[click on panellists' names for their bios]
Sunday 4 December
Assessment in the context of curriculum reform — Val Klenowski, Douglas McCurry and Kathryn Riosa
Assessment is never far away from the discussions in the staffroom, the classroom and the media. This panel will examine issues such as the external examination of English, the strengths and weaknesses of current English exams and the principles that should underpin the design of an English exam. Within the context of the Australian Curriculum, how do we preserve the distinct and valued systems of teacher assessment that have evolved at the local level of each jurisdiction and its diverse settlements and how do we avoid the trap of standardisation and a one-size-fits-all approach to the Australian Curriculum and achievement standards? A classroom teacher will also discuss how they use assessment as a tool to inform their teaching.
Catching the wave — women writers' journeys — Erin McKean, Jyoti Nandan and Jane Sullivan
In an interview from the 1980s, Thea Astley reflects on her decision to avoid writing ‘as a woman’ when she first began preparing fiction for publication. She recounts: 'I grew up in an era when women weren’t supposed to have any thoughts at all.... So when I was eighteen or nineteen I thought to myself that the only way one could have any validity was to write as a male.' (Yacker 42) Of course, much has changed since Astley’s first fictional works were published. The second, third and now fourth waves of feminism have impacted on the ways in which women writers narrate their own lives, and the fictional worlds of their characters. Yet, texts by women still remain underrepresented amongst literary prize shortlists, on bestseller lists, and on some text lists for subject English, both in Australia and intenornationally. In light of this, novelist and literary journalist Jane Sullivan has asked why, when 'books and publishing are increasingly dominated by women as writers, editors and publishers… And it's mostly women who read books', that 'women's books in general get such scant serious attention?' (Sullivan 2011). Our expert panel will address this question, and reflect on their experiences as women writers, and writers of women, in the 21st century. In light of this discussion, those attending this session will have the opportunity to consider the influence of gender on contemporary text selection and pedagogical practices.
Finding a place for contemporary Australian poetry in the Australian English Curriculum — Robert Adamson, Lisa Gorton and David McCooey
This panel of significant Australian poets and critics of Australian poetry will focus on exploring some of the major concerns and developments in contemporary Australian poetry, and why and how it ought to find a more prominent place within the English and Literature classroom. In the light of the Australian English Curriculum identifying Australian literature, and poetry, as some of the kinds of texts that should be read and taught. It's clear that contemporary Australian poetry is not receiving the attention in classrooms and curriculum that it ought to (other than perhaps, say Les Murray's poetry). There is a rich, diverse, often surprisingly accessible body of poetry, and one which students would find much to respond and engage with, that is currently being overlooked. For example, amongst other preoccupations the panel will consider, a distinguishing feature of this poetic terrain is the strong landscape/rural strand prominent in the work of many of the best contemporary Australian poets (eg Hodgins, Kinsella, Gray, Lawrence, Harrison, Murray, Adamson)—what one panellist, David McCooey, has described as the pastoral/anti-pastoral strand, a radical interrogation and rethinking of the pastoral. 'Pastoral itself has a strong, sometimes disturbed, continuance in contemporary Australian poetry.... While naive, celebratory versions of pastoral have been abandoned, it remains extraordinary how many (of our major) poets have (re)turned to the country'.
Beyond ‘Simpson and his donkey, flags, values and traditions’: cultural production and national identity — Larissa McLean Davies, Kevin Foster and Marilyn Lake
In ‘New curriculum will ultimately mould our national identity’ (The Age 6/4), Lyn Ayres raises some important questions about what a ‘national’ curriculum might be and what it might achieve. If 'the curriculum is where a particular story of the world is set up, either deliberately or inadvertently...what story do Australian children hear about who we are and our place in this world, and what impact will this have on future generations?’ Why do politicians inevitably see curriculum as an opportunity to promote their version of ‘a better version of who Australians were’, or should be—whether it be ‘Simpson and his donkey, flags, values and traditions’ or Australia’s engagement with Asia? ‘Why is there always such a bitter public fight about the literature content of English?’ The panel will explore some of the ramifications of these issues by addressing, amongst others, the following questions: To what extent might texts construct and reflect an Australian identity? What might it mean to call a text ‘Australian’, other than the fact that it is written by an Australian? What role should educators play in articulating a sense of a national identity? What role should they play in promoting and/or critiquing the versions of national ‘identity’ promoted by government, education authorities and the media?
Read it and scream — Michael Panckridge, Drew Sinton and Tony Thompson
Vampires, werewolves and zombies walk the corridors and haunt the locker bays of our schools: at least in the form of the reading material of many students. Buffy has spawned a whole revival of fantastical literature. Many young people love the thrill of being frightened and are willing to read for it. The allure of the illicit runs through from the classics of the Victorian era to today. Submerged heaving sexuality links Bram Stoker to Stephanie Meyer. This panel will examine scream literature from the traditional to the very modern gothic. Our panellists will examine the literature itself and its current revival.
Education for an ethical society — Leslie Cannold, Barney Zwartz
General capabilities (of which there are seven) are a significant dimension of the Australian Curriculum. They are to be integrated into discipline areas. Ethical Behaviour, one of the seven, is described as follows: 'The examination of ethics…enables them (students) to build a strong ethical outlook when faced with uncertainty and conflicting claims and aims to strengthen their sense of moral purpose and vision.' While many educators regard this as a positive development, many questions are yet to be answered about the practicalities of implementation in the classroom. But what do experts in the field of Ethics think about this approach? Is it adequate? What is the role of the school in shaping the development of its students’ ethical sensibilities? How do schools work in this area in the context of a multi-faith, pluralistic society? And, does subject English have a particular contribution to make? Our three panellists will address these, and other issues surrounding the nexus between education and the building of an ethical community.
Monday 5 December
'New paradigm' anyone? Enriching the culture by 'disrupting' it — Gorkem Acaroglu, Adam Bandt and Michael Short
In January 2011 The Age published a special edition magazine profiling its annual list of Melbourne's 'most influential, inspirational and creative people', five each from a variety of categories including education, design, fashion, the environment, publishing, the stage, politics and the like. One of the subtexts was that such people 'push boundaries' and 'agitate for change'. In so doing they enlarge and enrich the cultural contexts in which they work creating, dare we say, uttering that much abused term, a 'new paradigm' in the process. The might just as easily be qualities we ask of curriculum developers and implementers. In this panel three such agents of change in the fields of politics, the theatre and journalism have been invited to talk about their work and, where possible, the implications for educators.
'The play(ing)s the thing'—creative approaches to Shakespeare — Nicki Greenberg, Andy Griffiths and Kristi Johansen
'Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety.' What Enobarbus observed of Cleopatra might well be said of the ways in which writers, producers and educators have called upon their creative resources to 'imagine' Shakespeare himself. An 'infinite variety' of inspirations. An avoidance of stale custom. Certainly this has been true of the work of our three panellists. Hamlet as an inkblot. Macduff performed by a garden gnome. A largely indigenous production of Macbeth with Kerry O'Brien in a guest spot. Playful? Irreverent? Idiosyncratic? Experimental? Definitely. Falstaff would have approved.Top of page
Bell Shakespeare Performance
Bell Shakespeare has been performing Actors At Work around Australia since the company formed in 1990. Along with many other learning programmes, it now reaches 80,000 students and teachers in all states and territories. The Actors At Work programme focuses on popular Shakespeare plays, presented as fifty minute performances of key scenes paired with contemporary commentary designed to extend student understanding of Shakespeare’s plays. Scripts are carefully developed so as to reveal the contemporary relevance of Shakespeare through the characters, thus enabling Australian teenagers to validate their own experiences, as they discover the resonance of Shakespeare with their own lives.
Midsummer Madness suitable for years 5 – 12, focuses on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and will be one of two productions touring Victoria in 2012. Come and see a sneak peek of what your students can enjoy next year, performed by The Players, Bell Shakespeare’s talented ensemble of Actors/Arts Educators. Performing during lunch Monday 5th December. Be early, doors will close when the performance begins.
Presented by Bell Shakespeare, Falstaff himself will put in an appearance during the conference on Monday. Make a place for his comedic, boastful and fuller figure as he makes his way through your break times.
Multiple voices, multiple grammars — Jeff Siegel, Rebecca Swain and Kate Burridge
English teachers will face classrooms where they will be required to deliver a national English curriculum that will present a range of challenges. The language, grammar and linguistic learning aspects of this document offer a range of questions for practitioners. Some will be interested in getting up to speed with terminology and its application, while others may be interested in the context of all this and how grammar teaching can form a part of good English practice. This panel imagines that teachers will also face other challenges, such as how to respond to what the national curriculum sets out in light of a classroom full of students with very different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Hence multiple worlds, multiple grammars. How do we teach language in the world of the national curriculum when we may have a classroom full of 'different Englishes'? Jeff Siegel will offer us some insights into these questions by sharing his expertise on how examining variation in dialects, both locally and globally, can motivate students' interest in the educational process as well as enable them to learn about principles of language structure and use. He will present some practical ideas about how this can be done. Rebecca Swain will pick up on some themes from the Victorian VCE English Language study and relate them to all English secondary teachers' needs. Issues relating to the use of formal and informal language, language variation in our society, individual and group identities and the role of language are some of the matters that Rebecca is interested in speaking about. Kate Burridge will add to the conversation with some comments about how the teaching of linguistics in the new framework will be enlightening and empowering for students (and teachers). She will develop ideas about the variations between spoken and written language in the context of 'multiple voices' in Australian society and varying approaches to rapport within different cultural groups. The panel is designed to challenge all English teachers, no matter at what level they teach, as we move towards new challenges, and it will give audience members a chance to engage with the presenters' ideas and views.
Navigating shifting digital landscapes: new technologies and life on the ground for teachers in classrooms — Scott Bulfin, Gail Casey and Calvin Taylor
International and national events in the last few years have shown the extraordinary affordances of new mobile technologies and the possibilities they provide for communicating through devastating events. Only this year, in early 2011, the Egyptian protests and local natural disasters such as unprecedented flooding and Cyclone Yasi have again highlighted the important, fraught and complex relationship between new technologies and society. New technologies, in these instances, were used to mobilise large groups quickly and to reroute or hack systems which failed or which were deliberately shut down to stop information getting out. In addition to this, recent technologies such as flip cameras and iPads have enabled even very young children to produce and publish their own texts with an ease and facility not seen before. How might classroom teachers make sense of these trends and moves and relate them to the work they do? What is the situation for life on the ground classroom teachers? How can these new technologies be utilised in meaningful ways by English teachers? This panel brings together classroom teacher-researchers, and academics to consider these issues.
'Trials', triumphs and tribulations? 'Trialing' the Australian Curriculum — Rita van Haren, Pamela Powell and Marion White
While many of us are still talking the talk about the scope and content of a possible national English curriculum some teachers and schools have actually started walking the walk by trialing aspects of the curriculum. Some officially under the auspices of ACARA. Some unofficially. This panel has invited teachers from across Australia to share their experiences, the possibilities and the problems, the successes they have achieved and the difficulties that they have encountered. Their experiences will be complemented by that of a senior education bureaucrat who will reflect upon the implications of implementing a national curriculum at the state level.
Future leaders' forum: professional 'volunteerism', leadership and other challenges facing the teaching profession — The forum will be led by members of AATE Council during post conference wine and cheese — 4:00pm-5:00pm
This forum is for conference delegates who wish to become more involved in shaping the work of their state or territory English teaching association in the future. Participants will join members of AATE Council to identify and discuss the challenges facing English teaching in the next few years as they confront the implications of implementing the Australian Curriculum:English, and the roles state and national English teaching associations might play in assisting the profession to meet those challenges. The forum will also enable participants to learn about the operations and activities of the different state and territory associations in Australia, and to discuss ways in which they can be supported to take on roles in those associations at a time when the pressures on this important context for professional 'volunteerism' is increasing. Participants will be invited to put together a summary of the issues, challenges, and possible ways forward discussed at the forum. This summary will provide impetus for further discussions and actions at both a national and local level by AATE and state /territory associations. This forum is the fourth in what has become an ongoing feature of national conferences and builds on the work begun in 2008 in Adelaide. Participants will be invited to join a Ning to engage in ongoing discussion of matters raised during the forum.
Tuesday 6 December
Educating for a 'democratic, equitable and just society' — Alan Reid, Esther Doecke and Damian Blake
What would it mean to be serious about the goal of educating for a 'democratic, equitable and just society'? In December 2008, education ministers across Australia signed the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. The preamble of this agreement reminds us that as a nation Australia values the central role of education in building a democratic, equitable and just society. In signing the Declaration, States committed themselves to: 'closing the gap' for young Indigenous Australians; providing targeted support to disadvantaged students; and focusing on school improvement in low socioeconomic communities. Some years on, as the Australian Curriculum is readied to be rolled out across the nation, the speakers at this forum return to the commitments of the Melbourne Declaration and ask how well the new national curriculum caters for difference—Indigenous students, their families and communities; students from low socioeconomic backgrounds; those from remote areas; refugees; homeless young people; students with disabilities—in other words, those who often experience educational disadvantage. Together, we will address the question of what we need to attend to, as educators, if we are to support all young Australians to achieve not only equality of opportunity but also more equitable outcomes.
Literary magazine journalism in new times — Alan Attwood and Jeff Sparrow
Given the proliferation of different forms of writing encouraged by new media, what might be the future of the magazine? We are aware of dire predictions for daily newspapers, but what lies ahead for magazines? Their requirements position them differently from both newspapers and books, but as writers’ blogs proliferate and magazines such as New Matilda disappear, how will the literary magazine landscape change? How do editors see their roles in an era of kindles and iPads—what is the place of paper and ink? Jeff Sparrow, editor of Overland and Alan Attwood, The Big Issue, discuss the future of literary print journalism and its future in a digital world.
Reading Asia—community, contexts and curriculum — Kabita Dhara, Satandra Nandan and Ouyang Yu
A significant part of the vision of the Australian Curriculum is for students in all year levels to have a close engagement with the peoples and places of Asia. The curriculum document presents Asia as 'a regional context for learning in all areas of the curriculum' and identifies 'Asia literacy' as a 21st century understanding and priority which 'underpins the capacity of Australian students to be active and informed citizens working together to build harmonious local, regional and global communities, and build Australia’s social, intellectual and creative capital'. This focus on the peoples and places of Asia is particularly evident in subject English, where, at each year level, teachers will select texts from Asia and by Asian Australians for classroom use. With extensive experience in writing, publishing and teaching texts in Asia and Australia, this expert panel will take up some of the issues raised by the curriculum, and consider what it means for Australian citizens to be 'Asia literate' in the 21st century, when traditional national and cultural boundaries are no longer distinct. The panel will address the philosophical, democratic and practical implications of this curriculum focus on Asia, and will explore the ways in which Asia literacy, as a complex web of practices, can inform and enhance the work of secondary English teachers in their classrooms across Australia.
Salon: Prospero's Island: 'noises' from the conference
There have been times, over the past few years, when the Australian English teaching community has sounded a bit like a 21st century version of Prospero’s Island in Shakespeare’s The Tempest an 'isle full of noises', as we have discussed, debated and consulted about a national curriculum. We expect the deliberations of the conference, over its three days, to be a microcosm of those 'noises'. Throughout the conference delegates will be invited to discuss, analyse, critique and reflect upon the issues that they see as important to their work in any future national curriculum. They will also be asked to record their thoughts in a series of public postings. These public postings will form the basis of the conference’s salon. The salon, itself, will provide an opportunity for delegates to draw together the educational imperatives, the creative and imaginative possibilities, and the social, cultural and political contexts and implications involved in developing and implementing a national curriculum. There will be a 'wild card' as well, an opportunity to record reflections and questions about issues that fall outside those broad parameters. Our hope, of course, is that throughout the conference, like Caliban on the island, we will have heard 'sound and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not' and the salon will achieve some kind of coherent sense of where to next for the profession. We realise, however, that any expectation of a 'brave new world' of curriculum reform needs tempering with a little reality. Caliban heard more than 'sound and sweet airs' on the island. His own voice, for instance, expressing a dubious gift of 'language' whose 'only profit on’t is I know how to curse'. We’re not suggesting we'll fall to cursing over the three days of the conference but disagreeing, dissenting, wrangling…perhaps.Panellist Biographies A-Z (by first name)
Adam Bandt is a Greens MP and the Federal Member for Melbourne. He was elected in 2010 when he made history by becoming the first Greens MP elected to the House of Representatives at a general election. Adam is the industrial relations and banking spokesperson for the Greens and a participant in the government’s Multi-Party Committee on Climate Change. Since being elected to Parliament he has successfully moved motions on marriage equality and condemning the government’s refugee deal with Malaysia. He has introduced legislation on protecting the Alpine National Park, banking reform, banning live animal exports, Parliamentary approval for sending troops overseas and compensating fire fighters with cancer. For many years he worked at the labour law firm Slater & Gordon where he became a partner in the industrial and public interest unit.
Alan Attwood is a Walkley award-winning journalist who worked for eighteen years on The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He has also published two novels: Burke’s Soldier and Breathing Underwater. Since 2003, he has been involved in The Big Issue, first as a volunteer proofreader, then soccer team member and columnist and now as editor where, he claims, he feels more at home than he did in the mainstream print .
Andy Griffiths is one of Australia’s most popular children’s writers. He is the author of over twenty books, including nonsense verse, badly drawn cartoons, short stories, comic novels and creative writing textbooks. Over the past fifteen years, Andy’s books have been New York Times bestsellers, won over forty children’s choice awards, been adapted as a television cartoon series and sold over four million copies worldwide. Andy is best known as the author of the much-loved Just! series and The Day My Bum Went Psycho. In 2008 Andy became the first Australian author to win six children’s choice awards in one year for Just Shocking. In 2010 the Bell Shakespeare production of his Just Macbeth, having toured Australia appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it received a five star review from The Scotsman and won a Guardian Herald Angel award. Andy is currently working on Just Writing—Fifty fun ways to write stories ... fast! to be published in April 2012.
Alan Reid is Professor of Education at the University of South Australia. He has a long involvement in curriculum and policy development in Australia. His research interests include educational policy, curriculum change, social justice and education, citizenship education and the history and politics of public education. He was recently awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Council of Educational Leaders (ACEL) which is presented annually to an educator whose 'contribution to the study and practice of educational leadership is assessed as most outstanding at the national level'; and is currently President-elect of the Australian College of Educators.
Calvin Taylor teaches English, Literature and Creative Studies at John Monash Science School, Melbourne. After growing up in rural Victoria, he moved to Hobart in 1995 where he completed a BA(Hons) and BTeach(Hons) at the University of Tasmania. Subsequently, he returned to country Victoria, where he taught middle-school and senior English, History and Media. From 2006 to 2011 he undertook PhD studies, research work and tutoring in Education at Monash University. His research interests include emerging literacies, contemporary adolescence, and new and mobile technologies.
Damian Blake is Senior Lecturer at Deakin University with over twenty-five years experience in the field of education. Damian’s research has a particular focus on the role of applied learning in young people’s engagement in education and training. His current research includes investigations into applied learning reforms in Australia and the United Kingdom, the use of applied learning to support interagency collaboration, alternative pathways into higher education, and teachers’ professional learning required to support applied learning. Damian is the Course Director for the Graduate Diploma of Education (Applied Learning) and the Master of Education at Deakin University.
David McCooey is a poet, critic, and academic. His first book of poems, Blister Pack, won the Mary Gilmore Award, and was short-listed for four other major awards. His most recent work is Graphic, a chapbook of poems published by Whitmore Press. He is the Deputy General Editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, which won a NSW Premier's Award in 2010. He has written widely on Australian literature, especially Australian poetry and life writing. He lives and works in Geelong, being an associate professor in literary studies and professional & creative writing at Deakin University.
Doug McCurry is Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Council for Educational Research. He specialises in the assessment of generic reading, reasoning and writing skills. His main research interests are: concepts of and the assessment of generic and work-related skills; the assessment of socio-cultural and interpersonal reasoning; and the assessment of writing as reasoning. As a lapsed English teacher and former executive examiner he is interested in the design and implementation of examinations for subject English.
Drew Sinton is a Melbourne-born occultist, ghost researcher, author, local historian and television host, best known for co-writing and presenting Channel 31's Haunted Australia and founding Melbourne's iconic Haunted Bookshop and Haunted Melbourne Ghost Tour. He received a Lord Mayor's Small Business Proprietor Commendation 'for significant contribution to the prosperity and vitality of Melbourne for over 10 years'. In 2007, Sinton co-researched and sponsored Australia's first ghost exhibition at Melbourne's City Museum, called 'Spooks: Haunted Stories of Melbourne'. In 1993, Sinton joined Melbourne's Vampire Legion and in 1996 was appointed Australian Ambassador of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. He's a former parapsychological research investigator, wrote The Antichrist's Bible, is a member of the Church of Satan and, after a recent successful case in the Melbourne's Magistrates Court, is recognised as a 'legal vampire'.
Erin McKean's job as a lexicographer involves living in a constant state of research. She searches high and low -- from books to blogs, newspapers to cocktail parties -- for new words, new meanings for old words, or signs that old words have fallen out of use. She involves us all in the search through Wordnik (www.wordnik.com), an online dictionary that houses all the traditionally accepted words and definitions, but also asks users to contribute new words and new uses for old words. Wordnik pulls real-time examples of word usage from Twitter, image representations from Flickr along with many more non-traditional, and highly useful, features. Before Wordnik, Erin was one of the youngest editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary. She continues to serve as the editor of the language quarterly Verbatim ('language and linguistics for the layperson since 1974') and is the author of multiple books, including That's Amore and the entire Weird and Wonderful Words series. She writes about dresses in her blog, A Dress A Day, and about lexicography at Dictionary Evangelist. Her 2011 novel ('her first book where the words are arranged in something other than alphabetical order') is called The Secret Life of Dresses. She writes occasionally for the Boston Globe’s 'Word' column. Erin is part of the next wave of lexicographers who are taking over guardianship of the English language, and who disprove Samuel Johnson's definition of a lexicographer as 'a harmless drudge'.
Esther Doecke has been working as a research assistant at the Centre for the Research on Education Systems at the University of Melbourne. Esther enjoys her research work and has been lucky to have the opportunity to work across a range of projects. In 2010 she completed the Masters of Teaching, and as part of this she developed a research project entitled 'Research—Policy—Practice: conditions for enhancing student achievement in the Northern Metropolitan Region'. She has recently started her PhD with Professor Richard Teese. Her research involves a comparative study of the Australian and German education systems.
Gail Casey is a classroom teacher at Geelong High School with a Masters in Language and Literacy Education. She has been an eLearning leader in three Victorian schools and in 2005 was the Principal Senior Trainer for the K–12 Intel Teach to the Future program with DEECD presenting the Australian Intel model both in Penang, Malaysia and Boston, USA. Her passion for working globally took her to South Korea in 2007 where she taught ESL for twelve months. While teaching in South Korea she began her development as a teacher researcher through Deakin University. In 2009 she was a K–12 ICT trainer and mentor in a private school before commencing her PhD as a scholarship holder with Deakin University. Gail is at present continuing her classroom action research as a teacher/researcher investigating the implications for teachers, students and learning when implementing social media and web 2 tools into the classroom. In June 2010 Gail received an Australian Postgraduate Award.
Gorkem Acaroglu is the Creative Producer/CEO of Melbourne Workers Theatre. In 2010 she implemented the company’s new vision to create fearless theatre from diverse perspectives of the real world. Gorkem has forged a solid reputation directing acclaimed socially relevant theatre productions such as The Habib Show, Haneef the Interrogation and Yet to Ascertain the Nature of the Crime. She has a long-standing commitment to bringing otherwise unseen perspectives to Australian stages having worked with a diverse range of professional Australian artists. In 1998 to 2001 Gorkem was a Multicultural Program’s Coordinator in Western Sydney. She has a Graduate Diploma in Direction from the VCA, a Masters in Animation & Interactive Media from RMIT and a Masters of Media Arts Film and Video from UTS and is a graduate of the NIDA Playwright’s Studio. Gorkem received the Young Leaders Award from the Australia Council for the Arts in 2004 and was a British Council Award Finalist in 2009.
Jane Sullivan is a Melbourne writer specialising in literary journalism. She came to Australia from England in 1979 and worked for The Age as a reporter, feature writer and editor of various sections, including the books pages. She won the inaugural Australian Human Rights Award for journalism. At present she writes 'Turning Pages', a Saturday column, and features about books and writing for The Age. Her first novel was The White Star (Penguin, 2000) and her latest novel is Little People (Scribe). She lives in Melbourne with her husband and son.
Jeff Siegel taught English for ten years at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea before getting his PhD in Linguistics at the Australian National University. For the past twenty-five years, he has been teaching linguistics, first at the University of the South Pacific and then at the University of New England (UNE), where he is currently Adjunct Professor. He also took two years' leave from UNE to become the foundation director of the Charlene Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole and Dialect Studies at the University of Hawaii. Jeff has done research on Fiji Hindi, Pidgin Fijian, Melanesian Pidgin and Hawaii Creole. His recent work has focussed on the origins of pidgins, creoles and other language contact varieties, and on the use of these varieties and vernacular dialects in formal education. His latest book is on learning an additional dialect (Second Dialect Acquisition, Cambridge University Press, 2010).
Jeff Sparrow is author of three books, Radical Melbourne and Radical Melbourne 2: The Enemy Within and (co-authored with his sister, Jill Sparrow) and Killing: Misadventures in Violence, a finalist in the Melbourne Prize for Literature Best Writing Award 2009. With a PhD in Creative Media, Jeff now works as at Victoria University and is editor of Overland.
Jyoti Nandan is the Head of the Department of Language, Literature & Communication in the School of Humanities and Arts, the University of Fiji. Before joining the University of Fiji in February 2006, she was teaching at the Australian National University. She also taught at the University of Canberra for several years. Dr Nandan has a Masters in English from the University of New South Wales and a PhD (Literature & Screen Studies Program) from the Australian National University. Her Masters project was on the fiction of Patrick White and her PhD project on the fiction of Anita Desai, using a post-colonial feminist framework. Her areas of research are: The teaching of English (in academic contexts) and Cultural Studies (gender studies, post-colonial studies, the intersection of post-colonial and gender studies). Her current area of research is Women’s Writing.
Kabita Dhara is founding publisher at Brass Monkey Books, a Melbourne-based publishing house that specialises in Indian literature, and non-fiction that engages with the Australia-India relationship. Having an international upbringing, she has seen firsthand the role literature can play in promoting cultural understanding. She has a BA (Hons) in Literature and Politics from the University of Melbourne, an MPhil in Publishing from the University of Stirling (Scotland) and an MA in Communications from RMIT.
Kate Burridge is Professor of Linguistics at Monash University. Her main research interests are on grammatical change in Germanic languages, Pennsylvania German, linguistic taboo and the structure and history of English. She is a regular presenter of language segments on ABC Radio and Television. Her books include: Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language used as shield and weapon (with Keith Allan, 1991), Syntactic Change in Germanic (1993), English in Australia and New Zealand (with Jean Mulder, 1998), Introducing English Grammar (with Kersti Börjars, 2001), Blooming English: Observations on the roots, cultivation and hybrids of the English Language (2004), Weeds in the Garden of Words: Further observations on the tangled history of the English language (2005), Forbidden Words: Taboo and the censoring of language (with Keith Allan, 2006) and Gift of the Gob: Morsels of English language history (2010).
Kevin Foster is Associate Professor in English, Communication and Performance Studies at Monash University. Kevin's research interests are the construction and articulation of national identity in literture, media adn film. His recent publications include 'Embedding Control: the Australian military's influence on the media', Overland, Vol 198, 2010 and the book What are we doing in Afghansistan?: the military and the media at wa
Kristi Johansen is a project officer for Teaching Multilingual Learners in the Barkly Region for the Northern Territory Government. The Barkly is a vast and remote region housing many community schools with predominantly indigenous students. She is currently responsible for BEACH the Barkly Excellence: Arts and Cultural Hub, an initiative that will support, promote, design, implement and showcase art and cultural programs from schools in the region. Previously she taught for many years at Tennant Creek High School. After attending a Bell Shakespeare workshop for rural and regional teachers she conceived and produced whole school productions, working with largely indigenous populations, of Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth.
Larissa Mclean-Davies is Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education in the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include national literatures in secondary English education, the cultural implications of text selection practices, critical literacy and literary theory, and gender and pedagogy in the English classroom.
Leslie Cannold is an author, commentator, ethicist, researcher and social activist and has recently been named the 2011 Australian Humanist of the Year. Her views can be found in all major Australian media outlets—print, radio and TV—including most recently appearances on ABC TV’s Q&A. In 2005, Leslie was noted as one of Australia’s top 20 public intellectuals. She is president of Reproductive Choice Australia, a national coalition of pro-choice organisations that played a key role in removing the ban on the abortion drug RU486 in 2006 and of Pro Choice Victoria, which was instrumental in the decriminalisation of abortion in Victoria in 2008. She is also a Dying with Dignity ambassador for law reform. The Book of Rachael is her first novel.
Lisa Gorton was the inaugural winner of the Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize. As well as writing poetry she is a regular reviewer of contemporary Australian poetry. Her poems, essays and reviews have appeared in Australia and the USA. Her first volume of poems, Press Release was published in 2007. She has also wriiten Cloudland, a novel for younger readers. Lisa Gorton received the Vicorian Premier's Poetry Award for 'Press Release'.
Marilyn Lake is Charles La Trobe Professor of History at Latrobe University and President of the Australian Historical Association. She is the author and co-author of several books including Getting Equal: The History of Feminism in Australia and Drawing the Global Colour Line: White Men's Countries and the Question of Racial Equality. More recently she co-authored What's Wrong with Anzac? The Militarisation of Australian History, a collection that explores the ways in which the official sponsorship of Anzac shapes our understanding of the past, replacing historical fact with commemorative mythology.
Michael Panckridge. Inspired by his passion for sport and desire to get reluctant readers engaged in books, Michael Panckridge put his mind to finding out what it is kids want to read. Eight years later he is the author of over thirty books. His work ranges from the best selling Legends and Anniversary Legends series, the Toby Jones series, a rich blend of cricket and fantasy—The League of Legends series, rugby league action with the support of ex-Australian captain, Laurie Daley—through to his latest novels including The Cursed, The Vanishings and The Immortal, adventure books with elements of mystery and intrigue that keep the reader guessing. His latest series is The Book of Gabrielle, a sinister tale about a girl without a past and an extraordinary ability to see things others can’t. The Boy Who Wasn’t There and The Boy Without A Past will be published in April. Michael lives in Geelong and is a part-time teacher.
Michael Short is a writer, interviewer and producer who, during a twenty-five year career, has worked in print, radio and television in Australia, the USA and Europe. In 2010 he created The Zone, an interview-based multi-media package, published in The Age and across Fairfax Media’s digital platforms, covering, amongst other areas, media, politics, policy, culture, philanthropy, education, economics and design. In introducing The Zone, Michael said '(It) is about change. It’s about bringing more voices into public debate. It aims to ventilate arguments for moving from what is the case to what ought to be the case'.
Nicki Greenberg is a writer and illustrator, as well as a lawyer, whose prodigious body of work can be accessed at nickigreenberg.com. She is perhaps best known for her graphic novel version of The Great Gatsby. That is until now. Of Nicki's recent work 'a sprawling, stylised 427 page' version of Hamlet 'brisling with colour and imaginative brio', The Australian reviewer said, Nicki 'makes the work her own while honouring the source material, creating a sad, striking and richly layered adaptation'.
Ouyang Yu came to Australia at the age of 35, and, by 55, had published fifty-five books of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, literary translation and criticism in English and Chinese languages. Published works include his award-winning novel, The Eastern Slope Chronicle (2002), his collection of poetry in English, The Kingsbury Tales (2008) and his collection of Chinese poetry, Slow Motion (2009). Ouyang Yu has also published a book of creative non-fiction, On the Smell of an Oily Rag: Speaking English, Thinking Chinese and Living Australian (2008) and his second novel, The English Class (2010) was shortlisted for the 2011 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award and Community Relations Commission Award. Ouyang has also published a book of literary criticism, Chinese in Australian Fiction: 1888–1988 (2008), and his translation in Chinese of The Fatal Shore is due to be published in 2012.
Rebecca Swain is a teacher of VCE English and English Language at Carey Baptist Grammar School. She has a background in media and has used the knowledge and skills gained from this path to form her role as a teacher of linguistics. She has a particular interest in using technology to encourage independent learning and empower students to create and collaborate. She has worked with VATE’s English Language examination working party for several years and has also helped to develop and present VATE’s English Language mini-method for teachers. In 2010 Rebecca was a member of the VCAA English Language Study Design review panel and in 2011 she presented at implementation briefings for the new Study Design. Her postgraduate studies in applied linguistics and her work in schools have enriched her understanding of language and heightened her curiosity about the strong correlation between identity and language diversity.
Robert Adamson is one of Australia's most significant poets. He has published twenty volumes of poetry in Australia, the UK and the USA. His previous volume of poems, The Goldfinches of Baghdad, won The Age Book of the Year Award for poetry and the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry and was shortlisted for the NSW and Queensland Premiers' Literary Awards. In 2008, his most recent edition of new and selected poems, The Golden Bird was published. In addition, his autobiography, Inside Out, was shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year award, the NSW and Queensland Premiers' Literary Awards and the State Library of NSW Biography Award. In 1995, he received the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry.
Satendra Nandan is Foundation Professor and Dean of The School of Humanities and Arts at The University of Fiji. He is also the Director of the Gandhi-Tappoo Ashram for Peace and Ethics, Writing and Dialogue, an independent think tank. In January last year he was presented with the Eminent Writer’s Award at an International Conference held in his honour at the HC University, PATAN. He’s currently collaborating on a script for a film based on his much acclaimed novel The Wounded Sea, his autobiography Requiem for a Rainbow: A Fijian-Indian Story and Fiji: Paradise in Pieces. A forty-minute film was made on his poetry and politics in 1996 for Doordarshan and Star TV. SBS, Australia, also featured him in its Books & Writing program on the publications of his novel, The Wounded Sea. As a public intellectual and writer, he has read and commented on international media, including the ABC, the BBC, the FBC, NZBC, STAR, and Doordarshan, and written for many magazines and newspapers, locally and internationally.
Scott Bulfin teaches in the Faculty of Education at Monash University and researches the relationship between English curriculum and pedagogy, young people's language and literacy use and new media. He has been a member of AATE Council since 2005 and currently serves as AATE research officer. Before becoming a teacher educator, he was an English teacher in secondary schools in eastern Melbourne. He has four young, active children (including twin boys) and enjoys pina coladas and walks in the rain.
Tony Thompson is a local writer and teacher. He has written for The Age and The Australian and taught english in several Melbourne high schools. He is originally from Toronto, Canada but has lived in Australia for more than fifteen years. His longstanding fascination with the famous 'Geneva Summer' which produced Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, influenced his desire to write Vampires: The Unhistory of the Undead. He believes the vampire genre is one that has never taken itself too seriously and the best stories always mix a certain amount of humour and irony with genuine horror.
Val Klenowski is Professor of Education at the Queensland University of Technology. Her research interests include the use of social moderation in the context of standards-driven reform, culture-fair assessment and the use of digital portfolios. She has worked in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and in the UK at the Institute of Education, University of London. Val has research interests in curriculum, evaluation and assessment.