Margot Foster

Margot Foster – Department of Education and Child Development

Margot Foster has worked in the South Australian public education sector for 30 years – in the early, primary and middle years in complex schools as classroom teacher, science coordinator and school leader, and then in a range of leadership positions at district and state level such as School Development Officer, District Coordinator and Regional Equity Manager.  She is sought after as a speaker and currently works regularly with school and preschool leaders across SA engaging them in professional learning regarding educational leadership, pedagogy and learning.

Between 1999 and 2009 Margot worked within the Curriculum Services Office to design and lead the statewide Learning to Learn Initiative.  This program gained an international reputation as a leading edge innovation focussed on 21C teaching and learning. It was the forerunner to similar initiatives overseas and led to the declaration of the SA position on teaching and learning – the SA Teaching for Effective Learning Pedagogy Framework  released in 2010. Margot is currently the Director Pedagogy and Leadership in the Department of Education and Child Development (DECD).
Margot is passionately committed to redesigning schooling through a focus on learning.

Wendy Engliss

Wendy Engliss has been a teacher and a principal in a variety of SA schools. She has co-led the development of the SA Curriculum, Standards and Accountability Framework, with a focus on the Essential Learnings, and its implementation. More recently Wendy has been the Director of the future SACE Office which was responsible for the initial development of the new SACE and its implementation, until 2010 when she became the Senior Manager, (Australian Curriculum) Implementation Coordination at the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting  Authority, based in Sydney. Having recently moved back to Adelaide, Wendy is now working with the Department of Education and Child Development as Director of New Media, Policy and Coordination in the Teaching and Learning Services section of the department.

Ruth Motley

Ruth Motley is currently Program Manager, New Media and Communication Technologies within DECD. Previously, Ruth managed a number of statewide special education services, one of which was the implementation of ‘best practice’ in the provision of assistive technologies for students with disabilities. As an educator, Ruth has worked predominantly in schools which have a high proportion of low SES students and in the department and with universities on a number of projects researching the digital/literacy practices in schools.

Abstract:
Bringing 21C pedagogy to life

Presented by Margot Foster Director Pedagogy and Leadership from DECD Teaching and Learning Services;  Wendy Engliss Director New Media, Policy and Communications;  Ruth Motley, Program Manager New Media and Communication Technologies.

Imagine a young child at play – what do we see?  What are the natural ways they engage as learners? What do we see them doing, verbalising, attending to?

Learning is the natural human condition, a lifelong process and disposition to make sense and meaning of our experience, our encounters in our world.   Digital technologies can provide tools that extend  the natural pedagogies of play, story, dialogue for sense making.

This session will explore the relationship between 21C pedagogy as articulated in the SA Teaching for Effective Learning Framework (TfEL); the Australian Curriculum; and digital technologies.

The TfEL was developed by SA teachers and international educational academics.  It is a compass to guide our thinking and actions when designing learning experiences for students.  During this session we will share the emerging insights from the SA National Partnerships Pedagogy Research and discuss the role digital technology can play with reference to some national and DECD initiatives.