"Seeing people’s renewed enthusiasm for teaching is our ultimate reward."
"Observing teachers’ excitement as they share their action learning projects is inspirational."
What has been happening in professional development in 2009?

2009 has been a busy year so far, just some of the highlights have been:

1.  Working long term with some schools in Queensland conducting regular PD afternoons focussing on topics that have emerged from their analysis of NAPLAN results. We find this approach works well as it provides regular contact and feedback and enables us to address issues that are of critical importance to the school concerned.

2. An excellent day with over 200 teachers from the  the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne where we 'workshopped' on Multiliteracies and the codes and conventions of still and moving images.

3. A similar day with the Association of Independent Schools Victoria (AISV).

4. Commencing a long term (18 month) Action Learning Project with the AISV on changing pedagogies through multiliteracies. This project involves  working with groups of teachers from five Independent schools in Melbourne and surrounds as they identify and carry out an action learning project and investigate their pedagogy.

5.The ALEA/AATE National Conference in Hobart where we presented two workshops. This was a wonderful conference with great international speakers.

Some of the highlights to come in the remainder of the year:

1. Returning to Melbourne to work further on the Action Learning Project with AISV and teachers from the five Independent schools.

2. Speaking at a Book Week function for the ACE in Toowoomba.

3. Traveling to New Zealand to conduct professional development in various towns on the North and South Islands for the New Zealand Reading Association.


General News
1. Major Research Project Completed
Between September 2008 and June 2009 we completed a major research project examining the enablers and blockers to Indigenous students' success in Education in the Darling Downs and South West for the Greater Toowoomba Advisory Committee of DEEWR . The project was funded under the Whole of School Intervention Strategy (WOSIS). There are approximately 3,469 Indigenous students in 233 schools across systems in the Darling Downs Southwest Education Region.
The report titled Finding the Gaps: Navigating Sustainable Futures for Indigenous Students: A Pilot Study can be accessed at:
https://ceo.twb.catholic.edu.au/Curriculum/Documents/Forms/General.aspx

The guiding methodology utilised was ethnographic in nature and included a combination of place based interviews, focus groups and questionnaires with stakeholders. NAPLAN data for students in the region was also analysed.  As the region and the student population is so large it was necessary to utilise a sampling methodology with a focus on:
•    Comparison between urban, regional, rural and remote community contexts,
•    Comparison between parent, student and teacher and Administrator perceptions of Indigenous education and learning,
•    The establishment of benchmarks for future comparison,
•    Strategic planning, and
•    Recommendations for action
Questionnaires were provided to 539 students, 480 parents and 459 teachers.  100 students were also individually interviewed.

2. New Book Coming
We are currently writing a new book to be published by the Curriculum Corporation in 2010. It is tentatively titled:  Reading and Writing in a Multimodal World: The Consumption and Production of Texts.  It will be in a similar format to Teaching and Learning Multiliteracies blending theory with practice and reflection. We are very excited about it and feel it will help teachers implement some of the theories of multiliteracies in practical ways using the multitude of digital electronic resources now available across all disciplines in the curriculum.