2nd - 4th October 2008
- Crowne Plaza, Surfers Paradise, Queensland
The conference title ‘Surfing outside the flags:
catching waves, avoiding rips’ was deliberately
chosen to be provocative, to start you thinking
about what the phrase could mean. As we shall be
meeting on the Gold Coast it seemed appropriate to
select a surfing theme. For potential overseas
participants it is important to note that for safety
reasons you should swim between the flags. However,
board surfing takes place outside the red & gold
flags. Surfing is all about catching the perfect
wave and avoiding dangerous currents or rips. So,
one aspect of the conference is to pick up ideas
that bring exhilaration or joy into literacy
learning.
Of course ‘surfing’ in common usage also refers to
‘surfing the net’ so we look forward to hearing
about interesting and innovative ways of engaging
learners in and via new technologies, as well as
current research around multiliteracies. We urge you
to consider multimedia presentations.
Surfing outside the flags is also used as a
metaphor for raising issues and provoking debate —
which is what a good conference should do. From a
literacy perspective we want you to be thinking
outside the box or the square. We invite you to
inform us about new research findings or techniques,
demonstrate cutting-edge technology, or present
innovative teaching/learning ideas. However, we also
need to be aware of policy implications as well as a
number of research or implementation pitfalls.
Adult literacy and numeracy learning continues to be
influenced by a range of internal and external
debates and intersecting forces that are shaping its
future. These include the results of the
international Adult Literacy & Lifeskills Survey
(ALLS), government responses to the skills shortage
and interventions in Indigenous communities. Other
influences include the blurring of sectoral
boundaries, the influence of learning technologies
and calls for new pedagogies for learning across the
lifespan. This conference seeks to critically engage
researchers, educators and policy-makers in
informing this future.
The following themes have emerged as critical issues
from discussions during 2007, at the ACAL conference
in New Zealand, in the lead up to the federal
election and the release of the ALLS data. Each
theme might be addressed from the perspectives of
adult literacy or numeracy research, theory, policy,
or practice.
Papers are being sought that address issues within
each of the themes:
• Indigenous literacy & numeracy: what
factors allow for or inhibit successful adult
literacy/numeracy learning throughout learners’
lives? Whose literacy and for what purposes? How do
we engage in culturally inclusive practices?
• Vocational & workplace literacy & numeracy:
what are the literacy & numeracy issues facing young
people in the transitions between different learning
contexts eg: school to work, school to employment or
training? What pedagogies work to re-engage
disaffected learners? What factors allow for or
inhibit successful adult literacy/numeracy learning
in the workplace? What are the implications for the
assumptions underpinning increasingly textualised
workplaces?
• Meeting the literacy & numeracy needs of
African refugees: what socio-cultural, economic
or other factors allow for or inhibit successful
adult literacy/numeracy learning? What pedagogies
allow for or inhibit successful adult literacy/numeracy
learning?
• Numeracy: what can we learn from the ALLS
numeracy data? How can we use these data to inform
practice? How can we move learners from a focus on
functional skills to better understand mathematical
concepts?
• Community literacy: Literacy and social
capital. How can we engage learners with reading,
writing, numeracy or new technologies? What works in
assessment? How to choose appropriate resources. How
best to meet the needs of reluctant learners?
Planning a lesson or unit of work.
Guidelines
Guide for presentations:
Keynote addresses should be 40-45 minutes.
Seminars should be of 35 minutes’ duration with five
minutes for questions.
Workshop presentations should be of one and a
quarter hours’ duration.
Publication of conference proceedings:
It is planned to publish all abstracts accepted
prior to the conference on the conference website.
Selected papers may be published on the website or
in Literacy Link (ACAL newsletter) or Write On (QCAL
newsletter), or submitted to the international
journal Literacy & Numeracy Studies.
Refereeing:
All abstracts will be reviewed. |
