What’s new - February 2006
Welcome to the new school year and to the first ‘What’s new’ of the Values Education website for 2006.
2006 Values Education National Forum
The 2006 Values Education National Forum will be held at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra on 4 and 5 May 2006. The Australian Curriculum Studies Association is organising the forum on behalf the Department of Education, Science and Training and application forms are available from their website at http://www.acsainc.com.au/. This Forum is 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 that are being developed for values education in Australia.
Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 2
The Values Education Good Practice Schools Project - Stage 2 will be implemented from July 2006 until June 2008. It is hoped that the application process for this project will commence in May 2006. Details about the application process will be available on the values education website. Schools may like to give consideration now to forming a cluster to apply for a grant for the implementation of a good practice project in values education. In line with the development of new curriculum and professional resources it is anticipated that at least some of these projects will focus on the integration of values education in teaching programmes across the key learning areas and the exploration of values education in intercultural and global contexts. Stage 2 will include a balance of schools at the initiating, developing and consolidation stages of values education implementation.
Values Education School Forums
Schools are reminded that they can apply for funding for the conduct of a values education school forum through their relevant education authorities. A list of the contact officers for each State and Territory is currently being updated for 2006 and is available on the values education website.
The Values for Australian Schooling Kit to be sent to all Australian schools shortly will include a resource to assist schools in the conduct of their forum and help schools engage their school communities.
Values for Australian Schooling Kit
As part of the national Values Education programme, an initiative funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training, Curriculum Corporation has developed the first of the values education resources to be distributed to every school in Australia.
The Values for Australian Schooling Kit is an integrated package of professional learning resources. Each school will receive a kit containing:
- a copy of the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools;
- Values Education Professional Learning Resources - Primary OR Values Education Professional Learning Resources - Secondary;
- The Values Education Poster Set - three posters which will be appropriate for workshops, display in school staffrooms and school community meeting rooms;
- a DVD for use in professional learning activities. The DVD will include teacher notes.
- Values Education Forums- Engaging your school community - to support the conduct of a school forum with the whole school community.
Extracts and samples of activities from Values Education Forums- Engaging your school community are now available on the website.
Values Education Curriculum and Professional Learning Resources 2006-2008
The Department of Education, Science and Training has contracted Curriculum Corporation to produce values education curriculum and professional learning resources in three stages from 2006 to 2008. Throughout all stages of the project, extensive research and rigorous consultation processes will be undertaken to inform the direction and development of the resources.
During Stage 1 (2005-2006) curriculum and professional learning resources will be developed to support the integration of values education:
- across all Key Learning Areas (KLAs) in the school curriculum; and
- into school mission/ethos, organisation and policies
The focus of the Stage 2 (2006-2007) resources will be support schools in integrating values with student behaviour and social skills, including:
- the application of values in real life situations, including the dilemmas faced by students
- the exploration of world views and beliefs behind values
- demonstration of the links between values education and the development of student responsibility in local, national and global contexts
- building student resilience
Stage 3 (2007-2008) curriculum and professional learning resources will support schools in exploring values in intercultural and global contexts.
The Values Education website will also continue to be updated and expanded throughout the three stages.
Events
9 February 2006, National Stakeholders Meeting for the Values Education programme, in Canberra, ACT
15 February 2006, UNESCO Asia Pacific Network for International Education and Values Education (APNIEVE) workshop, ‘Sustainability and Values:Making it Happen’, Education Development Centre, Milner Street, Hindmarsh, SA
21 March 2006, Harmony Day 2006, http://www.harmony.gov.au/
3-4 April 2006, Final Briefing Session: Values Education Good Practice Schools
19-21st April 2006, 2006 Dialogue Australasia Network conference, ‘Beyond the Curriculum: Developing the Whole Person’ at Kings College in Auckland, New Zealand http://www.danconference06.org/
4-5 May 2006, 2006 Values Education National Forum: ‘Values Education in Practice: Building Capacity in Australian Schools’, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, ACT http://www.acsainc.com.au/
30 June 2006, 2006 South Australian Values Education Conference, http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/valueseducation/
See individual States and Territories links below for workshops and seminars within your state or territory.
States and territories
The State and Territory Values Education Contact Officers are busy organising a number of events for 2006. Reports on school forums indicate that there are many different approaches to conducting forums and that they are also proving a rich vein of inspiration for all involved. There are some new Contact Officers in States and Territories.
In the ACT Mr Paul van Campenhout is the new Contact Officer.
From Queensland read the report on Rochedale State School’s Values Forum in a School forum snapshot.
In New South Wales the new contacts are Mr Stuart Hearne, Ms Jo McLean and Ms Annette Crothers.
The Northern Territory has a new Contact Officer, Ms Georgie Nutton
In South Australia a new values education website has been launched to help you keep in touch with both national and state-based activities. The Values Education South Australian Conference will be on the 30 June 2006. A series of twilight seminars are being planned for 2006, starting from 14 March. Brief reports on three different school forums (Hewett Primary School, Jamestown Community School and St Jakobi School, Lyndoch) show that engaging the school community has many positive results. There is also a School forum snapshot which is more extensive report on the school forum at Tarpeena Primary School. Ms Mary Hudson is the SA Contact Officer for the conduct of school forums.
In Tasmania a practical series of one-day workshops for teachers and leaders planning their school forums or working on integrating values into the curriculum are starting from the 3 March. The Northern Midlands Cluster has been first out of the blocks in running their Values Education school forums.
In Victoria the Association of Independent Schools in Victoria (AISV) is presenting a Values for Australian Schooling Project Seminar on Tuesday, 28 February 2006. Gary Shaw, Values Education Contact Officer, reflects on the development of a booklet, Values at Lalor East Primary School which played a key role in that school’s forums. There is also a School forum snapshot on a student-run forum at Point Lonsdale Primary School.
Good Practice Schools
The second National Briefing Session for the Values Education Good Practice Project Schools (VEGPS) - Stage 1 was held on October 27 and 28 in Kingscliff, NSW. Participants included: representatives from each of the 26 clusters, seven State and Territory Values Education Contact Officers, Professor Judith Chapman from the Australian Catholic University, Professor Terence Lovat for the University of Newcastle, the DEST Values Education Project Coordinator, and the Curriculum Corporation Values Education Good Practice Schools Project Team.
Resources
School forum resources
Every school in Australia will receive the Values for Australian Schooling Kit which will provide print, DVD and poster resources for values education professional learning and for conducting school values education forums.
Schools preparing to conduct their own school forums will find the following extracts and sample activities to support school forum activity, from the Values Education Forums – Engaging your school community resource in the kit, useful in planning and running forums and engaging the school community. There is information and activities on:
- applying for funding;
- forming a working group;
- getting to know your school context;
- deciding on goals and outcomes for your forum;
- practical considerations for the working group;
- developing specific activities for your forum.
Another useful resource is Discovering Democratic Values: Teaching and learning civic values, a professional development DVD that allows teachers and schools to examine a variety of perspectives in civic values education. It provides models and ideas as a stimulus for schools to reflect on their own practices and consider opportunities for implementing values education relevant to their own school communities.
To obtain a free copy of the DVD on a first come first served basis, schools can contact their State or Territory Values Education Contact Officer or email Curriculum Corporation.
Links
New links in the Values Education pages include values education partnership projects websites and a new website to promote understanding of the nine values through activities based on texts.