Murray School of Education
Allan Brown Prize
Allan Brown was a well known and highly respected teacher and principal who worked in country NSW schools and in Albury. In his memory, his wife and children make a very generous donation each year to one of the graduating 4th year early childhood pre-service teachers prior to the completion of their degree in recognition of the contribution that they feel teachers should make to their community.
This prize has been running for four years with very worthy recipients who have been a credit to the Murray School of Education being awarded the annual prize.
For 2008 we are proud to announce that Justine Goonan has won the prize and Allan’s
family, along with the staff from the MSE wish Justine all the very best in
her future chosen career as an early childhood teacher.
Allan’s love of wood turning has encouraged us to have a wood burl made up, that now hangs in the foyer of the MSE, with the names of the winners engraved onto it. As well, a photo album with details of each winner and what they believe education is about is also on display in the main foyer.
The Murray School of Education is indebted to Jan Wyatt-Brown and Allan’s children for their generous support of this prize and we hope that it will continue to honour him for many years to come.
ECON 2008
This year’s ECON was held in November 2008 in the Cliff Blake lecture
rooms.
Each of our 45 fourth year graduating early childhood students presented themselves to the audience as new professionals and spoke about their particular area of expertise and passion. We were also lucky enough to have two excellent guest speakers; the first being Maree Geoghagan, Assistant Principal at Melrose Primary School in Wodonga, who spoke to us about her own journey as a professional.
The second speaker was Professor Bob Perry, from Murray School of Education, who spoke about the profession that our students have chosen to enter and how important that is for the future of this country. The conference itself was coordinated on the day, and organised from its inception by the third year early childhood students. This included the booking of rooms, the collection of abstracts, the printing of booklets, financing of the event and catering that was delivered on the day. A really good learning experience for them all.
The whole event was successful and much enjoyed by all who attended. It was great to see not only the third and fourth year early childhood students, but a number of professionals from the early childhood field in Albury/Wodonga and family members of the graduating students who had the opportunity to see and hear their loved ones as new professionals entering teaching as fully qualified individuals.
Eleyne Mitchell Rural Women's Writing Award: MSE staff as judges!
Staff in the Murray School of Education are frequently involved in community activities and recently three academics were judges in the Eleyne Mitchell Rural Women's Writing Award.
The national competition encouraged Australian women to write about their experiences of rural living and the outcomes were some impressive stories.
Ms Jenni Munday, Dr Noella Mackenzie and Dr Louise Hard were some of the judges privileged to share in these stories.
Information about the competition and the 2008 judges and winners is available at the following link:
http://www.elynemitchell.com/page1.php
The competition is to be an annual event so you may consider entering in 2009!
New Zealand teachers visit Albury/Wodonga - October 2008
Prof Sue Dockett and the Murray School of Education hosted a visit of a group of teachers from Taumarunui, New Zealand. The teachers – who work in preschools and the early years of school – were interested in talking to Australian researchers and educators about strategies for promoting a positive transition to school for all children. Dr Sally Peters, from the University of Waikato, accompanied the group. They visited a number of schools and prior-to-school settings in Albury/Wodonga, spoke with early childhood educators in these settings, and presented an overview of their own practices to a Transition Forum held at Baranduda Primary School. 
The visit was supported by funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Education. It was part of a larger project based in Taumarunui township involving 5 primary schools 1 secondary school and 3 early childhood centres. The project involves collaboration among these educational settings and is focused on improving the experiences/achievement of Maori students and most specifically Maori boys in education institutions. One of the main areas being addressed is the transition from early childhood settings and home to school. Sue Dockett and Bob Perry, from the Murray School of Education, have been researching the transition to school for over a decade.
They have published widely in this area and their work is used to develop effective transition programs around the world. The opportunity to continue research links with the University of Waikato and to develop practical links as well, where practicing teachers link with each other in different contexts, are important elements of the visit. Lesley Murrihy (principal of one of the schools in Taumarunui) who has organised the visit has noted “Given the research about the value of removing yourself from your current environment and being a stranger in another context and then looking back and seeing things differently, the purpose of this trip is to assist the teachers to see different perspectives and then hopefully to rethink transition. I am hopeful that it will challenge some fundamental underpinning beliefs and enable them to continue to grow their thinking about teaching and learning and specifically about transition”.
ECA Conference 2008 - Canberra 3rd to 6th October
This was an international conference attended by some 1200 delegates with a good representation from Charles Sturt Uni Education Faculty. The campuses of Albury, Bathurst and Dubbo had representatives most of whom presented at concurrent workshops over the 4 days with very successful feedback from the participants.
The conference itself was held at the Canberra Convention Centre while some sessions were held at the Canberra Institute of Technology – just over a bridge from the Convention Centre. There was a welcome reception at Questacom on Friday night, a conference dinner at the Institute of Sport on Saturday night as well as tours available during the days to places of interest to early childhood professionals such as the art gallery, the museum, the botanic gardens, child care centres and preschools.
The keynote speakers came from America and New Zealand as well as Australia and Maxine McKew opened the conference with a talk about the new national framework for early childhood in Australia and the Federal Government’s commitment to early childhood in general.
All the delegates from CSU attended sessions, made new contacts and caught up with other early childhood professionals. Overall it was a successful conference and one that was well worth attending even though it was on the long weekend. Delegates did discuss that they felt that only early childhood people would attend a conference such as this on a long weekend so that they could ensure that they were still back at work for the children in their care on Tuesday.
Working Forum for Teacher Educators - NZ
The Working Forum for Teacher Educators was held in New Zealand from 30th April to 2nd May 2008.
Ms Wyverne Smith and Dr Louise Hard attended and presented a paper titled: "Developing Leadership Self Belief in EC Pre-Service Teachers: Challenges and Successes."
Abstract:
The concept of leadership is elusive and often subject to current social and contextual beliefs and values. Research in the field of early childhood education and care (ECEC) indicates specific contextual elements and understandings which influence how leadership is interpreted and enacted by those in the field (Hard, 2006). These can be complex in terms of professional identity and affronting when students identify inconsistencies in the rhetoric and reality of staff interactions.
This presentation focuses on the conceptualisation, implementation and evaluation of a third year leadership and management subject in a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) program. It highlights student desire for flexibility in teaching and the attempts by lecturers to achieve meaningful learning outcomes when faced with the challenges of building relationships through technology and presenting a “real life” leadership challenge. It also explores how current leadership discourses may serve to provide more meaningful leadership models for ECEC personnel than previous social constructions.
The presentation suggests students are able to learn about leadership through self-directed learning and achieve high level ability to articulate their understandings effectively to others. Students can engage with the complexity and challenges of leadership in the ECEC field and demonstrate their emerging ideas of themselves as leaders. The presentation will raise questions around how lecturers might effectively meet student desires for learning, prepare and implement teaching resources and “real life” experiences to assist students to see the relevance of such leadership and management learning to their future role as teachers.
Middle Years of Schooling: Reframing Adolescence
A new Australian text focusing on young people in the middle years of schooling. This book explores issues relating to adolescent personal development, such as health, identity, employment and technology while analysing the impact these have on curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
Contributing
authors from CSU education:
- Sally Knipe
- Kate Johnstone
- Erica Smith and Annette Green
- Andrea Reupert
- Gabrielle O'Flynn
- Will Letts (Bob Meyenn)
- Tracey Smith and Peter Grootenboer
- Bill Green, Bev pennell Noella Mackenzie
- Stephen Kemmis
Other CSU authors
- Darryl Mayberry
Other authors
- Robyn and Kelly Zevenbergen
- Lynette Riley-Mundine
- Susan Grounwater-Smith
- Lyn Harrison Derek Colquhoun
- Bill Maiden (collected the material for the case studies).
Forward by Professor Lorraine Ling, Dean of Education La Trobe University
4th yr BEd (Middle Schooling) Farewell
The 1st cohort of 4th yr BEd (Middle Schooling) presented their Course Co-ordinator - Dr Sally Knipe with a painting personally 'Handmade' by the students.