The Synergistic Effect of Movement on Early Literacy and Learning Readiness

Presented by Dr Deb Callcott, former health and physical education teacher and creator of the Moving On With Literacy program.

In this seminar, Deb will explain the benefits of incorporating movement in Early Years classrooms, in particular a 15 minute-a-day movement program that is phonologically based and aimed at developing both literacy and movement outcomes, called The Moving On With Literacy program. In this seminar Deb will provide an overview of the MOWL program, including songs and specific movements to support overall early childhood development and perceptual motor development. The MOWL program is supported by empirical research, and is suitable for young children at all levels of development including special needs.

Study Hacks for Schools: How to Teach Students to Study Smarter (not harder)


Presented by Dr Jane Genovese, director of Learning Fundamentals, an education consultancy that teaches students how to study smarter and achieve their personal best.

In this seminar Jane will show you various ways to engage students to get them excited about the science of learning and the psychology of motivation. Drawing on academic research, as well as her personal experience as a PhD student, Jane will share what she considers as essential study strategies and skills for both students and teachers, as well as parents. Also discussed will be a whole school approach to teaching study skills that is currently being trialled at two schools in the Perth metro area.

Managing the Classroom to Create an Effective Learning Environment


Presented by award winning teacher Guy Stapleton (winner of the 2015 WA Premier’s Secondary Teacher of Year and a 2016 winner of ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards).

One of the most common reasons why teachers leave the profession in their first few years of teaching is difficulties with classroom management. In this seminar, Guy will share ideas, tools, and classroom management skills to meet the demands of managing today’s classroom. Guy will also demonstrate how prior planning before you step into the classroom, the use of classroom management techniques in class, and an interest in the student beyond the classroom enables teachers to effectively manage student behaviour.

The International Baccalaureate in Australia: How to become and IB primary school.


Presented by Dr Marcia Behrenbruch, International Baccalaureate Regional Development and Recognition Manager for Australasia.

In this seminar Dr Behrenbruch will detail the impact of the International Baccalaureate program within primary schools, and outline how primary schools can become involved in delivering the IB Primary Years Program (PYP). She will also be addressing the questions:

•What is an IB Education?
•What is the process of becoming an IB school?
•What is the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) curriculum model?
•What does the research say about the impact of the PYP?
•Where is IB situated in context of the Australian National Curriculum and Western Australian state requirements?

Monday 26th June

4.30-5.30pm

Hill Lecture Theatre, Education & Humanities Bldg (Bldg 450)

What Schools Need to Know about Autism - A Personal Perspective

Presented by Rhona Bolger, registered home educator, early childhood education support teacher, and director of Alyssa’s Autism Acceptance Project.

In this seminar, Rhona will present information on common challenges faced by students on the autism spectrum, both inside and outside of the classroom, and will discuss effective ways for schools to support the individual needs of students, and their families within the school community. Rhona will also detail her own personal experience with sensory processing difficulties, and provide strategies that have been successful for both herself and her children. She will also give insight into the positive and negative experiences she has had with navigating the education system for her children, and provide guidance to educators on how to develop effective relationships with families.

Monday 24th July


4.30-5.30pm

Hill Lecture Theatre, Education & Humanities Bldg (Bldg 450)

Resilient Teachers, Resilient Schools: Building & sustaining quality in testing times

Presented by Dr Qing Gu, professor of education at the University of Nottingham, influential author and researcher, and current co-director of an Education Department of West Australia funded project on early career teachers’ resilience and effectiveness.

Understanding why and how many teachers are able to sustain their capacity to be resilient and continue to work for improvement is an important quality retention issue.  Resilience in teachers is more than the ability to ‘bounce back’ in extreme adverse circumstances. Rather, what counts is ‘everyday resilience’ which enables them to respond positively to the unavoidable uncertainties inherent in their everyday professional lives and through this, sustain their commitment, wellbeing and effectiveness. In this seminar, Professor Gu will analyse what resilience is, why it matters, and how it may be built and nurtured in different organisational settings.

Friday April 21st

9am - 3.30pm

ECL Lecture Theatre 1,
Building 460,
Murdoch campus.

Register here

SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR MURDOCH STUDENTS:

Tickets just $15 !!

Make sure you type in "MURDOCH" at top of register page in the field "Enter Promotional Code"

Encouraging Recreational Reading to Improve School-wide Literacy


Presented by Murdoch School of Education lecturer and literacy researcher Dr Margaret Merga.


Now with the addition of the OLNA to the high-stakes testing stable in Western Australia, the importance of supporting children’s acquisition of sound literacy skills is arguably greater than ever. In this seminar, Margaret aims to provide straightforward take-away messages for schools looking to increase their students’ engagement in reading, and subsequently raise their literacy levels. Drawing upon her own extensive research into children’s reading habits, conducted both in Australia and internationally, Margaret will discuss how schools can effectively implement reading programs at school, and also how they can help support reading for pleasure as a habit at home. Regular reading for pleasure at home and school will be highlighted as playing a key role in developing and fostering literacy skills after children have learned to read.

Thursday February 23rd

4-6pm

ECL Building (bldg 460) postgrad suite level 2, room 2.031

Transformative Education Research Seminar

Inclusive & Values Based Education
Presented by prominent Nepali spiritual guru, Dr. Chintamani Yogi.

Dr. Yogi will focus on inclusion of values in present day students' learning needs, with an emphasis on creative and lateral thinking. He has had a long professional career as a thinker, a spiritual master, an educationist and a peace activist. He has written several books and is a winner of many national and international awards. The seminar will be facilitated by Professor Peter Taylor.

School of Education Seminar Series

Values and values education in  Nordic ECEC institutions

Presented by Adjunct professor Anette Emilson, Early Childhood Education, Linnaeus University Sweden.

Adjunct professor Anette Emilson will present a participatory action research project about values and values education in the Nordic countries. Experiences from the project design will be discussed as well as some main findings regarding significant values and new insights about values education

PUBLIC SEMINAR

Evidence for Learning: The Teaching & Learning Toolkit

Please join The Murdoch School of Education as we host special guest, Dr Tanya Vaughan, Associate Director of The Teaching & Learning Toolkit (The Toolkit) from Evidence for Learning, a non-profit organisation that aims to enable and support evidence-informed education practice in Australian schools. The Toolkit is a free, online summary of global education research that aims to:
• Support evidence-informed decision-making in Australian schools;
• Provide guidance for principals, school leaders and teachers on how to use their resources to improve educational outcomes for their students;
• Act as an introduction to educational research.

In this workshop, educators will be shown how The Toolkit synthesises research to estimate the average impact, cost and strength of the evidence of 34 different teaching and learning approaches. The Toolkit also allows for a focus on Australiasian evidence, thanks to a recent upgrade through a collaboration with the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Participants in this workshop will explore how they can use the approaches within the Toolkit to help address a challenge that they are facing at their school.

PAST EVENTS 2016

Thursday December 8

2-4pm

Nash Room,

Club Murdoch

Lecture: How do Intermediaries Influence the Use of Research in Education Policymaking? Evidence from a five year, multi-site study in the US.

Presented by Sir Walter Murdoch Adjunct Professor Christopher Lubienski (Professor, University of Indiana).

The role of research evidence in public policymaking has never been as clear as researchers might hope. This is particularly true in education policymaking, where research evidence is often of questionable usefulness in policy decisions for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, an increasing number of interest groups and advocacy organizations are attempting to promote the use of particular research in the politicized context of education policymaking. Drawing on a five-year study of five major cities as well as the national level in the US, this lecture will consider some of the new interests, actors, and dynamics shaping research use. In addition to reporting findings, the lecture will highlight some of the weaknesses with current theoretical perspectives for understanding research use, and propose a novel framework for future research.

Monday December 5 10-12pm

Nash Room,

Club Murdoch

Workshop: Tips and Strategies for Developing an Impactful Research Career

Presented by Sir Walter Murdoch Adjunct Professor Christopher Lubienski (Professor, University of Indiana).

Drawing on more than 15 years as a university academic and educational researcher, Prof. Lubienski will share tips and strategies for developing your research career to make an impact on public, policy, and scholarly discussions. This workshop is relevant for researchers at all stages of career, from postgraduate students to tenured academics.

School of Education Seminar Series

Learning Through Mulitmodal Communication
Presented by Ingela Trulsson-Sonnesjo and Lena Richert, lecturers in the departments of Music and Art, Linneaus University, Sweden.

How can we create active, dynamic environments and design processes that will support learning within the
preschool teacher training programme? An example of one project to reach this goal. Click here for more info.

Wednesday November 9
5.30-7pm

Hill Lecture Theatre (Education & Humanities Bldg)

PUBLIC SEMINAR

What We Know About Teacher Education: What Happens Next?
Presented by Professor Michael Grenfell, Professor of Education at Trinity College, University of Dublin.

In this seminar, Professor Grenfell will outline how and why the theory and practice of teacher education has been hotly debated in recent years , within a range of national contexts. The presentation will begin by setting teacher education within a broad field of educational research. Models of teacher education will then be addressed, along with their underlying principles and methods. Click here for more info.

Next Steps: Graduating Murdoch Teaching

For education students who have completed their Final Professional Experience, an information session to assist you in the transition to employment. The specialist panel will help you understand the next steps as a Graduate Teacher. A free BBQ lunch will be provided following the formal session. Click here to register.

Featuring a panel of speakers, including:

• Murdoch University’s Graduation Team
• Teacher Registration Board of WA (TRBWA)
• Institute for Professional Learning (IPL)
• Department of Education
• State School Teachers Union of WA (SSTUWA).

Transformative Education Research Seminar

Rising Tension: Why creative writing needs to be taught in high school, and the necessity of a divorce from English
Presented by Kevin Price - secondary English teacher and Murdoch PhD candidate, undertaking research in in Creative Writing and STEAM education. Kevin has also taught creative writing in Western Australian schools between 2005 and 2015 to both primary and high school students.

Kevin will present a fictocritical analysis, as originally presented at the 2016 English Teachers Association (WA) conference in June 2016, to address why Creative Writing needs to be taught in high schools, and why it might better serve our students and future participants of the creative economy were it located outside of English and taught as a general capability, and a foundation component of STEAM education. Click here for more information.

Friday October 7th
11-11.30am

Education & Humanities Common Room, 2.021

School of Education Seminar Series

Teaching Out of Field - an international perspective
Presented by Professor Gunter Torner (University of Duisburg-Essen, and member of the Teaching Across Specializations (TAS) Collective, scholrars conducting research into TOOF), and Dr Anne Price (Murdoch University School of Education).

Teaching Out of Field (TOOF),  the practice of assigning teachers to teach subjects or year levels for which they are not formally qualified, is a common practice in schools in Western Australia and in many parts of the world. Despite its prevalence, it is rarely officially reported or even acknowledged. The existence of TOOF also poses several conundrums with the increasing regulation of teaching and teachers’ work through Teacher Professional Standards.

Thursday August 18th
9.30am to 12.30pm

Canning College, Marquis Street, Bentley

• Dr Kevin McKenna - CISWA President & Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, International, Curtin University
• Ian Watt - Pre-Vice Chancellor, International, University of Western Australia
• Dr Lindy Norris - Senior Lecturer in Education, Murdoch University

• Gavin Grift: Collaborative Teams that Transform School
• Meg Roche: Social Emotional Development in Young People
• Tunya Petridis - children's consultant at Anglicare WA; Tim Thornton - lead school pyschologist: An Introduction to Trauma
• Grant O'Sullivan & Ben Calleja: Peer Observation
• Deborah Pino-Pasternak - Murdoch School of Education lecturer and ARC research fellow: Promoting Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom

• Prof Baden Offord & Dr Haruhisa (Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University)
• Assoc Prof Wendy Cumming-Potvin (Chief Investigator Young and Well CRC, School of Education, Murdoch Univeristy)
• Dani Wright Toussaint (Freedom Centre Coordinator - Young and Well CRC)
• William Knox (ALLY training facilitator & Student Advisor - School of Education, Murdoch University)
• Olivia Knowles (Safe Schools Coalition WA).

Classroom Management Strategies: Part 1
Tips and advice on how to reduce unproductive social behaviour in the school classroom

(useful for students with upcoming school experience placement units !)