Keynote presenters:
Linda Darling-Hammond
Jay McTighe
Speakers:
Jenny Gore
Alice Leung
Steve Grant
John Lester
Penny Jane Burke
Drew Miller
Angela Falkenberg
Andy Mison
Sally Larsen
Linda Darling-Hammond
Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University
President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute
Keynote presenter
Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University and founding president of the Learning Policy Institute, created to provide high-quality research for policies that enable equitable and empowering education for each and every child. At Stanford she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as faculty sponsor for the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign.
Linda is past president of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, Research Review, and Research-to-Policy. She is also a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Education. From 1994–2001, she was executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, whose 1996 report What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future was named one of the most influential reports affecting U.S. education in that decade. In 2006, Linda was named one of the nation’s ten most influential people affecting educational policy. In 2008, she directed President Barack Obama’s Education Policy Transition Team. She is currently President of the California State Board of Education.
Linda began her career as a public school teacher and co-founded both a preschool and a public high school. She served as Director of the RAND Corporation’s education program and as an endowed professor at Columbia University, Teachers College before coming to Stanford. She has consulted widely with federal, state and local officials and educators on strategies for improving education policies and practices and is the recipient of 14 honorary degrees in the U.S. and internationally. Among her more than 600 publications are a number of award-winning books, including The Right to Learn, Teaching as the Learning Profession, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World and The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment Will Determine our Future. She received an Ed.D. from Temple University (with highest distinction) and a B.A. from Yale University (magna cum laude).
Jay McTighe
Experienced educator
Author of Understanding by Design
Keynote presenter
Jay McTighe brings a wealth of experience developed during a rich and varied career in education. He served as director of the Maryland Assessment Consortium, a state collaboration of school districts working together to develop and share formative performance assessments. Prior to this position, Jay was involved with school improvement projects at the Maryland State Department of Education where he helped lead Maryland’s standards-based reforms, including the development of performance-based statewide assessments. He also directed the development of the Instructional Framework, a multimedia database on teaching. Well known for his work with thinking skills, Jay has coordinated statewide efforts to develop instructional strategies, curriculum models, and assessment procedures for improving the quality of student thinking. In addition to his work at the state level, Jay has experience at the district level in Prince George’s County, Maryland, as a classroom teacher, resource specialist, and program coordinator. He also directed a state residential enrichment program for gifted and talented students.
Jay is an accomplished author, having co-authored 18 books, including the award-winning and best-selling Understanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. His books have been translated into fourteen languages. Jay has also written more than 60 articles and book chapters, and been published in leading journals, including Educational Leadership (ASCD) and Education Week.
Jay has an extensive background in professional development and is a regular speaker at national, state, and district conferences and workshops. He has conducted workshops in 48 states within the United States, in seven Canadian provinces, and internationally to educators in 41 countries on six continents.
Jay received his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary, earned his Master’s degree from the University of Maryland, and completed post-graduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University. He was selected to participate in the Educational Policy Fellowship Program through the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. and served as a member of the National Assessment Forum, a coalition of education and civil rights organizations advocating reforms in national, state, and local assessment policies and practices.
Jenny Gore
Laureate Professor, School of Education University of Newcastle
Director of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, University of Newcastle
Laureate Professor Jenny Gore AM began her career in education as a secondary physical education teacher in South Australia. Since 1992, Jenny has been awarded 102 grants for a total of more than $34 million in research funding. Her educational and research interests have consistently centred on quality and equity, and have ranged across topics such as teacher socialisation, alternative pedagogy, power relations in teaching, reform in teacher education, pedagogical reform, and teacher development. Her career to date has been dedicated to improving the quality of teaching by empowering teachers to enrich student learning. With a steadfast focus on improving the lives of teachers and students, particularly students from Indigenous, low SES and other marginalised communities, Jenny’s vision is quality teaching for every student, every day. Her research accomplishments stem from addressing such challenging questions in education as how to narrow equity gaps in schooling and student achievement, how to enhance teaching throughout teachers’ careers, and how to improve the quality of teaching at scale.
Jenny has received several major honours recognising her research, leadership, and contributions to the field. These honours include: awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (2024); an award from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders SA for her contribution to research in educational leadership (2023); elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (2023) for her role in improving educational outcomes at scale; elected Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW (2021) for her leadership within the field of teacher education; elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (2020) for exemplifying the highest standards of excellence through accomplishment, professionalism, and commitment; the Dr Paul Brock Memorial Medal, awarded by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (2018) for outstanding contributions to social justice and evidence-informed policy, practice, and research; an award from the Australian Council of Deans of Education for her outstanding contribution to education reform (2017); a Visiting Professorship appointment at the University of Oxford (2017); and the Radford Lecture and Award, ‘Reconciling Educational Research Traditions’, the highest honour awarded to distinguished academics by the Australian Association for Research in Education (2016).
Alice Leung
Head Teacher Secondary Studies, Concord High School
NSW Teachers Federation Representative
Alice Leung is currently Head Teacher Secondary Studies at Concord High School where she leads whole school technology, STEM, high potential and gifted education, whole school assessment, data analysis, academic coaching and the school library. Alice has taught at Aurora College, a virtual academically selective school for rural and remote students, held various statewide curriculum support roles with the NSW Department of Education in future focused learning, STEM and curriculum implementation. She has also been Head Teacher Science at Merrylands High School and relieving Head Teacher Science and Head Teacher Student Welfare at Auburn Girls High School.
Alice has received numerous awards in recognition of my teaching, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.
Alice is a proud advocate of public education and passionate believer of public education being the driver of a more equitable and fair society.
Steve Grant
Founder and Director of thatswhatsnext
Leading expert on AI in education
Steve is a creative innovator in STEM education, educational leadership, change management, and leading teacher professional development. He brings bring a wealth of knowledge in initiating and leading new STEM projects in a collaborative and consultative manner, with a particular focus on delivering high quality STEM educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Steve’s work as teacher, STEM Professional Learning Consultant, Curriculum Officer for ACARA (Digital Technologies in Focus project), and as the inaugural Director of Innovation and Creativity for Trinity College (SA) brings a wealth of transdisciplinary skills and experience in working across diverse contexts to build the capacity and competence of teachers to meaningfully embed computing into student learning.
John Lester
Emeritus Professor, Wollotuka Institute University of Newcastle
Indigenous education trailblazer
Emeritus Professor Doctor John Lester, a respected Wonnarua Elder, has over 40 years operative and managerial leadership in Indigenous education and training covering school, TAFE and University which is well supported with diploma, a degree, Masters in Educational Administration and national award-winning Doctorate, Why do Aboriginal kids switch off school?
He has contributed at state and national policy levels in the area and is a renowned innovator in the field. His appointment as the first Indigenous TAFE Principal in Australia has been only capped through his appointment to the inaugural Aboriginal Studies Chair at University of Newcastle, which exemplifies his outstanding contribution in Indigenous education. His successful leadership work in Indigenous education communities is celebrated by his Life Membership and re-election to Vice President of the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group in 1998 and 1999, after holding the Executive Officers role during the foundation years of the Group in the early 1980s.
John has held key membership positions on the NSW Vocational Education and Training Board, the Rural Communities Consultative Council and as board member of the NSW National Trust. He is a past member of the NSW Board of Secondary Education, National Aboriginal Education Committee, MCEETYA Racism in Schools Review, appointed by the Premier of NSW to the Rural Communities Consultative Council. Previously appointed to the NSW Government Expert Advisory Group on Drugs and Alcohol, and the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council. Appointed in 2006 as member to the national Client & Student Voice Action Group to the MCVTE.
Appointed inaugural Director of Aboriginal Education and Training with the NSW Department of Education and Training in 2005-2008 then returning to Newcastle University to continue his senior management positions and Acting Dean moving to appointment to Emeritus Professor and awarded the AARE National Doctorate Award for most outstanding doctorate in education in 2017. He continues to work with Indigenous communities, supervises doctoral candidates and plays an active role as Elder in Residence at Adamstown PS and consulting extensively on Aboriginal educational management.
Penny Jane Burke
Director, Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education, University of Newcastle
Global Innovation Chair of Equity, University of Newcastle
Professor Penny Jane Burke is Global Innovation Chair of Equity and is Director of the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle, NSW.
Her personal experience of returning to study via an Access to Higher Education (Enabling) program has deeply shaped her tenacious commitment to equity in higher education over the past 20 years. She was awarded a full-time Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) PhD studentship from 1998-2001 to study student equity, and upon completion of her PhD (University of London), her first sole-authored book Accessing Education effectively widening participation was published in 2002 by Trentham Books.
Following this, she has generated over $3,500,000 in research funding and has published extensively in the field of equity and social justice in education. Her authored books also include Reconceptualising Lifelong Learning: Feminist Interventions (Burke and Jackson, 2007), The Right to Higher Education: Beyond widening participation (Burke, 2012) and Changing Pedagogical Spaces in Higher Education (Burke, Crozier and Misiaszek, 2017, Routledge).
As recipient of the prestigious UK Higher Education Academy’s National Teaching Fellowship award in 2008, Penny Jane has been deeply committed to the development of high quality educational opportunities for students from under-represented backgrounds through research, practice and professional development and she has been keynote and invited speaker at numerous high profile events across the globe. Penny Jane is a member of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education and Training Equity Research and Innovation Panel.
As a global leader in the field of equity in higher education, she has been invited to contribute to volumes that bring together leading scholars in the field (e.g. Oxford Handbook of Higher Education Systems and University Management (forthcoming), Palgrave International Handbook of Higher Education Policy and Governance (2015), and Springer’s Encyclopedia of International Higher Education Systems and Institutions (2016).
Penny Jane was the Editor of the Taylor & Francis international peer-reviewed journal Teaching in Higher Education. She served as a member of the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Governing Council and Publications Committee (2012- 2016), and as a member of the editorial board of Gender and Education (2010 – 2014). She was an ESRC panel member of the ‘Future of Higher Education’ steer for the ESRC Large Grant and Research Centre competition, and is an ongoing member of the ESRC Peer Review College.
Penny Jane has also held the post of Professor of Education at University of Sussex (leading Education for the Research Excellence Framework, 2013), Professor of Education at the University of Roehampton (Director of the Centre of Educational Research, in Equalities, Policy and Pedagogy) and Reader in Education at the Institute of Education, University of London (where she was Chair of the Widening Participation Committee, and Head of School, Educational Foundations and Policy Studies).
Drew Miller
Senior Lecturer, School of Education University of Newcastle
Deputy Director of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, University of Newcastle
Dr Drew Miller is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle and the Deputy Director of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre. He has extensive experience in collaborative design and leadership of rigorous evaluation of educational interventions, having developed and led multiple large-scale RCTs and longitudinal evaluations, as well as bespoke program evaluations for and with research partners. Drew has also led national reviews, sits on several national advisory groups, and has been a visiting academic at four international institutions. He is currently leading the Centre’s $4.3m Thriving Schools project.
Angela Falkenberg
President, Australian Primary Principals Association
Angela Falkenberg is an experienced school and community leader whose personal leadership commitment is to support students, educators, and families to have skills of resilience and optimism and for leaders to be and lead well.
She has curated a range of ‘fit for purpose’ high impact culture building and self-care strategies that make a positive difference and shares them with authenticity and humour.
She is currently President of the SA Primary Principals Association, past principal of three primary schools, and has held leadership positions in secondary schools and in system roles (she has been a behaviour coach, a literacy leadership coach and led the recruitment and development of teachers to SA’s Aboriginal and Anangu Schools).
Her teaching career began in indigenous education in the NT and has included roles in primary and secondary education with a focus on students and families experiencing educational disadvantage. She also led a three-year health care project in the neonatal nurseries of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and is a past president of charity SIDS and Kids SA. She holds a master’s degree in special education and continues to embrace the joy of life-long learning.
Andy Mison
President, Australian Secondary Principals Association
Andy Mison is the President of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association; the peak body working for the professional interests of Australian secondary principals and the advancement of the school communities they lead.
Andy has worked in a variety of educational settings as a teacher and school leader in NSW, the Northern Territory, and the ACT. His experience includes teaching in remote, regional, and metropolitan schools, as well as serving as principal of a year 5-12 performing arts school, a split campus 7-12 High School, a large P-10 ‘super-school’, and a year 11-12 senior secondary college. In the latter role he was concurrently the Chief Executive Officer of Belconnen Training, an ACT RTO delivering VET pathways for students from seven secondary schools in the ACT.
Andy’s broad experience in education leadership includes his role as the Executive Producer of the Northern Territory’s Combined Schools performing arts program, and his conception and establishment of the successful long-running VAMPtv series supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. As a former Director of School Improvement in the ACT Education Directorate Andy also played a leading role during the rollout of remote learning for ACT schools and vaccination programs for special schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Andy has been a writer of the Australian Curriculum in the arts, a consultant on digital education for AITSIS and developer of Australia’s first fully online primary school music course to support remote classroom teachers.
Driven by a deep commitment to public education and positive futures for Australia’s young people, Andy is highly regarded for his advocacy and leadership within the education sector.
Sally Larsen
Senior Lecturer, School of Education University of New England
Dr Sally Larsen is a Senior Lecturer and researcher in the School of Education at the University of New England. She has previously worked as a secondary English and French teacher, research project manager, and researcher in a government agency. Sally’s research is in the area of reading and maths development across primary and early secondary school in Australia. She investigates patterns of growth and change in reading and maths in these middle years of school, and predictors of longitudinal development in these skills. Sally uses quantitative research methodology, in particular, longitudinal and multilevel modeling, and structural equation modeling. She is interested in questions surrounding the measurement of constructs employed in quantitative education research. Sally is also interested in exploring whether findings from educational genetics research may or may not be relevant to schools systems and educational practices.
