Well Being Sessions include – Aromatherapy, Jewellery, Edible centre pieces, Scrap booking, Massage, Art Tarot card reading, Aqua aerobics, Gym/personal trainer

Abstracts and Bios

Mary Amohanga

Who You Are Matches What You Do

Our teaching styles and our relationships with students and colleagues spring from our inborn tendencies to use our minds in different ways. Whether we are introverted or extroverted, thinking or feeling, sensate or intuitive, decisive or open-ended in our planning, affects our ability to relate with other people with differing learning styles. A self-discovery session using Jungian typology.

Maria Delaney

Building Motivation for Feminist Action in Your School

“Teachers may resist a socially critical view and explanations about how behaviour and performance is related to the construction of gender, by refusing to acknowledge the problem, or by supporting explanations that do not challenge their own agency and responsibility” (Framework for Gender Equity 1997 p.7).

Teachers' interpretive frameworks have a critical influence on gender equity reform. Feminist researchers have promoted a consciousness-raising approach that echoes the old, but still relevant adage, “the personal is political”. A key recommendation from the literature review is for initial research about personal and professional experiences as a major part of needs analysis for schools undertaking action in gender equity. It is highly motivating for teachers to share stories and reflect on their personal and professional experiences of gender injustice in an open and non-judgemental way. This approach develops an “ethic of caring” and allows us special insight into how our gendered identities and behaviours are socially constructed. It also helps generate dialogue, heighten awareness of gender inequity, evolve our interpretive frameworks, and strengthen commitment towards further investigation and action.

This workshop will enable participants to share their stories and ideas. It will be guided by a loose framework of questions that will be available at registration to permit time for reflection.

With the permission of conference organisers, it is proposed that these stories be recorded as part of a Masters in Ed. Studies project. Anonymity is assured if preferred.

How to make the Federal Government's “Success for Boys” program a success for girls too.

Antifeminist and essentialist interpretations of gender issues in popular media and literature have had a strong influence upon some peak government and education organizations, as well as within school communities.

The Federal Government's Success for Boys Program has meant funding for many schools to do professional development with their staff around issues for boys in education. These issues, however, have been quite narrowly defined with scant or oblique reference to the social construction of masculinity and power and it's impacts on the lives and experiences of boys and girls, and of major concern is the virtual silence about the construction and impact of hegemonic masculinity.

This roundtable discussion will look at the Success for Boys program materials and how they might be broadened out and developed to address these and other issues in the context of gender equity for all students.

Maria has been teaching in primary schools for 10 years with long breaks for further study, travel and family, Maria has completed a degree majoring in Women's Studies and the Study of Religion, souvenired a charming Israeli, worked in Ed. Qld's Gender Equity Unit, birthed three children, and is currently labouring over a Masters degree and aspirations to revive a career focused on gender equity in education.

Karen Dempster

Messages Women send – the good the bad and the inaccurate

Educators encourage diverse ways of seeking development to ensure that young women reach their potential in employed roles, social service, or their own businesses. As a result, slowly, women in leadership and entrepreneurial businesses are gaining media acknowledgement and monetary rewards that are more equitable with their efforts. However, many still cite concerns in their working lives and note unique difficulties are experienced in obtaining commonly accepted support, such as finance, to develop enterprises or get their propositions accepted in the boardroom. One issue impinging on their achievement of goals is sometimes their own communication style. This paper will identify and address issues in male/female communication differences and how women may sometimes give subtle messages through inappropriate use of language and deeply embedded paradigms. We look at reframing communication habits and concepts of assertion in terms of personal power and how educators might embed these changes into their own actions, thus modeling a communication style that is gender neutral.

Karen has over 24 years in management and leads entrepreneurial businesses, actively creating behavioural change. Commencing in Recruitment and Human Resources with Corporate, Retail and Industrial experience, Karen moved to Internal and External Fraud Control, Program privatization and people development. She is passionate about assisting women develop their leadership skills.

Dr Lisa C. Ehrich

Mentoring for Educators: Some Issues for Women

In recent times, there has been a proliferation of writing about mentoring. It has been described as a career tool, a human resource management strategy, a workplace learning activity for novices and leaders, and an affirmative action strategy for women and members of minority groups across a variety of organisational settings such as hospitals, large corporations, schools, universities and government departments. This paper is an introduction to what is meant by mentoring, identifies two main types of mentoring, and explores the positive and negative outcomes of mentoring for the stakeholders concerned. It examines a number of critical issues identified in the literature that have the potential to influence successful mentoring dyads. Three of these issues that have important implications for women include the locus of power that underpins the mentoring relationship, cross gender issues impacting upon the mentor and mentee, and ethical practice.

Senior Lecturer
School of Learning and Professional Studies
Queensland University of Technology

Dr Carole Ford

‘Boys are doctors, girls are nurses'

The intersection of socialisation, curriculum and education practice: implications for gendered occupational selection

Despite three decades of equity policy in education a range of factors continue to contribute to differential outcomes for girls and women in the labour market. Research into concepts of work and gender stereotypes in early childhood may provide an understanding of the social and educational contexts that perpetuate the gender-segregated workplace. This project aims to demonstrate how the intersection of socialisation, curriculum and education practice impacts on career aspirations and the implications this has for pre-vocational teacher education, classroom practices, career counselling and the SOSE curriculum.

‘If she was a boy, she could do an apprenticeship'

Career development in post-compulsory education: a practitioner's paper

It is almost 100 years since the Harvester Judgement in 1907 established the social, cultural and political context which has constrained women's equitable participation in paid employment. The relative occupational advance by some women is invoked as proof that equity for women in the workplace has virtually been achieved, with glass ceilings and ‘boys' clubs' relegated to historical curiosities. In the post-compulsory sector, the statistical evidence challenges these normative assumptions and while the dialogue does continue, it is increasingly fragmented and marginalised. And who is listening anyway!

Jan Foster

Critical illness, families and coping: How do we do it?

What happens when families in their prime are confronted with a critical illness in the family? Should they keep working or stop work to care for their loved one? What about care of the children? It seems that there are a huge range of assumptions about our ability to incorporate the latest crisis into their lives without missing a beat. Keep working, keep up with the housework, make sure the kids are still at school and well fed………. Ensuring the partner, sibling or parent gets to those medical appointments, that they are visited in hospital, and that their household continues to run smoothly as well. All in a week's work………….. This paper will explore research into some peoples experiences of suddenly taking on the care of an ill loved one while making sure everything else around them keeps running like clockwork.

Jan Foster's experiences as a social worker for over 20 years has brought her into contact with many families. Her PhD research centred on family experiences of a rare cancer, and it is on this research that her paper is based. A local academic, Jan has published various journal articles and teaches in the human services to a predominately female student base.

Alex Haynes

Getting Real: Young Women and Girls, Working Futures , VET and VET in Schools

Within the framework of Lifelong Learning Security4Women has completed research projects with five distinct groups of women. The research addressed the vocational training needs of young women and girls, indigenous women in Central Australia , Women in poverty, women retraining to return to work and women in small/micro business. This paper will provide an overview of these 5 projects but focus on the detail provided in the Getting Real report focused on young women and girls - the segmentation of women and girls’ fields of study and workplace participation remains a concern due to the resulting pay differential that is well documented. While girls’ participation in VET in Schools is high they are concentrated in course areas such as child studies, beauty and hairdressing, hospitality and business administration areas.

Alex trained and worked as an architect before venturing into the areas of organizational development, business management and communication. She has a keen interest in the development of women in both the corporate and community sector. Alex is the Coordinator of Security4Women (S4W), one of four national women’s secretariats funded by the Australian Government Office for Women. S4W investigates the lifelong economic well being of Australian women to identify emerging issues, build knowledge through consultation, influence policy and legislation and address issues that impact women’s well being.

Dr Eileen Honan

Discourse of deficit surrounding the use of new technologies

In the 1980s Shirley Brice Heath's landmark work, Ways with Words drew our attention to the deficit discourses operating in schools around the literacy practices of students from marginal backgrounds. In 2006, a review of literature surrounding debates about the ‘digital divide' and the uses of new technologies in homes and in schools, revealed many of these same discourses of deficit used to marginalise and exclude the use of new technologies by students from low socio economic backgrounds. The societal attitudes reflected in these discourses impact on the life choices and opportunities for lifelong learning of girls and young women from low socio economic backgrounds. This paper analyses the assumptions underlying these discourses of deficit and applies some of the lessons literacy educators have learned about methods of disruption.

Eileen Honan is Senior Lecturer in English and Literacy Education at The University of Queensland. Her research interests include working with teachers to develop their understanding of theoretical issues related to their literacy teaching practices, and making connections between students' use of digital texts at home and at school

Cate MacMillan

Is Education a Career for Women?

Mrs Cate MacMillan is Principal of Noosa District High School . Cate guides a school community which values excellence and endeavour – a community which is prepared to meet the challenges of a rapid change and social engagement . Cate will challenge us to consider our roles as educators and ask the question: “Is Education a career for women?”.

As well as considering this issue Cate will also challenge us to reflect on a number of confronting issues: the need for drive and passion in our careers, the decisive power of committed teams who share a common vision, the need to take risks to ensure that the rewards are plenty and worth the gamble – both personal and professional. Cate will also ask us to consider the role that other professionals have in our success as educator, making us question how we value excellence in others.

Cate will share her journey as an Educator with us and through it will show us ‘if you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right .'

Dr Jennifer Nayler

Put AWE into your pedagogy! Practical ideas and possibilities for inclusive teaching strategies

In this workshop participants will be invited to consider current practices and future possibilities that promote the learning of the diverse students with whom we all work. Specifically, the workshop will draw on the Productive Pedagogies (Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study, 2001), with a focus on those pedagogies that promote critical social change. Such change is defined here as that change which improves learning outcomes and life changes for often marginalised groups, as well as the creation of circumstances that lead to societal betterment generally.

Most importantly, in this workshop we will learn together, have fun ( aka engage in laughter) and enhance networks for future support and learning.

Jennifer Nayler is on leave from her position as Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast . She works actively with schools to explore ways in which student learning outcomes can be enhanced. Her professional interests include: renewal of pedagogies, outcomes-focused curriculum, whole-school reform and social justice in education generally.

Kylie Readman

Assessment - no laughing matter!

What are the issues surrounding assessment when we look at it through the lens of gender? This workshop will explore ways that girls and boys experience and process assessment tasks and procedures and how that knowledge might influence assessment design. It challenges educators to ensure that their students are part of the classroom dialogue about assessment and that students' voices are represented when decisions are made about assessment, recording and reporting. Notions of assessment literacy for teachers, especially as it relates to gendered experiences of assessment will be discussed in terms of a critique of current practices. Although assessment is no laughing matter, this workshop will encourage educators to think about ways that it can be a useful and enjoyable part of the learning process. Participants are encouraged to share their own experiences of assessment in an informal workshop setting.

Kylie currently lectures in middle phase pedagogies and assessment in Education Programs at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where she also manages the Graduate Diploma Programs. She is an experienced educator at primary, secondary and tertiary levels and she is committed to development of innovative and democratic learning and teaching practices. Her current research interests include assessment in schools and higher education settings, the application of technologies in a range of educational settings and curriculum design for collaborative learning.

Professor Karen Starr

The Leadership 'Crisis' in Education: Why women are not seizing this opportunity

Australia is one of many countries experiencing what has been termed a leadership ‘crisis' in education. There are too few applicants for principal positions and fewer experienced principals applying for further principalships. This appears to be a perfect opportunity for women to gain greater representation at the principal level, however, schools are not receiving greater numbers of women applicants for leadership vacancies. This paper explores why principal positions appear to be less attractive as a career promotion than they once were. It talks about government moves to address this ‘crisis' and offers advice to women who are considering future promotions to the principalship.

The things I wish I had known before embarking on the principalship

This paper is a personal reflection on 15 years in the principalship in three very diverse and different schools. This soliloquy is set in the context of current debates about the introduction of compulsory leadership programs for principals. As yet principals are not trained for their jobs in Australia : there are no compulsory courses, qualifications or licensure programs required of principals. Principals learn on the job, which is proving to be a ‘hit and miss' situation. This paper explores current proposals for leadership training for school principals and juxtaposes this against personal reflections after 15 years in the job in three diverse schools. The paper discusses the personal, the private, the corporeal and the emotional aspects of the position, as well as covering the more usual domains of educational leadership, to come to terms with what principals really need to know before taking on the role.

Colleen Steiler

Girls and ICT

In 2006, AWE received funding from the Australian Government's Office for Women for a national Girls and ICT project. Work on the project began in March this year and will continue until March 2007. Come along and find out more about this exciting project. Also in this session, you will find out about other Girls and ICT initiatives in Queensland and receive some background information about ICT careers.

Gaye Vale

Choice and flexibility – sounds good - but for whom?

The federal government's aggressive marketing of their radical industrial relations agenda using the mantra of “choice” and “flexibility” is a blatant sales pitch to women workers struggling to balance work and family priorities. However, the reality of the new industrial laws presents a very different picture and leads us to analyse who will hold the power in determining “choice” and “flexibility” and who will benefit from this new workplace regime. In a world where family responsibilities are still predominately met by women, the diminution of gains made is likely. In terms of work and family balance, what is on offer in the new federal industrial relations legislation? What does the New Zealand experience tell us about the impact of such laws on women workers? What can we do to protect the industrial rights of women and continue to progress work and family balance as a legitimate industrial goal?