Conference Theme

aWAy with Words: exploring the ambiguities in literacy and English education

In the beginning was the Word...
                              John 1:1

Polonious: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words!
                              Hamlet II (ii)

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less...'
`...That's a great deal to make one word mean,' Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
`When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, `I always pay it extra.'
                              Through the Looking Glass Ch 6

The 2010 conference theme is – aWAy with Words: exploring the ambiguities in literacy and English education. Words are the fundamental unit of meaning in our language, our curriculum and our classrooms. Whether you have a way with words, want to do away with words or are carried away by words, this conference invites you to play them and explore the aesthetics, the ambiguities and the inadequacies of the basic currency in our meaning making systems.

This conference provides the opportunity for us to come together to share ideas and practices that will ensure all our students become more adept at understanding and using words. In the year before the English National Curriculum is implemented, the conference will afford us some time and space to share our understandings of what is meant by words such as ‘language’,  ‘literature’  and ‘literacy.’ It is an opportunity to discuss what actions we should take to become better teachers of literacy and English.

The conference is focussed on the actions needed to achieve our goals. As teachers this requires us to:

• develop students as powerfully literate citizens who can effectively participate, pursue their aspirations and achieve their goals in the twenty-first century
• empower students to use their capacities as literate learners to take individual and collective action to meet local, national and global challenges
• help students to understand themselves and their world through engagement with a range of cultures and the ways these cultures represent human experience
• build students’ respect for the enduring values and traditions of Australia’s diverse cultural heritage, including those of its first peoples
• develop students’ understanding of the potential of the imagination and literary expression to provide pleasure and enrich their lives.

As professionals, this requires us to:

• use research and evidence to inform practice and improve the learning of students
• engage in ongoing professional learning, especially through active participation in a range of professional communities
• provide enlightened, effective political and educational leadership
• build shared understanding and common ground through dialogue and productive partnerships among stakeholders
• Connect with and support groups in the community who feel disconnected, disaffected and disempowered
• promote innovation and foster diverse forms of participation in education.

Conference organisers thank Tourism Western Australia for supplying the various images of Perth and WA displayed on this website.  On this page (left to right):  Fremantle Markets, Bell Tower, Kakulus Brothers Store Northbridge, Cottesloe Beach.