Conference Report

The purpose of this report is to share the experience, highlights and outcomes of ReimaginED22. It contains an overview of the sessions and an executive summary of the major themes that emerged from this year’s conference. A copy of the conference program, including the names of this year’s speakers, and a video reel of participant reflections is also available at the end of the report.

About the conference

ReimaginED enjoys a reputation as one of the most innovative education conferences in Australia. It brings together a creative community of teachers, school administrators, students, community leaders, parents, researchers, and business people with a shared goal of supporting the evolution of teaching, learning, and educational leadership. Unlike more traditional conferences, it is a highly participative event that creates space for dialogue and deep learning through the use of structured time for contemplation, collaboration, and co-creation. ReimaginED has become an important annual gathering for innovative thinkers and first movers looking to connect, be inspired, recharge, and find ways to collectively address the challenges that matter for the emerging futures of education.

Conference design

The work of the Woodleigh Institute is grounded in relational and systems perspectives of learning. We see the development of knowledge, skills, understanding, capabilities, and meaning as being interrelated and emergent from the relationships we have with ourselves, others, and the places in which we live. This stance informs our approach to hosting ReimaginED, with the design of the event drawing on theory, tools and practices from social field and compassionate systems research. Where farmers focus their attention on cultivating the quality of the soil in their fields, the conference invites participants to focus their attention on cultivating the quality of the social field - the quality of the relationships they have with each other and their collective ability to nurture new thinking and learning.

The ReimaginED22 learning arc offered a series of provocations, workshops, spotlight sessions, and performances that provided forums for sharing and collaborative inquiry into the conference themes. As the most important feature of ReimaginED is the community of innovative thinkers who attend, it incorporated regular, structured time to support reflection and dialogue, in order to nurture individual and collective learning. The provision of frequent opportunities for participants to engage with the natural environment was also integral to the design of the conference. The bushland setting offered expansive learning spaces that were welcoming, beautiful, and helped to promote connection, wandering, wondering, and wellbeing.

Opening Night

Acknowledgement of Country and Opening Provocation - Nia Charlesworth and Char Palmer

The conference started with a clear and deliberate focus on student voice, as a way of amplifying the views of young people and creating a shared reference point for reflection throughout the event. In leading the Acknowledgement of Country, Nia Charlesworth shared our respect for the Boonurong and Bunwurrong peoples, the traditional owners of the lands on which the conference was held. She also reflected on the pride she felt in her own identity and reminded us that every day we live, work, play, and learn on what is, was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands.

The Acknowledgement of Country was followed by an opening, student-led provocation. In this session, Char Palmer challenged participants to deeply listen and respond to the aspirations that young people have for their own education. Char talked about the importance of acknowledging student diversity and how such acceptance supports a sense of belonging for young people at school. The provocation also explored how real-world contexts can provide opportunities for students to find relevance, meaning, and purpose in their lives and learning. In closing, Char spoke of the role that schools should play in helping students develop life skills as a core focus, so as to support the growth of independent learners who can shape their own path and make a positive difference in the world.

FutureSchool - Valerie Hannon

Provocation by Valerie Hannon at ReimaginED22. Graphic recording by Jessamy Gee.

At the start of her provocation, Valerie Hannon invited participants to consider what the schools of the future will look like and the thinking that will inform their design. She examined the rapid change and disruption being faced by young people and the necessity of helping them to not just cope with, but shape the contours of the new world. Through reference to practical case studies drawn from her global research, Valerie showcased the transformational work that is already being led by educators in a range of countries. The provocation outlined some of the design principles that are guiding the work of these future-focused educators and offered a strategy for pursuing them in every school.

Not just another reform: Assessing the significance of new assessment and credentialing methods - Professor Sandra Milligan

In this provocation, Sandra Milligan explored the current innovations being undertaken by many schools across Australia to redesign learning and assessment to ensure that every young person is successful, and equipped for an uncertain world as a confident, lifelong learner. Drawing on the work of the Assessment Research Centre and its project partners around the country, Sandra explained how these schools are revising their learning ambitions and broadening their learning designs to match. A common focus for these schools is on helping students to develop transferable capacities that enable them to connect to communities, be confident communicators, use learning to realise personal purpose, and be active citizens who take responsibility for their own learning. Sandra finished her session by examining what makes these initiatives ‘breakthroughs’ that can potentially change the grammar of schooling, rather than just ‘improvements on current practice’.

Out of Africa - Valanga and Andy Khoza

In the final session of the first day of the conference, Valanga and Andrea Khoza took participants on a soulful journey of music and storytelling, sharing historical and cultural perspectives through their collective creativity. Their performance featured rich vocal harmonies, rhythmic guitar, traditional stick drums, and the lilting tones of kalimba in songs that ranged from township jive to haunting, traditionally inspired melodies. The inclusion of a performance format for presentations in this year’s conference created a space for participants to reflect on and explore its organising themes through the different voices and perspectives represented through the arts. All of the songs, composed by South African born Valanga Khoza, reminded us of our common need for human rights and our shared humanity.

Main Conference Day

What is Compassionate Systems (and why does it matter)? - Dr Peter Senge

In the opening provocation on the second day of the conference, Peter Senge shared insight into the array of complex, interconnected, systemic challenges currently facing the world in areas such as climate change, poverty, and inequality. With reference to current events and historical trends, he examined how these issues play out globally (conflict, global warming, migration) and locally (mental health, racial discrimination, homelessness), and invited participants to consider their impact on the emotional life and outlook of young people. Drawing on decades of experience in leading systems change, Peter explored the interdependent nature of the inner, social, and natural worlds in which we live and how our education systems might evolve to better meet the changing needs of young people. In particular, he asked participants to consider an essential question that has emerged in recent years for education, How do we build the capacity of young people to engage with complexity, embrace diversity, and develop a compassionate, collaborative stance for tackling real world challenges, while also developing the emotional stability to remain grounded?

During his provocation, Peter presented the use of the Compassionate Systems Framework as one promising approach to meeting this challenge. The framework has emerged from research and innovation in the fields of complexity science, systems thinking, brain science, and social-emotional learning, and is designed to help young people build the cognitive and affective foundations for personal wellbeing, positive relationships, and global citizenship. As part of his presentation, Peter presented one of the tools from the framework, the Mandala for Systems Change, as an organising structure for leading sustainable, long-term change in education. He concluded his presentation by asking participants to consider how they might integrate the Mandala’s domains of practice, research, capacity building, and community building in their everyday work and lives.

Workshops and Spotlight Sessions

ReimaginED22 offered a range of breakout formats that enabled attendees to engage, connect, and learn in a variety of ways. The Generative Workshops provided participants with the chance to collaboratively explore new concepts and emerging frameworks. The focus for these workshops ranged from the investigation of non-standardised assessment to an exploration of human-centred design, and the prototyping of an indigenous, youth-led education research model. Other workshop topics included service learning, student agency, sustainability, entrepreneurial education, social-emotional learning, leadership, creativity, and citizenship. While some workshops explored the possibilities for the application of highly refined frameworks, other sessions provided opportunities to contribute to the development of new models and methods.

The Spotlight Sessions at ReimaginED showcased leading edge innovation from teachers, researchers, schools and organisations. This format supported the presentation of practical case studies that ranged from the development of a new school focused on co-design and personalisation to the work of a global movement centred on teacher agency, and the multi-year study of a system reform project grounded in systems thinking and awareness-based change methodology. Other case studies explored at the conference included a service learning program aimed at tackling human trafficking, the work of a school dedicated to addressing the needs of marginalised students, and an interdisciplinary program focused on student agency and the transformation of local energy systems. A highlight for many participants was the chance to tour the Brian Henderson Wildlife Reserve at Woodleigh School - a unique learning precinct that supports immersive learning and sustainability education.

A feature of the breakout sessions at the conference was the participation by a range of stakeholders, including educators, researchers, students, parents, architects, community leaders, businesspeople, and healthcare professionals. This diversity brought multiple perspectives to the ideas and concepts being discussed, helping participants to develop holistic and systemic understandings of the topics and issues under investigation. In these sessions, young people provided a powerful voice, being actively involved in unpacking and contributing ideas, while providing insight into the experience of the most important stakeholders in our education system - the students themselves. Many participants commented that the chance to engage in this type of multi-stakeholder dialogue helped to generate new ways of thinking and the integration of learning across sectors.

The human face of systems change - Jan Owen AM and Hayley McQuire

In the final provocation of the conference, Jan Owen and Hayley McQuire asked participants to consider how we might best respond to the challenge of ensuring that all young people complete their formal school education with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and dispositions that they require to successfully navigate the transition from school to the world of work or further education. Through reference to the wide range of reviews and reports produced in recent years, they argued that the fundamental issue now facing education in Australia is no longer whether systems change is needed to address critical challenges related to equity, diversity, and the recognition of learning, but rather how to implement an effective and sustainable approach to re-regulation and reform.

A highlight of the provocation was the presentation of a theory of change developed by Learning Create Australia to guide intervention and support change across all levels of the education system. A feature of the model is its dual focus on building human connection and strong relationships between stakeholders, alongside the application of technical tools and practices. The session concluded with Jan and Hayley inviting participants to consider the important role that all stakeholders play in the education system and the ways that collective action can help drive transformational change.

Sunday Masterclass

Compassionate Systems - Dave Secomb, Jodie Kirchner, and Dr Richard Owens

This year ReimaginED featured a post-conference masterclass focused on the exploration of Boell and Senge’s Compassionate Systems Framework. The framework draws on research and theories from the fields of social emotional learning and complexity science, and is designed to help all learners develop the cognitive and effective foundations required for personal success, positive relationships, and global citizenship. The masterclass provided opportunities for participants to discover and engage with the application of a range of tools and practices from the framework. It also offered participants the chance to reflect on the learning that was emerging for them from the conference and frame up a plan for the application of these new ideas and ways of thinking in their practice and setting.

Executive Summary

The provocations and breakout sessions at ReimaginED22 were designed to nurture generative dialogue about innovative practice, programs and projects, as part of a wider discussion about how best to advance transformational change in education. While the ensuing discourse was diverse and wide-ranging, a summary of major themes that emerged from the conference is included below, along with a video reel of participant reflections.

Education for a changing world

ReimaginED22 provided insight into the ways that teachers and school leaders are adapting their practice to better equip young people with the knowledge, skills, capabilities, and mindsets required to flourish in a world filled with complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. The breakout sessions were filled with practical examples of how educators are using approaches like service learning, citizenship education, social-emotional learning, and sustainability education to address this goal. In turn, the provocations presented a range of emerging frameworks created to support this shift in learning design and help young people build the personal, social, and cognitive foundations required for personal success, ethical leadership, social entrepreneurship and global citizenship. Critically, the conference also showcased how this development is being supported by a clear research agenda, as illustrated in the New Metrics Project’s focus on complex competencies, and multi-stakeholder movements advocating for systems change, as evidenced through Learning Creates Australia’s work on the re-regulation and reform of senior secondary education in Australia.

Evidence-informed approaches to innovation

The use of evidence-informed approaches to the development of innovative practice was a common feature of the breakout sessions at the conference. While polarising discourse in the media often dismisses innovative methods, programs, and projects as being fanciful or fadish, these sessions presented innovation as emergent from approaches to practice that integrate research evidence with teacher expertise and a deep consideration of both the learning context and student experience. Significantly, the breakout sessions also illustrated how this approach could be used to identify where the established evidence base falls short and further work is required, as evident in Hayley McQuire’s work on a youth-led research model designed to help young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people frame a research agenda that reflects Indigenous knowledge, experience and priorities. In this way, the conference helped to promote a shared understanding of innovation as a process where educators blend research knowledge from different sources to support application based on individual, school and community context, as part of a rigorous cycle that includes critical reflection and evaluation.

Education for systemic wellbeing

A clear imperative that emerged from ReimaginED was the importance of finding ways to promote the wellbeing of teachers and students in the current climate. A number of conference sessions focused on the importance of adopting systemic approaches to student wellbeing through curriculum integration and holistic practice, in place of a traditional reliance on stand-alone programs or reactive responses to health issues. There was also a shared recognition that student wellbeing cannot be separated from staff wellbeing and the healthy functioning of a school and its community. In this context, the development of social-emotional competencies such as self-regulation, social awareness, and relationships skills were seen as being important for teachers, students, and families. Again, it was interesting to note that the further development of this focus in schools was being supported by multi-stakeholder movements advocating for systems change, as evidenced through the Centre for Systems Awareness’ work on nurturing systemic wellbeing in different education settings around the world. Interestingly, a number of participants commented that the relational focus of the conference itself worked to create a space that supported renewal, connection, compassion, and a generative focus on the future.

Teacher and student agency

A number of sessions at the conference focused on the importance of creating spaces where students, teachers, and school leaders are able to exercise and develop agency. In this context, agency was presented as the ability of learners to frame a guiding purpose and take meaningful action in pursuit of their related goals. Whether the context was students involved in service learning, teacher-led reform, or principals engaged in contemplative practice, the importance of creating a safe, authentic space for these stakeholders to exercise agency was understood as being important for their personal learning, as well as their responsiveness to, and impact on the communities in which they live. A number of speakers at the conference extended this idea through their presentation of approaches to enabling agency that not only focused on individuals, but also the wider networks of relationships that influence their learning, with an interest in the growth of mutually supportive relationships for personal and community development.

The education system is a living system

Where some discourse about educational reform approaches the education system as if it were a machine consisting of standardised, interchangeable parts, with narrow predictable outcomes, a number of speakers at ReimaginED invited participants to consider it as a living system, made up of diverse human beings and their ongoing, unpredictable interactions. While acknowledging the vital role played by governments, institutions, policy, rules, and regulations, these sessions challenged participants to think of education as a broader ecosystem that is characterised by the interdependent nature of the relationships between its parts, an ability to nurture diversity, and a capacity for self-organisation, adaptation, and evolution. For example, a systemic perspective was present in a range of sessions that focused on the development of innovative practice, programs, and projects through the use of multi-stakeholder engagement and human-centred design. Similarly, the themes of self-organisation and adaptation were evident in the pattern of case studies that had evolved from the dynamic, non-linear collaboration of diverse stakeholders, rather than the centralised planning of governing institutions. In turn, this line of thinking about living systems generated some interesting discussion of the possible implications for school and system leadership in relation to the wider adoption of agile and inclusive methods for stakeholder participation and engagement, information gathering, sense making, and decision making.

Acknowledgements

We would like to offer our sincere gratitude to the speakers who provided this year’s provocations: Char Palmer, Valerie Hannon, Professor Sandra Milligan, Dr Peter Senge, Jan Owen AO and Hayley McQuire. We would also like to acknowledge the wonderful facilitators and presenters who led the breakout sessions: Tara Merks, Hayley McQuire, Cameron Paterson, Liz Jackson, John Proeve, Mignon Weckert, Stephen Jude, Andrew Jericho, Nat McLennan, Louka Parry, Esther Hill, Celia Mara, Chris Burton, Alan Wharton, Nick Donaldson, Adriano Di Prato, Dr Phil Cummins, Dr Jodie Long, Ian Tymms, Professor Peter Twining, Jeff Mann, Dr Hugh Chilton, Dr Sonia Randhawa, Andy Khoza, Hamish Curry, Mark Drummond, Dr Gary Simpson, Kim Shore, Ember Chittenden, and Nat Zengin.

Our special appreciation is also extended to Nia Charlesworth, for her Acknowledgement of Country, Valanga and Andy Khoza, for their moving performance, Jessamy Gee, for her amazing graphic recording, and Chris Harte, for again helping to MC this year’s conference. Finally, a big thank-you to the participants for their involvement and engagement, as the ultimate purpose for ReimaginED is to create a space for deep learning and collaboration focused on how we can better serve the needs and aspirations of our young people.