Conversing about research: The Pymble Conference
The third Pymble Research Conference was held on 26 July 2022 with Pymble staff, parents, guests from other schools and universities and pre-service teacher education students in attendance. The theme of this year’s conference, after two years of COVID-19 induced interruption, was ‘conversation’ which the online Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as an ‘oral exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions or ideas’. Words are certainly important in research – be they written or spoken – but catching up with old friends, making new connections and being in the same room to share sentiments and ideas was a delight.
We joined to listen to and learn from eleven presenters, plus keynote speaker and Pymble Ladies’ College Board Member, Dr Kate Highfield. Kate presented Five big ideas from under 5s: Early Childhood Education – why do we all need to know about this? and opened our eyes to strategies inherent in early childhood education which translate so powerfully to education generally. These ideas are: child-led learning and inquiry learning, sustained shared thinking, documentation, whole family collaboration and relationships and strong theoretical underpinning.
Kate Highfield is Deputy Head of School, ACT and Regional NSW, in the School of Education at the Australian Catholic University and she has contributed to the development of future educators primarily in the early childhood and primary sectors, but also across several higher education institutions. She is the General Manager of Professional Research and Translation at Early Childhood Australia. Kate has a passion for early numeracy and mathematical development through fostering creative and critical thinking. The audience loved Kate’s depth of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm, and were thankful for the conversation she sparked.
Other speakers are listed below and can be contacted through the Pymble Institute if readers are interested in finding out more about their work:
- Victoria Adamovich, Pymble Ladies’ College, Wellbeing of EALD students: A look at family dynamics
- Cristi Wilsmore, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Teaching and learning experiences in ability-grouped mathematics primary classrooms
- Mariel Lombard, Pymble Ladies’ College, The PhD Journey
- Karen Ahearn and Lexi Ibbotson, Pymble Ladies’ College, Exploring the benefits of play in a transition to school context
- Liam Hume and Deb Owens, Pymble Ladies’ College, The impact of research on teacher practice in Elective Geography
- Rev Punam Bent, Pymble Ladies’ College, Deities of our time: Social media influencing and impact on senior high school girls
- Ryan Stewart, Pymble Ladies’ College, First Nations representation in twentieth century local histories: From Gilgandra to Pymble
- Kate Brown, Pymble Ladies’ College, The kindness revolution: Enabling children to flourish as learners and leaders
- Natasha Stanfield, Pymble Ladies’ College, Ethics committees: Training students to take an active role
Save the date for the 2023 Conference: Tuesday 25 July 2023.
