enews 24 August 2007 - Vol. 2, No. 9

Topics covered in this edition include:

  • ANSN 2007 National Forum held in Adelaide
  • KidSmart Snapshots
  • A new ANSN Hub for Teaching Our Digital Kids
  • Learning about the Protocols
  • Dimensions of Learning
  • Suggested multi-media links
  • Reminders about ANSN activities.


ANSN 2007 National Forum held in Adelaide

The ANSN 2007 National Forum Schools in Challenging Circumstances was held at the University of South Australia on 17 August. Meg Parker reports that 45 participants travelled from different parts of Australia to engage in a day of vibrant discussion.

The Forum involved presentations on

  • the RPIN project (University of South Australia);
  • the ALIGN project (University of Sydney);
  • the Classmates project and Refugee Action Support Partnership (University of Western Sydney); as well as
  • Big Picture Inspired Schools – in Tasmania (Prospect High); Queensland (Woodridge High School); Western Australia (Yulebrook HS); and South Australia (Enfield HS). Viv White also spoke about Big Picture Australia.

There was representation from unions, state government education departments, universities, schools – teachers, students and Principals – as well as social justice care agencies, such as the Brotherhood of St Laurence. The diverse group of participants shared perspectives on the focus for the day, exploring ideas about how to influence future policy and improve programs for young people in schools (see photos of the workshop sessions, below).



In particular, the participants sought to develop a set of strategic questions, for policy makers, researchers, schools and their communities to consider when planning responses to the effects of poverty on educational outcomes.

A discussion paper is currently being compiled, drawing upon the papers that were presented and summarising some of the discussion that took place.


KidSmart Snapshots

Hanan Harrison, ANSN Networker in Queensland has written to E-News about a new series of Snapshots, developed as part of the KidSmart project and soon to be available on the ANSN website. The snapshots are designed to celebrate and share some of the accumulated learning that has emerged from the project since 2001. They include examples from participating early childhood schools and centres across Australia.

KidSmart has been supported as a national project by IBM and the Australian National Schools Network. The main objective of the project was to help make ICT integral to the learning of young children, by supporting early childhood educators – through the provision of up-to-date computers, training and professional development – to use new technologies more effectively, in their teaching and learning programs.

In some cases, Hanan says, the participants have been pioneers in their community, as they have travelled their digital journey to explore and develop innovative teaching practices that integrate technology within a play-based curriculum.

The reflective stories of 10 centres across the nation have been selected for the Snapshots, to capture the essence and diversity of the project, in helping bridge the technological gap for disadvantaged and rural communities. To view or download a sample of the KidSmart snapshots, click here.


A new ANSN Hub for Teaching Our Digital Kids

In 2008 ANSN will be launching a new Hub, aimed at exploring innovative practices in the use of technology, for early childhood educators. The Hub will provide a professional learning opportunity, involving 5 days over 12 months, where participants will explore hands-on strategies, designed to integrate technology into a play-based curriculum, as well as strategies for emergent readers and writers.

Participants will not need any prior knowledge of computers, just an interest in exploring ways of utilising technology to motivate and challenge students in all aspects of the curriculum. The program is suitable for teachers of students from four to eight years old, and is based on our previously successful program KidSmart, which has been running since 2000.

As noted above, in relation to the new series of Snapshots, the KidSmart project was sponsored by IBM, who provided computers and software programs to disadvantaged or rural communities. It was also supported by ANSN, who challenged participants to take what they already knew about how students learn through play and connect this knowledge to the development of new pedagogies. This would lead to a shift of focus, away from computers being related to isolated activities, and towards their being seen as tools that provide environments for powerful engagement of all learners.

If you are interested in participating in the new ANSN Hub, you can register an expression of interest, by phoning Hanan Harrison on 0407 464 472 or emailing her at hanan.harrison@ansn.edu.au. To download more information about the Teaching Our Digital Kids Hub, click here.

Learning about the Protocols

We are again inviting readers to find out more about the Protocols that ANSN has explored and developed for the last ten years – the set of Protocols that help us structure our conversations and learn from each other. ANSN will be running Protocols training on a regular basis in major centres – as a five-day workshop for those who want to lead Protocols workshops, as two-day workshops exploring new Protocols, and as an introductory course – but if you want a course organised in your area, tailored to suit local needs, that is possible too. As is the case with other ANSN professional learning opportunities, the range of options is available for take-up at a system, district, region, cluster, or individual school level.

To find out more about Protocols courses and support materials, go to http://www.ansn.edu.au/protocols


Dimensions of Learning

As this E-News is being put together, the Dimensions of Learning are being showcased – along with other evidence-based research on pedagogy that makes a difference – at the Learning Management Conference, from 22 to 24 August on the Sunshine Coast. For information about the program, check the website at http://www.learningmanagementconference.com/.

Look out for reports on the conference and its outcomes in forthcoming editions of E-News.


Suggested multi-media links

Hanan Harrison has suggested a couple of multi-media links (as an alternative to the suggested readings that we usually include in E-News).

First, she suggests an interesting YouTube posting – of a compelling presentation from Sir Ken Robinson, about the need for education systems around the world to re-evaluate the way in which we teach our children. He addresses our views on intelligence and the value we should (as teachers, parents, friends and even ourselves) place on creativity. Hanan suggests that it is well worth taking 20 minutes to sit down and watch this, and comments that it is poignant and highly relevant to developing curriculum for the future. To view the presentation, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Second, there is an interesting PodCast of Greg Whitby, who was named as 'Australia's smartest, most innovative and creative person working in education today' by The Bulletin Magazine. Greg shares his ideas for ‘Reframing schools in the 21st Century', reflects on his experience of schools, and challenges the mismatch between the ways that most schools operate – still tending to reflect on an industrial model – and the knowledge society in which we now live. The podcast, from ABC's Conversation Hour, can be accessed at http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200706/r155876_562927.mp3


Reminders of ANSN activities

The following activities have been detailed in previous editions of E-News.


August 2007, Better Together: Schools and Communities, Workshop in Victoria

If you are very quick, it's not too late to register for Better Together: Schools and Communities, a two-day workshop (presented jointly by ANSN and the Center for Relationalearning) for leaders committed to working together to transform children's lives. The presenters are Dr George Otero, from the USA and Profession John West-Burnham, from the UK.

Following its presentation a week earlier in WA, the workshop is being held.in Melbourne on 27 and 28 August. For details, click here.


October 2007, Habits of Mind Expo, in Melbourne and Auckland

The Habits of Mind International Expo will be held in Melbourne on 22 October, 2007, then repeated in Auckland, NZ on 25 October 2007. Schools presenting at the Expo include: Waikiki Elementary School, Hawaii; College Street Normal School, NZ; Lindisfarne College, NZ; Southlands Girls High School, NZ; Brisbane Grammar School, Australia; Furlong Main Cluster, Australia. To download the brochure and registration details, click here.


April and August 2008, Cognitive Coaching Course

In 2008, ANSN will deliver an intensive 8-day leadership development course in Art Costa and Robert Garmston's “Cognitive Coaching”. The course will be presented by Sue Presler in two 4-day segments, from 7-10 April and 4-7 August, 2008, at the Metro in Melbourne. There is an ‘early bird' rate if you register before 21 December 2007. To download the brochure and registration details, click here.


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