2007 National Values Education Forum

A full report of the 2007 National Values Education Forum is available for downloading below.

The 2007 National Values Education Forum (Values Education in Practice: Making Connections) was held on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 May 2007 at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, Melbourne, Victoria. The Australian Curriculum Studies Association (ACSA) ran the forum in conjunction with the Victorian Department of Education, on behalf of the Department of Education, Science and Training.

More than 350 delegates attended the forum. The forum was designed to strengthen the development of values education in Australian schools, provide exemplars of good practice in values education in Australian schools and highlight the resources being developed for values education in Australia.

After an introduction and welcome by facilitator Tony MacKay the forum was officially opened by Senator Mitch Fifield, Senator for Victoria.

Keynote speakers for the two days were Neil Hawkes, an educational consultant from the UK, who spoke on ‘Values Education: Inspiring adults and students worldwide’, and Professor Andy Furco, Director, International Center for Research on Civic Engagement and  Service-Learning, Graduate School of Education, University of California-Berkeley, who spoke on ‘Unpacking the nature of values education in primary school settings’.

Ms Alison Sewell from the Department of Education, Science and Training gave an overview of the values education program and Barbara Bereznicki, of Curriculum Corporation presented an overview of the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 1 and the findings of the Final Report.

Representatives of the Values Education Good Practice Schools – Stage 2 clusters were at the forum and many held workshops focused on the achievements of their values education projects.

Workshops, panel sessions, a school forum showcase and a final panel of values experts, together with the above activities, all contributed to the success of the forum.

The PowerPoint® presentation of the keynote address delivered by Professor Andy Furco can be accessed below. There are also two reports – one for each day of the forum – which have been written by student attendees.