr, although she also speaks four other local languages. Miriam attended school at Adelaide River, Pine Creek and Mataranka, where she learnt English. At the age of 14, she returned to the Daly River to complete her primary education at the mission where she was baptised and made her first communion. She then completed a teaching assistant course at Kormilda College and worked as a teachers aide at the Daly River mission school. She was sponsored by the federal government to work with art teachers in primary schools throughout Victoria, and became a fully qualified teacher with the Commonwealth Teaching Service in 1974.

A year later, she was offered a position as art consultant with the Northern Territory Department of Education. She helped to establish the Aboriginal women’s centre in Darwin, and taught at St John’s College until 1981, when she returned to the Daly River. In 1986 she began teaching back at the Daly River mission school while pursuing higher education, and eventually became school principal. Her journey through principalship is a significant chapter in Duignan and Gurr Leading Australia’s Schools.

Miriam Rose was awarded a Bachelor of Education degree in 1993 by Deakin University, and in 1999 gained her Master of Education Degree with High Distinction. The focus of her work for this degree was the integration of traditional and western education for Aboriginal children and adults. In recognition of her outstanding service and contribution to the Northern Territory, in acknowledgment of her leadership and example in the fields of Aboriginal education and the visual arts, and for her contribution to the general community Miriam Rose was awarded an honorary doctorate from Northern Territory University. In 1998, Miriam Rose was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2004 was appointed to the National Indigenous Council.

A talented artist and active promoter of Aboriginal culture, Miriam has illustrated a number of books, including the revised edition of Alan Marshall’s People of the Dreamtime.

Dr Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid

Director of the Regional Center for Educational Planning- (UNESCO-RCEP), Al Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Dr Ibrahim was formerly Professor of Management, Leadership and Policy Studies at University Tun Abdul Razak (Malaysia) and former Director of Institut Aminuddin Baki - The National Institute of Educational Management and Leadership (Malaysia). He is a Fellow of the Commonwealth Council of Education Administration and Management (CCEAM), Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, Fellow Emeritus IAB, Fellow of the National Research Institute on Youth, and Senior Fellow of the Malaysian Social Institute.

He was a regular columnist in the New Straits Times/New Sunday Times with a weekly column every Sunday, entitled, As I Wonder. He has written over four hundred articles and academic papers on educational subjects and the author –editor of several books. His latest publication is titled Malaysia-From Traditional to Smart Schools- The Malaysian Educational Odyssey (2008). He has also been involved as a member of the policymaking community in institutions, and in national and international committees, while simultaneously leading in communities of educational practice. He was actively involved as a Trade Union leader and is currently leading professional associations, including, as President of the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management and the Malaysia Educational Management and Leadership Association.

Professor Jill Blackmore

Professor of Education, Deakin University

Dr Jill Blackmore’s research interests include feminist approaches to globalisation, education policy and governance; educational leadership and reform; organisational change and innovation; teachers' and academics’ work; and the changing relations between the individual, community, family and the state. Publications include Performing and Re-forming Leaders: gender, educational restructuring and organisational change (with Judyth Sachs 2007, SUNY); Troubling Women: Feminism, Leadership and Educational Change (1999, Open University Press); Answering Back (with Kenway, Willis and Rennie 1998); Quality and Educational Research (Special Issue Australian Educational Researcher co-edited with Jan Wright 2006).

She is past president of the Australian Association of Research in Education (2002), past Managing Editor of the Australian Educational Researcher, Regional Editor of International Journal of Educational Leadership, on the Editorial Board of British Educational Research Journal and the New Zealand Journal of Educational Leadership. She undertakes professional development and policy consultancies with professional and community organizations (principal, teacher and parents), government and NGO (eg Victorian Council of Social Services, Oxfam International), and community organizations. She is on the Post-compulsory Curriculum Committee of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

Jill's paper 'globalising challenges, leadership, and the educational futures of 'at risk' young people' maps out some of the broad challenges confronting schools, governments, teachers and leaders in the early 21stC where bureaucratic, market and network cultures converge to shape the possibilities of schools to prepare learner-earner identities. It reviews major transformations in the structural and cultural arrangements of schooling resulting from globalised flows. It focuses in particular on what this means for students most ‘at risk’ with the intensification and individualisation of risk, and the range of educational policies and practices seeking to engage them. Finally, it considers how schools and leadership can be redesigned to offer more equitable educational outcomes.

Jason Clarke

Mindworker from Minds at Work

Jason will facilitate MindSPA and guide our student leaders who will actively be contributing to conference and their own learning pathways. You are also welcome to participate in this learning time with our young leaders.

Jason has staged operas for Convent Garden al La Scala, been the Creative Director for Australia's largest multimedia company and designed a course in innovation and creativity that he currently teaches as part of the Executive MBA Degree. He's created major exhibitions for museums across the country, designed multi-million dollar science education centres, nature parks and a major city aquarium. Today, he is one of the most sought after creative thinkers in the country, working with some of the largest corporations and institutions in Australia.

Working with oil industry executives, teachers, lawyers, children, CEOs, secretaries, police and stock analysts. Jason desires to unlock people’s innate creativity, slake the thirst for new solutions and empower people to think creatively for themselves.

Jason believes EVERYONE has the potential to think more creatively and to overcome the obstacles and blocks that get in the way of their good ideas. He is committed to showing everyday Australians how they can bring their innovative ideas and solutions into their everyday life experience. Jason Clarke is a regular on ABC Radio with Brainwaves. He presents to many corporations and groups at conferences and in programs as a keynote speaker, conducting workshops, and as a facilitator.