South Australia – news – 01/02/08

New contact for values education
Malcolm McInerney is the new Values Education contact for the government in South Australia. His details are below.

Government
Malcolm McInerney
Policy and Program Officer
Curriculum Services
Department of Education and Children’s Services
4th Floor, Education Centre
31 Flinders St,
Adelaide SA 5000
Phone: (08) 8226 4312
Fax: (08) 8359 3013
Email: mcinerney.malcolm@saugov.sa.gov.au  

Twilight Seminar – 27 March 2008
A Twilight Seminar: Values Education and Service Learning – Towards Community Engagement will be held on 27 March 2008 from 4.15 – 6.30 pm at the Education Development Centre, Hindmarsh.

Margaret Richmond, director of Empower, will discuss service learning as a vehicle for values education in the classroom. Through service learning students are able to address real community needs as part of their studies. Students develop critical thinking and problem solving skills and are able to reflect on their own values and beliefs, rights and responsibilities in their broader communities.

Schools from the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 2 involved in trialling and researching service learning will also present school-based case studies.

Values Education Conference – 12 May 2008
A major values education conference is planned for Monday 12 May 2008. This conference will consolidate the work of the Values Education Project both nationally and in South Australia.

Dr Neil Hawkes will be keynote speaker with a focus on Values Education: Inspiring Students and Adults Worldwide. A feature of the conference will be that participants will have the opportunity to continue discussions with Dr Hawkes in a workshop setting. Schools from the Good Practice Schools Project – Stages 1 and 2, and local cluster grant schools, will also showcase their work.

For all enquiries, please contact Mary Hudson:
Phone: (08) 8338 0422
Email: the.hudsons@ozemail.com.au  

The events for South Australian educators are collaborative cross-sector initiatives with the Department of Education and Children’s Services, Catholic Education SA and the Association of Independent Schools SA.

Twilight Seminar: Values Education and Whole School Change
The final values event for 2007 was held on Thursday 8 November. This Twilight Seminar focused on Values Education and Whole School Change and the importance of shared vision and values in moving schools towards a common goal. The speakers were winners of the National Awards for Quality Schooling: Genia Janover, Principal, Bialik College, Victoria; Mary Asikas, Principal, Seaford 6–12 School, South Australia; and Sr Brenda Kennedy, Principal, Holy Family School, New South Wales.

Feedback from participants was extremely positive and reflected schools’ interest in learning about strategies for putting values into practice:

‘It was wonderful to see schools focusing on values implementation rather than simply values identification.’
‘Principal empowerment and a values-based approach is the key to improving schools.’
‘It was inspirational to hear the experience shared by the three principals and how values make a difference in their schools.’

School forum snapshot: Islamic College of South Australia

In 2007 the Islamic College of South Australia focused on integrating values education into school policies, learning outcomes in all curriculum areas, their school community and everyday life. A values forum during Literacy and Numeracy Week illustrated to the school community the depth of student engagement, from Kindergarten to Year 12, in the process and their understanding of values.