ACSSO PROJECTS
(click on a heading to jump to that project)
Parents Make the World of Difference
Literacy poster and leaflet: Designed to highlight the importance of literacy and the vital role parents can play in helping their children develop high standards of literacy, starting from very early days onwards . This material was produced collaboratively by ACSSO and APC with assistance from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations ... read more
National Education Conference
With funding support from the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations, ACSSO is committed to the progressive expansion of the scope of its National Education Conference as a highly significant event on the annual calendar of those committed to advancing the cause of public education around the globe.
This annual forum engages all stakeholders in wide-ranging discussion and analysis of the current, emerging and likely future issues of education in strategically useful ways that can assist in advancing the national agenda - via a frame of reference informed by the perpectives and expectations of the parents and families in school communities in all parts of Australia.
The 2008 National Conference will be held in Brisbane 20-21 October 2008.
The 2009 National Conference will be held in Hobart in early October 2009
Further details here.
Languages Education
In 2006-2007 ACSSO in conjunction with APC undertook a national survey of attitudes to languages education in Australian Schools, with a particular focus on the attitudes, needs and expectations of parents and students. The final report of the results, findings and recommendations was published in July 2007.
Further funding support from the Australian Government has enabled ACSSO and APC to continue their action research work in this field and to address some of the matters raised by those responding to the survey, in the following ways:
- Launch and ongoing development of a national website on languages education to help meet the information needs of parents, families and school communities. read more
- Launch and ongoing development of a national E-newsletter "Languages Education in Australia" to keep school communities informed of current developments in languages education in Australia and overseas. read more
- Launch of an Australian national website for the International Year of Languages 2008, working in association with UNESCO as the international co-ordinating agency for the International Year. read more
Values Education
Since 2005, with funding support from the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations, ACSSO has been progressively developing and broadening the scope of a national project to promote informed discussion about the central role of shared community values as an essential structural element of young people’s learning and personal development.
Each of our National Conferences includes a strong values in education theme, developed through interactive workshops, discussion groups and case studies; and each year our work in this field is informed by holding focus group discussions with groups of parents or young people in a variety of locations and settings around the country.
We seek to respond to the expressed information needs of parents, families and school communities in the following ways in particular:
- Launch and ongoing development of a national website on the role of values in education. This includes an expanding range of real-life examples from schools of the ways in which values are demonstrated and reinforced in action in their communities; together with a wide variety of background information, reading and research; links to other relevant sites or resources; and an extensive ongoing series of opinion pieces where guest columnists discuss current issues from a values-based perspectives in lively and sometimes controversial ways that promote reflection and discussion. read more
- An associated monthly E-Newsletter "Values Education" which presents an array of articles on current issues that raise values issues or promote discussion or learning processes in schools from a values perspective. read more
National Family-School & Community Partnerships Bureau
Research around the world shows that where parents and families are engaged in their children’s education and work in complementary ways with their school and community, young people’s capacity to achieve their learning potential is significantly enhanced - and so is their general health, well-being, positive outlook and sense of purpose in life. Such partnerships build social capital and actively promote social inclusion.
Over the past decade, ACSSO and APC have worked collaboratively and in partnership with the Australian Government and the Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations to progress a range of action research projects and pilot programs which not only underline the benefits for families, schools and communities of developing sustainable partnerships, but also provide an informed understanding of how to go about establishing and sustaining such positive partnerships in practice.
In February 2008, Hon Julia Gillard MP, Minister for Education, Employment, Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion announced that the Australian Government would commission ACSSO and APC to establish and operate a National Family-School & Community Partnerships Bureau - initially for a period of four years - working with school communities across the country to assist them in establishing closer relations and achieving the proven benefits of working in partnership. read more
Humane Education: A key component of a Values Education framework in action
Humane education has been identified by values education specialist Professor Terry Lovat and other leading educators as a vital element of an effective Values Education framework in action. Their research further demonstrates the positive impact which values education has on other aspects of young people’s effective learning, well-being and positive personal development.
ACSSO represents both national parent organisations as an active member of the national Education & Training Working Group whose purpose - in respect of implementation of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy (AAWS) adopted by Cabinet – is to develop a framework of best-practice learning, teaching and information products to assist schools build humane education elements into their overall values education learning activities and curriculum.
This work is jointly auspiced by the Department of Education, Employment & Industrial Relations (DEEWR) and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF).
ACSSO works collabratively with a range of other key stakeholders in the field of humane education as an integral element of our work on promoting Values Education in schools and their communities in all parts of the country. Some of those stakeholders include the following, whose work includes development of research-based and reviewed information and learning materials:
Music Education in Australian Schools
Both ACSSO and APC were actively involved in the 2004-2005 National Review of Music Education in Australian Schools, and in the 2006 National Workshop that was convened to assign strategic priorities for action to the findings and recommendations presented in the Review Report.
ACSSO continues that active engagement as the joint representative of both the national parent bodies on the Music Education Advisory Group, and its Committee for the Promotion of Music Education in School Communities.
In progressing that involvement, ACSSO and APC work collaboratively with a range of other key stakeholders with a complementary focus on improving the condition of music in Australian schools and increasing the opportunities for every child to participate in a variety of music making activities. Project activities undertaken by ACSSO to support the forward directions set by the review include:
- Launch and ongoing development of a national website on the vital importance of music education from the perspective of students, families and school communities. read more
- An associated monthly E-newsletter "ENSEMBLE" which presents articles on music programs, resources, events, opportunities and research in Australia and overseas. read more
