High profile speakers to attend international pedagogies conference

If pedagogy is your passion, you won't want to miss the opportunity to share your knowledge and experience at the third International Conference on Pedagogies and Learning at the University of Southern Queensland Springfield campus.

Held from 27-29 September 2007, this year's conference will explore the dynamics and dilemmas of pedagogy in practice and features an exciting line up of keynote speakers including Father Chris Reilly, Dr Caroline Lodge and Professor Emeritus Denise Murray.

Teachers and researchers are invited to participate by submitting snapshots highlighting their own successful and innovative pedagogical practices.

Conference convenor and USQ education lecturer Michele McGill said the conference would aim to expose and celebrate how personal beliefs and values were emerging in pedagogical practice, as well as looking at the effect on teaching of the global learning environment.

'In previous conferences we traced the journey of exploring new meanings and putting those meaning under the microscope,' Ms McGill said.

'It's now timely to expose what meanings are emerging in practice.

'The conference will explore a whole range of topics including personal pedagogies, pedagogy for intercultural literacy and developing and engaging students in our globalised learning environment.

'Past conferences have been enriched with the real stories and practices emerging from teachers and researchers across Australia so we're looking forward to seeing a record number of papers and snapshots submitted this year.'

Ms McGill said the keynote and invited speakers would also make an exciting contribution to the conference.

'Founder and chief executive of Youth Off the Streets, Father Chris Reilly will lead an exciting discussion on how strength-based learning and service learning allows students to relate to real community needs.

'Fr Reilly will also look at how values such as tolerance, respect, compassion and integrity can transform pedagogy and learning.

'We're delighted to also have Dr Caroline Lodge from the University of London coming along to share her experiences engaging students in pedagogy and learning.

'Macquarie University's Professor Emeritus Denise Murray will present her insights on using diversity as a resource and exploring how interactions between language, society and technology impact on practice.'

The conference is to be hosted by USQ and the Asia-Pacific Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning. 

For more information on conference registration or submission deadlines, visit http://www.usq.edu.au/pedagogies2007 or contact Michele McGill on telephone +61 7 4631 2351 or mcgill@usq.edu.au

Media contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628