Meet some of our Invited Speakers

Learning Specialist in Student Agency at the University High School. After winning a Fellowship to study at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2016 to research how to empower young new citizens, he is now completing a Doctorate of Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education concentrating on the relationship between civics and citizenship education and student agency. Adam is part of the Executive of Social Education Victoria, where his focus is building teacher capacity and communities relating to student agency and civics and citizenship education.

A Professor of Character and Citizenship Education and Deputy Director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham. His research focuses on the relationship between character and citizenship education, particularly the nature of civic virtues. He has led teacher preparation programmes for civic and citizenship education in England and Australia, and is an adjunct professor of education at the University of South Australia. His books include Global Citizenship Education in Australian Schools (Palgrave) and Civics and Citizenship Education in Australia (Bloomsbury; co-edited with Libby Tudball).

A degree in Science Communication from the Australian National University and subsequently spent over a decade developing exhibitions and learning programs for Questacon, the Global Action Plan and the BBC.   After developing a climate change exhibition for the London Science Museum, and being inspired to do more, Anita moved to Switzerland to work on climate change communication at the United Nations. There she spent another decade working on climate change at the World Health Organization, the World Metrological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program. In 2017 the cultural sector beckoned once more and Anita moved back to Canberra to Questacon to manage its Learning Experiences program. Anita’s current role is at the National Film and Sound Archive where she works as the Senior Manager of Exhibitions, Programming and Education.  Anita has a particular interest in creating cross-disciplinary, innovative and imaginative experiences that don’t just inform or educate visitors, but create emotional responses that challenge people to question their world and positively impact them and their surroundings. 

University Research Chair in Democracy and Education at the University of Ottawa and an education columnist for CBC Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Author, speaker, and education advocate, he also co-directs (with John Rogers, UCLA) The Inequality Project, investigating what North American schools are teaching about economic inequality. 

Westheimer grew up in New York City where he was a middle school teacher in the New York City Public Schools before obtaining his Ph.D. from Stanford University. His books include the critically acclaimed What Kind of Citizen: Educating Our Children for the Common Good, Pledging Allegiance: The Politics of Patriotism in America's Schools (foreword by Howard Zinn) and Among Schoolteachers: Community, Autonomy and Ideology in Teachers’ Work.

In addition to researching the role of schools in democratic societies, Westheimer studies, writes,and speaks widely on global school reform, the standards and accountability onslaught, and the politics of education and education research.

He has two children and divides his time between New York City and Ottawa, Canada where, in Winter, he ice-skates to and from work.Find out more at joelwestheimer.org and follow him on Twitter: @joelwestheimer.

Katrina has been Director & CEO of ACMI since 2015. She has a particular interest in supporting cross-disciplinary practice and an extensive background as a commissioner, creative producer and festival director. Her previous roles include Head of Arts for the national broadcaster ABC TV as well as founding Director/CEO of Adelaide Film Festival. The Festival’s $1 million AUD AFF Investment Fund was recognised with a week-long celebration at MoMA in 2011. She is on a number of arts and advisory boards, and in 2020 was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to performing arts, screen industries and visual arts administration.

Department of Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education. Educational and Developmental Psychologist; Senior Lecturer. Belonging is strongly associated with depression in adolescence yet one in three young people do not feel like they belong to school. This startling and troubling fact explains why belonging research is Dr Kelly-Ann Allen’s core interest. Dr Allen, PhD FAPS, is an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, and an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne. She is also the co-director and founder of the Global Belonging Collaborative which represents a consortium of belonging researchers and advocates from around the world. Dr Allen is the Editor-in-Chief of the Educational and Developmental Psychologist and both the current and founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Belonging and Human Connection. Dr Allen’s work is characterised by accessible applications of her research into everyday practice, especially as it relates to the core beneficiaries of the work. As such, her publication record demonstrates the translation of her expertise and research within educational contexts.  The quality of her research has been acknowledged through the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence by an Early Career Researcher (2019) and the Advancing Women's Success Award (2020). Dr Allen’s professional standing is verified through her esteemed grade of Fellow for both the Australian Psychological Society and the College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists. 

Executive Officer of Social Education Victoria. After working as an humanities and Media teacher and Learning Specialist in student agency for a many years, Laura shifted her focus to teacher development and professional learning. For a time she coordinated the national schools program for Oxfam Australia. Laura teaches as part of the M-Teach at the University of Melbourne. She is interested in student agency, literacy and active citizenship.

Professor Lucas Walsh is director of the Monash Centre for Youth Policy & Education Practice and an investigator with Mark Rickinson on The Q Project (Quality Use of Evidence Driving Quality Education) funded by The Paul Ramsay Foundation. His research focuses on the political, economic, cultural, social and technological dimensions of young people's participation - in particular their transitions to post-school life and the implications of these for educators, other service providers and policy makers. 

Twitter: #ProfLucasWalsh