VicTESOL Symposium 2017

Resourcing, Stimulating and Supporting EAL in Victoria

There is a wealth of EAL knowledge, resources and materials available in Victoria. The aim of the VicTESOL 2017 Symposium is to (re) discover, share and build on this TESOL capital to support academics, bureaucrats, educators and students in their daily work.

This work may involve policy making, teaching and learning, advocacy efforts and community activities. TESOL capital in these symposium is made up of a range of human, material and digital resources. Collaborating and networking as EAL professionals assists us to draw on the funds of knowledge that we carry around with us.

Therefore, the symposium aim to not only highlight the TESOL capital the presenters showcase but more so the rich practices and knowledge of symposium participants.

The VicTESOL Symposium 2017 is now SOLD OUT!

Melbourne Symposium 2017

28 August 2017

8:30am – 4:00pm

Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership

603-615 Queensberry St, North Melbourne,3051

Ticket Prices

$130 – VicTESOL Member
$170 – Non-member

Non-member Ticket Purchases

If you select a VicTESOL Membership and VicTESOL Symposium 2017 ticket in the same transaction you will receive the VicTESOL Member price for the Symposium ticket.

Event Running Order

8:30am – 9:00am	Registration
9:00am – 9:15am	Introduction
9:15am – 10:15am	Keynote: Assoc-Prof Jane Wilkinson
10:20am – 10:50am	Session 1
10:50am – 11:20am	Morning Tea
11:25am – 11:55pm	Session 2
12:00pm – 12:30pm	Session 3
12:30pm – 1:45pm	Lunch
1:50pm – 2:20pm	Session 4
2:25pm – 3:25pm	Keynote: Dr Jenny Barnett
3:30pm – 4:00pm	Afternoon Tea & Networking

Session Options

Session 1

Strand	Presenters
Leadership	Abhishek Awasthi (Kangan Institute Bendigo)
Research	Robyn Spandonide & Ellie Akbari (Mums and Bubs Learn English)
Digital Technologies	Jade Sleeman (La Trobe University)
Research/Digital Technology	Dr Ekaterina Tour, Dr Maria Gindidis, Jess McCulloch & Janine Breadmore

Session 2 & 3

Leadership	Margaret Nutbean; Mairead Hannan
Pedagogy	Dr Alan Williams (TEAL)
Pedagogy	Rebecca Harris (Carlton Primary School)
Pedagogy	Margaret Corrigan & Liz Keenan (Carringbush Adult Education)

Session 4

Leadership	Rosemary Abboud (Dandenong North Primary School)
Pedagogy	Jacqueline Moore (Curriculum Manager, VCAA)
Digital Technologies	Voula MacKenzie & Nathan Chong (Virtual EAP Program)
Research	Haoran Zheng (PhD, Monash University)

For detailed session information and speaker biographies click here.

Keynote Speakers

Associate Professor
Jane Wilkinson

Biography

Jane Wilkinson is Associate Professor in Educational Leadership at Monash University, an adjunct lecturer at the Research Institute for Professional Practice and Learning in Education (RIPPLE) at Charles Sturt University and Master of Leadership Course Leader. Jane is Assistant Editor of the Journal of Educational Leadership, convenor of the Australian Association of Education (AARE) Educational Leadership Special Interest Group and a member of the Australian Council of Educational Leaders’ Victorian executive.

Jane has been a deputy principal of a large rural secondary school in Victoria, an English curriculum consultant and began her career as a secondary English, ESL and French teacher.

Jane’s research interests are in the areas of educational leadership for social justice, with a particular focus on issues of gender and ethnicity; and theorising educational leadership as practice, drawing on sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s work and the philosopher Ted Schatzki. Jane has published widely in the areas of women and leadership, refugee students and theorising leadership as practice.

Her most recent books include: Professional development: Education for All as praxis (Wilkinson, Bristol, Ponte, 2016); and Changing practices, changing education (Kemmis, Wilkinson et al., 2014). The latter book is based on an Australian Research Council Discovery grant examining the interconnections between leading, professional development, teaching and student learning in exemplary primary schools in two Australian states.

Keynote Abstract

Building bridges between schools and everyday learning spaces for refugee students: A praxis-oriented approach to professional learning

Teachers and schools play a crucial role in the integration of students of refugee education by rejecting deficit models of students and their families: through a belief that they can make a difference and in the quality of their pedagogies. However, to achieve this end, they require professional development which fosters the necessary conditions conducive to transformations in their teaching at the cultural-discursive level (e.g., developing greater understandings about TESOL students’ language and cultural beliefs); at the material-economic level (e.g., strategies to support teachers in catering for TESOL students’ specific needs such as language and literacy training); and at the social-political level (e.g., working sensitively and reflexively with all students in terms of fostering integration).

In this keynote, I explore the challenges, constraints and possibilities for educators attempting to create inclusive multicultural practices, drawing on ongoing research I have been conducting with colleagues and young people of refugee background in regional NSW and urban Melbourne. Drawing on the voices of students as they converse in the more formal setting of schools and everyday learning spaces such as youth groups and sport, I examine students’ perceptions of the in- and out-of-classroom practices which have contributed to (in)forming and shaping their linguistic and cultural identities. I argue for the need to go beyond ‘just good teaching’ and ‘ESL professional development for all teachers’ (worthy aims though they are) to what colleagues and I have termed a praxis-oriented approach to teachers’ professional learning.

Dr Jenny Barnett

Biography

Jenny Barnett was for many years a senior lecturer in TESOL at the School of Education, University of South Australia. She has now retired, and works with the School in a voluntary capacity mainly to support postgraduate students in their research projects.

Jenny Barnett’s own research and consultancy work has focused primarily on the learning and teaching of students for whom English is an additional language or dialect (EALD) – both their learning of English and their learning across the curriculum. This in turn led to close involvement from 2004 with the Australian Council of TESOL Associations (ACTA) in developing professional standards for teachers working with learners of EALD.

With the advent of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in 2013, ACTA asked Jenny Barnett to convene a working group to design an EALD Elaboration of those Standards. The group produced a document intended not only to help teachers’ professional learning but to highlight the needs and strengths of EALD learners. This work and a study of the key factors in learning English as an additional language are her primary TESOL interests at this time.

Keynote Abstract

Making use of professional standards in EALD

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) document provides a useful framework for teachers and teaching teams to identify professional learning priorities. However a generic framework cannot identify the key features of specialist content nor respond to the needs of particular cohorts of learners. That is why we now have an Elaboration of the APST specifically designed for teachers working with EALD learners.

This document makes it easy for teachers to shape professional learning pathways responsive to their own teaching context. At the same time it facilitates reporting against the APST, which is now a mandated requirement in schools. Importantly, the document also supports us to justify and advocate for EALD provisions.

Whilst designed for teachers working in schools, with some contextual interpretation and additions, the document can also provide guidance for teachers in intensive English settings, whether for school age or adult learners. Dr Jenny Barnett was the convenor of the group writing the EALD Elaborations and during her keynote will bring this document to life through application in different situations and through responding to questions.

The document is available online, click here to view. While the generic APST document is also available, click here to view.

Symposium Strands

Research

TESOL research foregrounds fresh insights and new as well as old dilemmas. It assists TESOL practitioners to engage with reflective practice and share understandings and stories from the field. Meredith Gall et al (2014) see educational research in terms of ‘how to read, do, and use research to solve problems of practice’.

The intent of this strand is to assist participants to read and understand in multifaceted ways the research showcased; to take these research ideas back to their educational and community settings to enact their own research practices; and to not necessarily solve problems but perhaps to unravel the complexities and challenges of TESOL work.

Digital Technologies

Opportunities to communicate via digital means have multiplied and spread at incredible speeds and this has impacted on language learning and teaching both in and outside the classrooms. The digital revolution continues to shape the ways we communicate involving sharing of not just words, but images, sounds and other kinds of information.

What is it about digital technologies that makes their use for language (and other) learning revolutionary? Is it the speed and ease with which information can be created and shared? Is it the fact that control of this information has moved from being primarily with teachers to being distributed among both teachers, learners and others outside the classroom?

This strand prompts us to consider the influences that digital technologies of all kinds have had, and will continue to have on our work in relation to language and multicultural education, and asks us to consider how we want to shape those influences and their outcomes.

Leadership

Formal leadership positions in EAL can be hard to find, and EAL leadership itself difficult to define. In this strand we will reflect on the nature of leadership and how it might present in the EAL context.

We will explore ways to take the lead, advocate for EAL students in various settings, guide other educators, and direct programs in order to effectively support the learning needs of EAL students, and discuss ways to connect with the broader community so as to facilitate successful engagement beyond the classroom.

Pedagogy

EAL learners require explicit teaching that supports their language learning at point of need. Accurate assessment of learner language levels form the basis for a teaching and learning program. The application of a rich repertoire of classroom approaches and strategies enables learners to progress their acquisition of the target language.

In this strand presenters will focus on effective classroom practices that draw on theoretical knowledge to optimise learner outcomes.

We look forward to seeing you there!

VicTESOL Symposium 2017

The VicTESOL Symposium 2017 is now SOLD OUT!

Melbourne Symposium 2017

28 August 2017

8:30am – 4:00pm

Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership

Ticket Prices

Non-member Ticket Purchases

Event Running Order

Session Options

Session 1

Strand

Presenters

Session 2 & 3

Session 4

Keynote Speakers

Associate ProfessorJane Wilkinson

Biography

Keynote Abstract

Dr Jenny Barnett

Biography

Keynote Abstract

Symposium Strands

Recent Member Resources

Associate Professor
Jane Wilkinson