South Australia – news – 16/03/09
Twilight Seminar – 26 March 2009
A Values Education Twilight Seminar – Values and Curriculum: Practical Strategies for Incorporating Values into Teaching and Learning with Dr Leoni Degenhardt will be held on Thursday, 26 March 2009 from 4.30-6.30pm at the Education Development Centre, Hindmarsh.
Dr Degenhardt has over 20 years experience in senior leadership in schools. She is a renowned Australian educator with particular expertise in school change and transformation. Dr Degenhardt will consider the following issues.
- What is the relationship between values and curriculum?
- Should the curriculum explicitly and implicitly reflect a school's values?
- What roles do school and classroom practices have in relation to values education?
- What practical strategies can educators use to incorporate values into teaching and learning?
South Australian schools will also present school-based case studies of values education in the curriculum.
Values Education and Student Engagement workshops
Roger Holdsworth, Youth Research Centre, University of Melbourne, will facilitate a series of workshops in South Australia.
- Tuesday 9 June 4 – Adelaide metropolitan area (venue TBA), 4pm – 6.30pm
- Wednesday 10 June – Mt Gambier High School, 12 noon – 4pm
- Thursday 11 June – Fisk Ave Primary School, 12 noon – 4pm
Please contact Mary Hudson, Project Coordinator, for registration details on 08 8338 0422.
Unpacking the Values for Australian Schooling Resources workshop report
A workshop, Unpacking the Values for Australian Schooling Resources, was held on Thursday, 26 February 2009 and was well-received by the teacher-librarians who attended. Feedback indicated that the resources will be extremely beneficial to programming for values education learning from a whole school approach.
Values education grants
Thirty-one schools were awarded grants to conduct values education projects in South Australia. Over 134 applications were received from across the sectors. The committee was extremely impressed with the quality of the applications and the innovative and creative approaches proposed by schools.
Many of the grant recipients’ projects are informed by approaches to values education outlined in the values education professional development programs, with eight of the schools working from a service learning perspective, a further five adopting a schools/community partnership approach, and seven focusing on integrating values education across the school through a whole school approach.
The remaining projects vary. Three schools are working on a research-based inquiry into values education that includes engaging students with disabilities. Two schools are developing innovative values-based approaches to using ICT. Restorative practice and the role of values education is the focus of two schools, while another two are focussing on positive learning experiences for at-risk students. One school’s project concerns environmental values and another is developing a program encompassing the whole school, examining values and how they influence community members’ lives.
There are strong emphases in many of the projects on student-led process, teaching pedagogy and methodology to create proactive and positive curriculum.. The role that community and schools in partnership can play in the education and wellbeing of students through the nine Values for Australian Schooling is evident throughout all the projects.
A Grants Schools Day for grants recipients was held on Friday 27 February. This was extremely well-received and provided a wealth of information as well as an opportunity to share ideas and work together to plan the implementation of the projects.