Over 170 values educators attended the 2006 National Values Education Forum 'Values Education in Practice: Building Capacity in Australian Schools' at the National Museum in Canberra on the 4 and 5 May 2006. State and Territory, Catholic and Independent school representatives, teachers, principals, professors of education, parents, students and an international guest speaker came together to discuss how to build capacity in values education in our schools.

 

After a welcome to country by Louise Brown, a Ngunnawal Elder and the challenge of selecting five defining moments in Australia’s history from David Arnold, Manager of the Schools Programmes at the National Museum, the forum was officially opened by the Hon Pat Farmer MP, former Parliamentary Secretary to the then Minister for Education, Science and Training.

 

Keynote speakers were Professor Terence Lovat, who spoke on recent research that seems to illustrate the clear link to be found between teacher quality and the values-laden nature of the teaching environment, and Neil Hawkes, an educational consultant from the UK, spoke on the values-based school being the hope for the future.

 

Dr Declan O’Connell from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations gave an overview of the values education program and David Brown, of Curriculum Corporation presented the latest values education resources, the Values for Australian Schooling Kit.

 

All of the Values Education Good Practice Schools clusters were represented at the forum and many held workshops focused on the achievements of their values education projects.

 

Student and teacher panel discussions, roundtable discussions, reports from state and territory contact officers and a final panel of values experts, together with the previously mentioned activities, all contributed to the success of the forum.

 

A full report of the 2006 National Values Education Forum is available for downloading below.

 

To listen to audio files of keynote and other speakers go to Principal Australia's Principals and Values Education Strategy website. Select Values Online and then Internet Event 2: Quality Teaching and Learning - the Heart of Values Education.