Invited Presenters
AATE/ALEA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2024
Your next chapter awaits with possibility, aplenty
Scott Hicks
Director / Producer / Writer
An Emmy, Peabody and multiple AFI (AACTA) award-winning filmmaker, Scott Hicks has also been nominated for two Academy Awards as Director and Writer, and British Academy Awards for Directing and Best Film. His Academy Award-winning box-office sensation ‘Shine’ was nominated for a total of 7 Academy Awards, 5 Golden Globes and 9 BAFTAS. It won 9 AFI (AACTA) awards including Best Film, and the Best Actor Oscar.
A succession of Hollywood studio films followed: ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’ (with Ethan Hawke and Max von Sydow) ‘Hearts in Atlantis’ (with Anthony Hopkins),‘No Reservations’ (with Catherine Zeta-Jones), and ‘The Lucky One’ (with Zac Efron). Integral to all of this work has been the five-decade collaboration with his wife, producer Kerry Heysen.
Scott’s documentary series and specials for Discovery Channel set new ratings records for the channel, and won him an Emmy and a Peabody. He directed ‘Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts’ on his friend composer Philip Glass, which he also filmed and produced. The film was shortlisted for Academy Award nomination, and won the Best Documentary AFI (AACTA) Award and an Emmy nomination. Another music documentary of his, ‘Highly Strung’, opened the Adelaide Film Festival in 2015.
His film ‘The Boys Are Back’, starring Clive Owen, was shot in the South Australian wine regions of the Fleurieu Peninsula. An independent US film ‘Fallen’ (based on the best-selling novel) was shot in Hungary.
Other aspects of Scott’s work include extensive success in the world of American television commercials for major clients such as Google, Mercedes, Hyatt, AT&T, General Motors. One ‘spot’ was inducted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Scott has also directed a number of rock clips, some of which were influential in breaking Australian band INXS into the US market in the 1980’s.
Scott was honoured as South Australian of the Year in 1999 and then as Australian of the Year for South Australia in 2008.
Together with his close friend David Chiem, CEO of global company MindChamps, Scott has formed MAY30 Entertainment, a joint-venture company to develop and produce quality films and other theatrical entertainments. He recently completed two new documentary features in the music genre which has been such a major thread through his work : ‘The Musical Mind – a portrait in process’ and an orchestral rock concert film ‘My Name’s Ben Folds, I Play Piano’. Both featured in the Adelaide Film Festival 2023.
An energetic supporter of the arts, he is Patron of the Helpmann Academy Foundation, and an occasional public speaker. He is also an accomplished photographer with five solo exhibitions to his credit. Kerry and Scott run their Adelaide Hills vineyard Yacca Paddock together, and enjoy collaborating on numerous projects with their two sons Scott and Jett.
Alice Pung OAM
Author, Corporate, Curriculum Specialist, Inspirational Speaker, Online - Virtual Visits, Personal Development, Social Commentator, Speaking Out
She is the bestselling author of the memoirs Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter, the novels Laurinda and One Hundred Days, the essay collection Close to Home, as well as the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her books have been published internationally, including in the US, UK, Italy, Germany and Indonesia.
Her Father's Daughter won the Western Australia Premiers' Award. Laurinda won the Ethel Turner Prize at the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Her second novel One Hundred Days, was shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Award, and has been optioned by Michelle Law for development as a film. She is also the author of children’s books including Be Careful, Xiao Xin!, When Grandma Came to Stay and the Meet Marly books.
Alice has taught and mentored students in Australia and around the world, and given guest lectures at Brown University, Vassar College, the University of Milan and Peking University.
She delivered the 2022 State of the Writing Nation Address, and in the same year was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to literature.
A qualified lawyer, Alice still works part-time in the area of minimum wages and pay equity.
Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Alford
Associate Professor and DECRA Fellow, Griffith Institute of Education Research, and School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
Assoc Prof Jennifer Alford is an ARC Fellow in the Griffith Institute of Education Research. Her current DECRA grant project explores how migrant and refugee-background youth engage with critical literacies in and out of school. Her research work explores teacher knowledge and practice in classrooms with English as an Additional Language learners, using qualitative, ethnographic approaches and discourse analysis. She also conducts policy and curriculum analysis. Her book - "Critical literacy with adolescent English language learners: global policy and practice" - published in 2021 by Routledge, examines critical literacy with EAL/D learners and includes a chapter on international curriculum (Australia, England, Sweden, USA and Canada) and how it constructs critical literacy.
Before coming to Griffith in 2022, she was an Assoc Professor researching, lecturing and coordinating programs and courses at QUT for 22 years. Prior to that, she was an English and EAL/D teacher in Brisbane high schools, and an AMEP teacher, for over 10 years. An overview of her DECRA project can be accessed here: https://teal-swan-r63j.squarespace.com
Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Alford
Associate Professor and DECRA Fellow, Griffith Institute of Education Research, and School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
Assoc Prof Jennifer Alford is an ARC Fellow in the Griffith Institute of Education Research. Her current DECRA grant project explores how migrant and refugee-background youth engage with critical literacies in and out of school. Her research work explores teacher knowledge and practice in classrooms with English as an Additional Language learners, using qualitative, ethnographic approaches and discourse analysis. She also conducts policy and curriculum analysis. Her book - "Critical literacy with adolescent English language learners: global policy and practice" - published in 2021 by Routledge, examines critical literacy with EAL/D learners and includes a chapter on international curriculum (Australia, England, Sweden, USA and Canada) and how it constructs critical literacy.
Before coming to Griffith in 2022, she was an Assoc Professor researching, lecturing and coordinating programs and courses at QUT for 22 years. Prior to that, she was an English and EAL/D teacher in Brisbane high schools, and an AMEP teacher, for over 10 years. An overview of her DECRA project can be accessed here: https://teal-swan-r63j.squarespace.com
Prof. Kathy Mills
Professor of Literacies and Digital Cultures
Kathy A. Mills is a Professor of Literacies and Digital Cultures at the Institute for Learning Science and Teacher Education (ILSTE), ACU, Brisbane. Her leading research examines gaps in current knowledge and educational uses of digital media and literacy practices, extending theories of multimodality, multiliteracies, New Literacy Studies, sensory studies, embodiment, and critical literacy. Mills has published over 100 academic works, including award-winning books.
She has published in high quality journals including Review of Educational Research, Learning, Media and Technology, The Sociological Review, Journal of Second Language Writing, and Teaching and Teacher Education. Her sole-authored 2016 monograph, Literacy Theories for the Digital Age, won the Literacy Research Association's 2016 Edward Fry Book Award, USA. Her lead edited Handbook of Writing, Literacies, and Education in Digital Cultures won the 2017 Divergent Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies, USA.
Professor Mills serves on the Editorial Review Board of Qualitative Research (UK), Journal of Literacy Research (Arizona), Written Communication (USA), Language Education (UK), English Teaching Practice and Critique (NZ), and the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. She has contributed to public debate on literacy through national radio, TV, news media and social media, and assesses research grants in Australia and internationally.
Assoc. Prof. Laura Scholes
Associate Professor, ACU & Principal Research Fellow, Australian Research Council Educational Semiotics in English and Literacy Pedagogy
Laura Scholes is an Associate Professor of gender and reading in the digital age at the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, ACU, Brisbane. Her research contributes to gaps in knowledge about literacy with a focus on reader identities, notions of masculinity that impact on volitional reading, critical approaches to decoding texts in the digital age, and fostering student reading proficiencies in diverse contexts. Drawing on mixed method approaches to answer critical questions in education she draws on theories of New Literacy Studies, social justice frameworks, place-based theory, and theories of epistemic cognition.
Associate Professor Scholes has contributed to over 80 scholarly works, including four books. Her sole-authored 2018 monograph Boys, masculinities and reading: Gender identity and literacy as social practice, was published by Routledge. She has published 52 high quality articles in journals including Learning, Media and Technology, Teaching and Teacher Education, Cambridge Journal of Education, British Educational Research Journal, Research in Reading Research, British Journal of Sociology of Education, and Critical Studies in Education.
She has conducted large scale mixed method research to investigate how to improve reading experiences for diverse learners. As part of this work, she has led ARC, Catholic Education and Education Horizon grants and regularly translates her research findings through practitioner outlets, national news broadcasts, media and invited presentations for practitioners and policy makers.
Assoc. Prof. Laura Scholes
Associate Professor, ACU & Principal Research Fellow, Australian Research Council Educational Semiotics in English and Literacy Pedagogy
Laura Scholes is an Associate Professor of gender and reading in the digital age at the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, ACU, Brisbane. Her research contributes to gaps in knowledge about literacy with a focus on reader identities, notions of masculinity that impact on volitional reading, critical approaches to decoding texts in the digital age, and fostering student reading proficiencies in diverse contexts. Drawing on mixed method approaches to answer critical questions in education she draws on theories of New Literacy Studies, social justice frameworks, place-based theory, and theories of epistemic cognition.
Associate Professor Scholes has contributed to over 80 scholarly works, including four books. Her sole-authored 2018 monograph Boys, masculinities and reading: Gender identity and literacy as social practice, was published by Routledge. She has published 52 high quality articles in journals including Learning, Media and Technology, Teaching and Teacher Education, Cambridge Journal of Education, British Educational Research Journal, Research in Reading Research, British Journal of Sociology of Education, and Critical Studies in Education.
She has conducted large scale mixed method research to investigate how to improve reading experiences for diverse learners. As part of this work, she has led ARC, Catholic Education and Education Horizon grants and regularly translates her research findings through practitioner outlets, national news broadcasts, media and invited presentations for practitioners and policy makers.
Assoc. Prof. Laura Scholes
Associate Professor, ACU & Principal Research Fellow, Australian Research Council Educational Semiotics in English and Literacy Pedagogy
Laura Scholes is an Associate Professor of gender and reading in the digital age at the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, ACU, Brisbane. Her research contributes to gaps in knowledge about literacy with a focus on reader identities, notions of masculinity that impact on volitional reading, critical approaches to decoding texts in the digital age, and fostering student reading proficiencies in diverse contexts. Drawing on mixed method approaches to answer critical questions in education she draws on theories of New Literacy Studies, social justice frameworks, place-based theory, and theories of epistemic cognition.
Associate Professor Scholes has contributed to over 80 scholarly works, including four books. Her sole-authored 2018 monograph Boys, masculinities and reading: Gender identity and literacy as social practice, was published by Routledge. She has published 52 high quality articles in journals including Learning, Media and Technology, Teaching and Teacher Education, Cambridge Journal of Education, British Educational Research Journal, Research in Reading Research, British Journal of Sociology of Education, and Critical Studies in Education.
She has conducted large scale mixed method research to investigate how to improve reading experiences for diverse learners. As part of this work, she has led ARC, Catholic Education and Education Horizon grants and regularly translates her research findings through practitioner outlets, national news broadcasts, media and invited presentations for practitioners and policy makers.
Prof. Teresa Cremin
Professor of Education (Literacy), Co-director of the Literacy & Justice Centre
Professor Teresa Cremin is a Professor of Education (Literacy) and Co-Director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre at The Open University in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies. Professor Cremin is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences,(AcSS) the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA) and the English Association (EA). Additionally, she is a Trustee of the UK Literacy Association (UKLA), a Board member of the Reading Agency, a DfE expert on reading for pleasure, a member of the ESRC Peer Review College, and chair of the Advisory Group for the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Teacher Development Fund for the Arts.
Professor Cremin’s research focuses on teachers' literate identities and practices, pedagogies for promoting voluntary reading and writing, and creative teaching and learning from early years to higher education. In her research, she examines the aesthetic and artistic aspects of language and literacy learning, as well as the role of creativity in language education. She explores children's imaginative development, the importance of children's voice in writing, and the impact of teachers' literate identities on their teaching practices. She also studies the use of children's literature and the concept of "Reading Teachers" – teachers who both read and teach.
Working closely with teachers, Professor Cremin collaborates as a co-participant researcher. Together, they study children's literacy experiences in and out of the classroom and document their own experiences as literacy educators and creative professionals.
Prof. Larissa McLean Davies
Deputy Dean, Professor of Teacher Education
Larissa McLean Davies is Deputy Dean and Professor of Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. A leading Australian academic, her research spans the fields of teacher education and professional learning, literacy and English education and literary studies. Her scholarship is concerned with issues of justice, anti-colonial and feminist practices and sustainability as this is manifest in teacher knowledge and curriculum enactment. Larissa leads large teams that work closely with State and Territory Education Departments on these issues, to improve educational experiences for diverse learners. Larissa’s long commitment to Australian writers and writing in education has resulted in invitations to speak at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, a partnership with the Stella Prize and the opportunity to Chair the Australian Literary Studies Gold Medal in 2023.
Prof. Larissa McLean Davies
Deputy Dean, Professor of Teacher Education
Larissa McLean Davies is Deputy Dean and Professor of Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. A leading Australian academic, her research spans the fields of teacher education and professional learning, literacy and English education and literary studies. Her scholarship is concerned with issues of justice, anti-colonial and feminist practices and sustainability as this is manifest in teacher knowledge and curriculum enactment. Larissa leads large teams that work closely with State and Territory Education Departments on these issues, to improve educational experiences for diverse learners. Larissa’s long commitment to Australian writers and writing in education has resulted in invitations to speak at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, a partnership with the Stella Prize and the opportunity to Chair the Australian Literary Studies Gold Medal in 2023.
Prof. Larissa McLean Davies
Deputy Dean, Professor of Teacher Education
Larissa McLean Davies is Deputy Dean and Professor of Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. A leading Australian academic, her research spans the fields of teacher education and professional learning, literacy and English education and literary studies. Her scholarship is concerned with issues of justice, anti-colonial and feminist practices and sustainability as this is manifest in teacher knowledge and curriculum enactment. Larissa leads large teams that work closely with State and Territory Education Departments on these issues, to improve educational experiences for diverse learners. Larissa’s long commitment to Australian writers and writing in education has resulted in invitations to speak at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, a partnership with the Stella Prize and the opportunity to Chair the Australian Literary Studies Gold Medal in 2023.
Prof. Cynthia Brock
Professor & Wyoming Excellence Endowed Chair in Literacy Education
Cynthia Brock is a professor at the University of Wyoming where she holds the Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Elementary Literacy Education. Dr. Brock’s scholarly research agenda centers on the study of opportunities-for-learning literacy. She explores the literacy learning opportunities of elementary children from diverse cultural, linguistic and economic backgrounds, and she studies ways to work with pre- and in-service teachers to foster the literacy learning opportunities of children from non-dominant backgrounds. She has conducted qualitative research in cross-cultural contexts including the United States, Australia, England, Fiji, Thailand, Laos, Spain, Chile and Costa Rica. She has published her work in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Teaching and Teacher Education, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Curriculum Inquiry, Urban Education, The Elementary School Journal, and Pedagogies: An International Journal. She has also published her work in numerous books and handbooks.
Dr David Caldwell
Senior
Lecturer in English Language and Literacy
David Caldwell is Senior Lecturer in English Language and Literacy at the University of South Australia. As an applied linguist, David’s research aims to disrupt prescriptive discourses of language to facilitate social inclusion, and at the same time, demonstrate the value in understanding how language works to solve real-world problems. He has applied Systemic Functional Linguistics to a range of contexts including post-match interviews with AFL footballers, medical consultations with hospital patients, hip hop music, words on printed t-shirts, and the on-field language practices of both amateur and professional athletes, including elite Aboriginal teenage boys playing Australian Rules football for the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy.
David is currently the co-series editor for the Bloomsbury series: Studies in Systemic Functional Linguistics and a co-convenor of the international AILA Research Network: Applied Linguistics in Sport. David has extensive experience training English language teachers for primary, secondary and tertiary level education in Australia and overseas. And he currently provides professional learning in Systemic Functional Linguistics to teachers throughout South Australia.
Dr David Caldwell
Senior
Lecturer in English Language and Literacy
David Caldwell is Senior Lecturer in English Language and Literacy at the University of South Australia. As an applied linguist, David’s research aims to disrupt prescriptive discourses of language to facilitate social inclusion, and at the same time, demonstrate the value in understanding how language works to solve real-world problems. He has applied Systemic Functional Linguistics to a range of contexts including post-match interviews with AFL footballers, medical consultations with hospital patients, hip hop music, words on printed t-shirts, and the on-field language practices of both amateur and professional athletes, including elite Aboriginal teenage boys playing Australian Rules football for the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy.
David is currently the co-series editor for the Bloomsbury series: Studies in Systemic Functional Linguistics and a co-convenor of the international AILA Research Network: Applied Linguistics in Sport. David has extensive experience training English language teachers for primary, secondary and tertiary level education in Australia and overseas. And he currently provides professional learning in Systemic Functional Linguistics to teachers throughout South Australia.
Dr David Caldwell
Senior
Lecturer in English Language and Literacy
David Caldwell is Senior Lecturer in English Language and Literacy at the University of South Australia. As an applied linguist, David’s research aims to disrupt prescriptive discourses of language to facilitate social inclusion, and at the same time, demonstrate the value in understanding how language works to solve real-world problems. He has applied Systemic Functional Linguistics to a range of contexts including post-match interviews with AFL footballers, medical consultations with hospital patients, hip hop music, words on printed t-shirts, and the on-field language practices of both amateur and professional athletes, including elite Aboriginal teenage boys playing Australian Rules football for the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy.
David is currently the co-series editor for the Bloomsbury series: Studies in Systemic Functional Linguistics and a co-convenor of the international AILA Research Network: Applied Linguistics in Sport. David has extensive experience training English language teachers for primary, secondary and tertiary level education in Australia and overseas. And he currently provides professional learning in Systemic Functional Linguistics to teachers throughout South Australia.
Assoc. Prof. Lucinda McKnight
Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow
Lucinda McKnight is studying generative AI and writing as an Australian Research Council DECRA fellow in the Research for Educational Impact (REDI) centre at Deakin University, Melbourne. She is a former secondary English teacher, educational software producer and museum educator.
As a global thought leader in generative AI and writing education, she is 1) researching creative, ethical and evidence-informed writing pedagogies; 2) challenging constraints of formulaic neoliberal education and 3) designing inclusive, feminist and posthuman curriculum that dissolves human/machine binaries. Her work spans conceptual research into the future of writing education and dialogic empirical research with English teachers.
Her research, media profile and extensive work in teacher education have transformed writing education, shifted public perceptions of national writing tests and made learning to write more meaningful and authentic for students nationally and internationally. As an educational futurist, she anticipated the rise of posthumanism and the advent of generative AI, preparing researchers, teachers and institutions for this key development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Prof. Beryl Exley
Professor English Curriculum & Literacies Education, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
Professor Beryl Exley began teaching 36 years ago and now holds a Professorial position in teacher education with the School of Education and Professional Studies (EPS), Griffith University, and with the Griffith Institute of Educational Research (GIER). She has published over 150 sole- and co-authored research publications and industry manuscripts, including co-authoring the very successful ALEA publications "Playing with Grammar in the Early Years" (2013) and "Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years" (2015). She has co-edited collections on literacy teaching and learning and pedagogic rights for Routledge (2016, 2024) and Oxford University Press (2020). Beryl has been awarded over $1.89 million in research funding from high esteem competitive grants including the Australian Research Council Discovery scheme and Linkage scheme. Beryl has delivered teacher professional learning in every state of Australia, focusing on child-centred pedagogies that value children's families and communities whilst also delivering high quality learning outcomes. In 2008, she was recognised as a “National Literacy and Numeracy Week Champion” by the Commonwealth Government. She has supervised 17 higher degree research candidates to completion. Beryl served on the executive of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) from 2005-2019, with 8 years as State Director, 4 years as National Publications Director, and 2 years as the National President. Beryl was the Australian Representative on the International Development in Oceania Committee from 2005 to 2017, with 3 years as International Chair. In 2019, she was awarded ALEA Life Membership for her services to the profession and professional associations. In 2021, she co-convened the very successful Griffith University “Quality Teaching of Reading” Summit.
Prof. Beryl Exley
Professor English Curriculum & Literacies Education, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
Professor Beryl Exley began teaching 36 years ago and now holds a Professorial position in teacher education with the School of Education and Professional Studies (EPS), Griffith University, and with the Griffith Institute of Educational Research (GIER). She has published over 150 sole- and co-authored research publications and industry manuscripts, including co-authoring the very successful ALEA publications "Playing with Grammar in the Early Years" (2013) and "Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years" (2015). She has co-edited collections on literacy teaching and learning and pedagogic rights for Routledge (2016, 2024) and Oxford University Press (2020). Beryl has been awarded over $1.89 million in research funding from high esteem competitive grants including the Australian Research Council Discovery scheme and Linkage scheme. Beryl has delivered teacher professional learning in every state of Australia, focusing on child-centred pedagogies that value children's families and communities whilst also delivering high quality learning outcomes. In 2008, she was recognised as a “National Literacy and Numeracy Week Champion” by the Commonwealth Government. She has supervised 17 higher degree research candidates to completion. Beryl served on the executive of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) from 2005-2019, with 8 years as State Director, 4 years as National Publications Director, and 2 years as the National President. Beryl was the Australian Representative on the International Development in Oceania Committee from 2005 to 2017, with 3 years as International Chair. In 2019, she was awarded ALEA Life Membership for her services to the profession and professional associations. In 2021, she co-convened the very successful Griffith University “Quality Teaching of Reading” Summit.
Prof. Beryl Exley
Professor English Curriculum & Literacies Education, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
Professor Beryl Exley began teaching 36 years ago and now holds a Professorial position in teacher education with the School of Education and Professional Studies (EPS), Griffith University, and with the Griffith Institute of Educational Research (GIER). She has published over 150 sole- and co-authored research publications and industry manuscripts, including co-authoring the very successful ALEA publications "Playing with Grammar in the Early Years" (2013) and "Exploring with Grammar in the Primary Years" (2015). She has co-edited collections on literacy teaching and learning and pedagogic rights for Routledge (2016, 2024) and Oxford University Press (2020). Beryl has been awarded over $1.89 million in research funding from high esteem competitive grants including the Australian Research Council Discovery scheme and Linkage scheme. Beryl has delivered teacher professional learning in every state of Australia, focusing on child-centred pedagogies that value children's families and communities whilst also delivering high quality learning outcomes. In 2008, she was recognised as a “National Literacy and Numeracy Week Champion” by the Commonwealth Government. She has supervised 17 higher degree research candidates to completion. Beryl served on the executive of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA) from 2005-2019, with 8 years as State Director, 4 years as National Publications Director, and 2 years as the National President. Beryl was the Australian Representative on the International Development in Oceania Committee from 2005 to 2017, with 3 years as International Chair. In 2019, she was awarded ALEA Life Membership for her services to the profession and professional associations. In 2021, she co-convened the very successful Griffith University “Quality Teaching of Reading” Summit.
Prof. Sue Nichols
Literacy Researcher, University of South Australia
Sue Nichols is a literacy researcher at the University of South Australia whose work spans early years through to post-school. She has authored the recent book Traversing Old and New Literacies: The undead book and other assemblages (Routledge, 2022) and is author-editor of Languages and Literacies as Mobile and Placed Resources (Routledge, 2017). Sue researches literacy practices in a diversity of contexts, including homes, community settings, and schools, and increasingly has been looking into the role of digital technologies in shaping literacy practices across contexts. As a teacher educator specialising in literacy/English, Sue is happy to have contributed to the learning journeys of preservice educators. She has also supported many teachers undertaking practitioner inquiry, including at Masters and Doctoral levels. Her papers have been published in many academic journals including Changing English, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Language and Literacy, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, and Children's Literature in Education.
Dr. Janet Armitage
Researcher, Sessional Lecturer and Tutor, University of South Australia
Dr. Janet Armitage is a sociolinguist whose research focuses on ways in which literacy practices in remote Anangu communities unsettle northern models of literacy. This research involves an ethical and collaborative understanding of community agency in oral and written literacies and the necessity for inclusion in educational sites of diverse ways of knowing, being and doing. She has worked extensively on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in remote South Australia, in a variety of roles for the SA Department for Education, and is now researcher, sessional lecturer and tutor for the University of South Australia, Education Futures. Janet’s research has been published in academic books and journals including Language Awareness, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, A Sociolinguistics of the South, Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, The Routledge Handbook of Language and the Global South.
Dr. Janet Armitage
Researcher, Sessional Lecturer and Tutor, University of South Australia
Dr. Janet Armitage is a sociolinguist whose research focuses on ways in which literacy practices in remote Anangu communities unsettle northern models of literacy. This research involves an ethical and collaborative understanding of community agency in oral and written literacies and the necessity for inclusion in educational sites of diverse ways of knowing, being and doing. She has worked extensively on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in remote South Australia, in a variety of roles for the SA Department for Education, and is now researcher, sessional lecturer and tutor for the University of South Australia, Education Futures. Janet’s research has been published in academic books and journals including Language Awareness, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, A Sociolinguistics of the South, Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, The Routledge Handbook of Language and the Global South.
Dr. Janet Armitage
Researcher, Sessional Lecturer and Tutor, University of South Australia
Dr. Janet Armitage is a sociolinguist whose research focuses on ways in which literacy practices in remote Anangu communities unsettle northern models of literacy. This research involves an ethical and collaborative understanding of community agency in oral and written literacies and the necessity for inclusion in educational sites of diverse ways of knowing, being and doing. She has worked extensively on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in remote South Australia, in a variety of roles for the SA Department for Education, and is now researcher, sessional lecturer and tutor for the University of South Australia, Education Futures. Janet’s research has been published in academic books and journals including Language Awareness, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, A Sociolinguistics of the South, Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, The Routledge Handbook of Language and the Global South.
Déirdre Kirwan
Former Principal of Scoil Bhríde (Cailíní)
Déirdre Kirwan was principal of a primary school where 80% of pupils came from more than fifty linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. With the school community, she led an integrated, plurilingual approach to education that supported the use of pupils’ home languages. She was conferred with a PhD from Trinity College Dublin (2009) for her research in the area of language education. She was awarded: European Ambassador for Languages (2008) and from the French Government: Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes académiques (2023). She is a member of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment development group preparing for the introduction of modern foreign languages to primary schools in Ireland. She is a member of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) panel dealing with the topic of plurilingual skills in early years’ language learning. With David Little, she has co-authored the following publications:
Little, D. & D. Kirwan (2019) Engaging with Linguistic Diversity: A Study of Educational
Inclusion in an Irish Primary School. London: Bloomsbury Academic
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/engaging-with-linguistic-diversity-9781350072039/
Little, D. & D. Kirwan (2021) Language and Languages in the Primary School:
Some Guidelines for Teachers. (Post-Primary Languages Ireland)
Emeritus Prof. Beverly Derewianka
Emeritus Professor (Language & Literacy Education), University of Wollongong
Beverly Derewianka is an Emeritus Professor and Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She has worked in the field of Language Education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. She has acted as consultant to various curriculum bodies nationally and internationally and regularly presents workshops in all states of Australia and overseas. For the past few years she has worked with various school systems in developing whole school literacy programs. Her publications include Exploring How Texts Work, A Grammar Companion, School Discourse: Learning to Write across the Years of Schooling (with Frances Christie) and Teaching Language in Context (with Pauline Jones).
Emeritus Prof. Beverly Derewianka
Emeritus Professor (Language & Literacy Education), University of Wollongong
Beverly Derewianka is an Emeritus Professor and Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She has worked in the field of Language Education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. She has acted as consultant to various curriculum bodies nationally and internationally and regularly presents workshops in all states of Australia and overseas. For the past few years she has worked with various school systems in developing whole school literacy programs. Her publications include Exploring How Texts Work, A Grammar Companion, School Discourse: Learning to Write across the Years of Schooling (with Frances Christie) and Teaching Language in Context (with Pauline Jones).
Emeritus Prof. Beverly Derewianka
Emeritus Professor (Language & Literacy Education), University of Wollongong
Beverly Derewianka is an Emeritus Professor and Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She has worked in the field of Language Education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. She has acted as consultant to various curriculum bodies nationally and internationally and regularly presents workshops in all states of Australia and overseas. For the past few years she has worked with various school systems in developing whole school literacy programs. Her publications include Exploring How Texts Work, A Grammar Companion, School Discourse: Learning to Write across the Years of Schooling (with Frances Christie) and Teaching Language in Context (with Pauline Jones).
Tania Ingram
Author
Tania Ingram is an internationally published author who writes books for children, including the magical Jinny and Cooper Series and the hilarious Aggie Flea books. Prior to becoming an author, she was a child psychologist specialising in brain injury, disability and adolescent mental health.
Tania has acted as a peer assessor on the literature panel for Arts South Australia’s grants program and is an active ambassador for the Premier’s Reading Challenge. When not writing, Tania enjoys sharing her knowledge and love of books through school visits and festivals.
Tania has 3 books coming out in 2024, including the second book in the Aggie Flea series - Aggie Flea Steals the Show!; a picture book about differences called Walls; and the poignant and heartfelt mid-grade novel, The Other Shadow, which deals with themes of neglect, mental health and the foster care system.
In her spare time Tania likes to read children’s fiction, crochet crooked rugs and sing to her chickens, who pretend to be oblivious to her talent.
Danny Snell
Illustrator & Author
As a child Danny Snell was a reluctant reader, so it was pictures rather than words that drew him to the wonder of books. Danny went on to study graphic design and illustration at the University of South Australia and he now works as a picture book illustrator and author. His books have won a number of awards including the CBCA Eve Pownall Award, the Environment Award for Children’s Literature, and The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award. Danny lives in Adelaide with his partner, his two daughters and a sleepy old cat. And yes, he loves to read.
Danny Snell
Illustrator & Author
As a child Danny Snell was a reluctant reader, so it was pictures rather than words that drew him to the wonder of books. Danny went on to study graphic design and illustration at the University of South Australia and he now works as a picture book illustrator and author. His books have won a number of awards including the CBCA Eve Pownall Award, the Environment Award for Children’s Literature, and The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award. Danny lives in Adelaide with his partner, his two daughters and a sleepy old cat. And yes, he loves to read.
Danny Snell
Illustrator & Author
As a child Danny Snell was a reluctant reader, so it was pictures rather than words that drew him to the wonder of books. Danny went on to study graphic design and illustration at the University of South Australia and he now works as a picture book illustrator and author. His books have won a number of awards including the CBCA Eve Pownall Award, the Environment Award for Children’s Literature, and The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award. Danny lives in Adelaide with his partner, his two daughters and a sleepy old cat. And yes, he loves to read.
Charlie Archbold
Author
Born in London, Charlie discovered storytelling at a young age. After pursuing work and studies in drama and education Charlie decided to embark on a new chapter of life, moving across continents to call Australia home.
As an award-winning author, Charlie has won the Readings Prize, a Davitt Award and the Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript award. Her works have been recognised as CBCA Notable and Honour books and her first middle grade novel was shortlisted for the Text Prize. Charlie has two new middle grade mysteries coming out in 2024 and 2025.
Charlie has taught in Australia, the UK, and in Indonesia. These experiences enrich her ability to connect with the hearts and minds of her readers. Through action packed middle grade novels, a beautiful picture book and thought-provoking YA, Charlie seeks to create stories that leave a lasting impression.
Mike Lucas
Author
Mike Lucas was born in Plymouth, England and moved to Australia with his family in 2010. He is the author of several picture books, novels and poetry anthologies. His first YA novel, What We All Saw, was published by Penguin Australia, and shortlisted for the Readings Book Prize, CBCA Book of the Year Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. His latest picture book, Where is Cheeky Monster? is illustrated by award-winning Heidi McKinnon. One By One They Disappear, his next YA novel published by Penguin Australia, and set in Germany in 1942, is due for release in May. Mike is one of the main organisers of the Adelaide Festival of Children’s Books and an Honorary Member of the CBCA (SA). He presents writing and poetry workshops at schools, owns a bookshop in Blackwood, South Australia, and works as a full-time engineer. He doesn't sleep much.
Mike Lucas
Author
Mike Lucas was born in Plymouth, England and moved to Australia with his family in 2010. He is the author of several picture books, novels and poetry anthologies. His first YA novel, What We All Saw, was published by Penguin Australia, and shortlisted for the Readings Book Prize, CBCA Book of the Year Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. His latest picture book, Where is Cheeky Monster? is illustrated by award-winning Heidi McKinnon. One By One They Disappear, his next YA novel published by Penguin Australia, and set in Germany in 1942, is due for release in May. Mike is one of the main organisers of the Adelaide Festival of Children’s Books and an Honorary Member of the CBCA (SA). He presents writing and poetry workshops at schools, owns a bookshop in Blackwood, South Australia, and works as a full-time engineer. He doesn't sleep much.
Mike Lucas
Author
Mike Lucas was born in Plymouth, England and moved to Australia with his family in 2010. He is the author of several picture books, novels and poetry anthologies. His first YA novel, What We All Saw, was published by Penguin Australia, and shortlisted for the Readings Book Prize, CBCA Book of the Year Award and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. His latest picture book, Where is Cheeky Monster? is illustrated by award-winning Heidi McKinnon. One By One They Disappear, his next YA novel published by Penguin Australia, and set in Germany in 1942, is due for release in May. Mike is one of the main organisers of the Adelaide Festival of Children’s Books and an Honorary Member of the CBCA (SA). He presents writing and poetry workshops at schools, owns a bookshop in Blackwood, South Australia, and works as a full-time engineer. He doesn't sleep much.
Phil Cummings
Author
Phil Cummings is the author of over a hundred books for children. He has won a number of awards including Children’s Book Council of Australia honours, shortlisting for the Adelaide Festival of Arts Literary Awards and Feathers was shortlisted for the Prime Ministers Literary Awards. His book Boy won the Children’s Peace Literature Award in 2017 and has received international recognition by being named an outstanding book for children with disabilities by the International Board of Books for Young people in Basel, Switzerland. Phil has also written musicals for schools, songs for school choirs and shows for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra based on his books. His best-selling books include, ‘ANZAC Biscuits’, ‘Ride, Ricardo, Ride!’ ‘Newspaper Hats’, ‘Crumbs’, ‘Joe and the Stars’ and the middle-grade novel, Danny Allen was here, based on his own childhood memories of growing up in country South Australia. Phil has three new books due for release in 2024. Footprint (Illustrated by Sally Soweol Han, Allen and Unwin, Feb), The Hidden Hat (Illustrated by Jennifer Goldsmith, Scholastic Press, March) and Good Gnus! (illustrated by Daron Parton, Scholastic Press, June). Phil has a number of works in production.
Dr. Denise Chapman
Senior Lecturer in Literacy / Early Childhood Education
Denise Chapman is a counternarrative storyteller, poet, critical autoethnographer, and academic who lectures in children’s literature and inclusive children’s media at Monash University. A literacy specialist for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Singapore, UAE, and the USA, she uses oral stories, children’s literature, poetry, and digital images as counternarrative windows for liberation. Denise is keen for teachers to see themselves as critical curators and creatives of media that support student belonging.
Denise’s artistic work has been presented at The Wheeler Centre, LaMama Poetica, Brisbane MetroArts, Thin Red Lines, University of Melbourne’s Digital Studio, and RMIT Non/Fiction Lab’s Present Tense. Her creative work continues the traditions of her maternal grandparents’ Gullah heritage. Denise was runner-up for Poetryspective’s 2019 Retro Slam and shortlisted for Queensland Poetry’s 2022 XYZ Prize for Excellence in Spoken Word. She was the 2023 Mem Fox Fellow, and her poetry-film work was featured within the Volume: Bodies of Knowledge exhibition at Counihan Gallery in 2023. This year Denise was honoured to be a featured spoken word artist at Labrish, the community program for the season of The Hate Race, a theatrical adaptation of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s bestselling memoir. Her work explores themes of home, immigration, belonging, epistemic injustice, Black motherhood, as well as eco-racism.
Dr. Denise Chapman
Senior Lecturer in Literacy / Early Childhood Education
Denise Chapman is a counternarrative storyteller, poet, critical autoethnographer, and academic who lectures in children’s literature and inclusive children’s media at Monash University. A literacy specialist for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Singapore, UAE, and the USA, she uses oral stories, children’s literature, poetry, and digital images as counternarrative windows for liberation. Denise is keen for teachers to see themselves as critical curators and creatives of media that support student belonging.
Denise’s artistic work has been presented at The Wheeler Centre, LaMama Poetica, Brisbane MetroArts, Thin Red Lines, University of Melbourne’s Digital Studio, and RMIT Non/Fiction Lab’s Present Tense. Her creative work continues the traditions of her maternal grandparents’ Gullah heritage. Denise was runner-up for Poetryspective’s 2019 Retro Slam and shortlisted for Queensland Poetry’s 2022 XYZ Prize for Excellence in Spoken Word. She was the 2023 Mem Fox Fellow, and her poetry-film work was featured within the Volume: Bodies of Knowledge exhibition at Counihan Gallery in 2023. This year Denise was honoured to be a featured spoken word artist at Labrish, the community program for the season of The Hate Race, a theatrical adaptation of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s bestselling memoir. Her work explores themes of home, immigration, belonging, epistemic injustice, Black motherhood, as well as eco-racism.
Dr. Denise Chapman
Senior Lecturer in Literacy / Early Childhood Education
Denise Chapman is a counternarrative storyteller, poet, critical autoethnographer, and academic who lectures in children’s literature and inclusive children’s media at Monash University. A literacy specialist for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia, Fiji, Kenya, Singapore, UAE, and the USA, she uses oral stories, children’s literature, poetry, and digital images as counternarrative windows for liberation. Denise is keen for teachers to see themselves as critical curators and creatives of media that support student belonging.
Denise’s artistic work has been presented at The Wheeler Centre, LaMama Poetica, Brisbane MetroArts, Thin Red Lines, University of Melbourne’s Digital Studio, and RMIT Non/Fiction Lab’s Present Tense. Her creative work continues the traditions of her maternal grandparents’ Gullah heritage. Denise was runner-up for Poetryspective’s 2019 Retro Slam and shortlisted for Queensland Poetry’s 2022 XYZ Prize for Excellence in Spoken Word. She was the 2023 Mem Fox Fellow, and her poetry-film work was featured within the Volume: Bodies of Knowledge exhibition at Counihan Gallery in 2023. This year Denise was honoured to be a featured spoken word artist at Labrish, the community program for the season of The Hate Race, a theatrical adaptation of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s bestselling memoir. Her work explores themes of home, immigration, belonging, epistemic injustice, Black motherhood, as well as eco-racism.
Prof. Lester-Irabinna Rigney PhD, AM
Professor of Education
Lester-Irabinna Rigney is esteemed Professor of Education and Co-Chair of the Pedagogies for Justice Research group in the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion, based in the Education Futures, Academic Unit at the University of South Australia. He is Distinguished Fellow at Deakin University and previous Distinguished Fellow at Kings College, London. In 2021 Professor Rigney was appointed member in the General Division (AM) for significant service to Indigenous Education and to social inclusion research. He is a member of the Centro Loris Malaguzzi Scientific Committee, for the Foundation Reggio Emilia Children. Professor Rigney is a descendant of the Narungga, Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri peoples of South Australia.
One of Australia’s most respected Aboriginal educationalists, he is well published and has led several research teams funded by the Australian Research Council and other competitive grants including: Indigenist Research Epistemologies; Addressing the Gap between Policy and Implementation: Strategies for Improving Educational Outcomes of Indigenous Students; and Towards an Australian culturally responsive pedagogy. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4756-2399 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4756-2399
Dan Bleby
Project Officer – Aṉangu Bilingual Education Curriculum and Learning, Department for Education
Dan Bleby has worked in Aṉangu (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara) education since 2006, as a teacher, school leader, and most recently Project Officer – Aṉangu Bilingual Education. He works closely with Aṉangu knowledge holders to engage ‘other’ forms of literacy and text, and holistic approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, to develop culturally affirming approaches to education in Aṉangu schools. Alongside expert Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara teachers, he co-delivers the annual Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Language and Culture Summer School at UniSA.
Co-presenters DEM MOB
Hailing from the APY Lands in the country's remote red centre, DEM MOB (Elisha Umahuri, Jontae Lawrie, Basso Edwards and Matt Gully) come spitting hot Pitjantjatjara fire, being the first artists to rap in the ancient language, now struggling for survival. Their unique musical prospective of current political issues and struggle for social justice has seen them grace the stage with Electric Fields, King Stingray, and Barkaa, and play festivals such as Treaty, Yabaardu, WOMADELAIDE and PRIMAVERA in Barcelona. In between gigs they run education programs in remote and metro schools, sharing strategies for engaging Indigenous youth through culturally responsive pedagogies.
Dan Bleby
Project Officer – Aṉangu Bilingual Education Curriculum and Learning, Department for Education
Dan Bleby has worked in Aṉangu (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara) education since 2006, as a teacher, school leader, and most recently Project Officer – Aṉangu Bilingual Education. He works closely with Aṉangu knowledge holders to engage ‘other’ forms of literacy and text, and holistic approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, to develop culturally affirming approaches to education in Aṉangu schools. Alongside expert Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara teachers, he co-delivers the annual Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Language and Culture Summer School at UniSA.
Co-presenters DEM MOB
Hailing from the APY Lands in the country's remote red centre, DEM MOB (Elisha Umahuri, Jontae Lawrie, Basso Edwards and Matt Gully) come spitting hot Pitjantjatjara fire, being the first artists to rap in the ancient language, now struggling for survival. Their unique musical prospective of current political issues and struggle for social justice has seen them grace the stage with Electric Fields, King Stingray, and Barkaa, and play festivals such as Treaty, Yabaardu, WOMADELAIDE and PRIMAVERA in Barcelona. In between gigs they run education programs in remote and metro schools, sharing strategies for engaging Indigenous youth through culturally responsive pedagogies.
Dan Bleby
Project Officer – Aṉangu Bilingual Education Curriculum and Learning, Department for Education
Dan Bleby has worked in Aṉangu (Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara) education since 2006, as a teacher, school leader, and most recently Project Officer – Aṉangu Bilingual Education. He works closely with Aṉangu knowledge holders to engage ‘other’ forms of literacy and text, and holistic approaches to curriculum and pedagogy, to develop culturally affirming approaches to education in Aṉangu schools. Alongside expert Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara teachers, he co-delivers the annual Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Language and Culture Summer School at UniSA.
Co-presenters DEM MOB
Hailing from the APY Lands in the country's remote red centre, DEM MOB (Elisha Umahuri, Jontae Lawrie, Basso Edwards and Matt Gully) come spitting hot Pitjantjatjara fire, being the first artists to rap in the ancient language, now struggling for survival. Their unique musical prospective of current political issues and struggle for social justice has seen them grace the stage with Electric Fields, King Stingray, and Barkaa, and play festivals such as Treaty, Yabaardu, WOMADELAIDE and PRIMAVERA in Barcelona. In between gigs they run education programs in remote and metro schools, sharing strategies for engaging Indigenous youth through culturally responsive pedagogies.
Dr. Marcello Giovanelli
Reader in Literary Linguistics, Aston University, UK
Marcello Giovanelli is Reader in Literary Linguistics at Aston University, UK. His research interests include the stylistics of poetry, the stylistics of children's literature, cognitive and empirical literary studies, and language and literature in education. He is the author of over forty research articles and book chapters and four monographs in literary and applied linguistics. Recent books include The Language of Siegfried Sassoon (Palgrave, 2022) and Reading Habits in the Covid-19 Pandemic: An Applied Linguistic Perspective (2024, Palgrave, with colleagues from Aston). He sits on the editorial board for the journals English Studies, English in Education, and Journal of Literary Semantics and series edits Cambridge Key Topics in English Language and Cambridge Elements in Stylistics (both for Cambridge University Press). He is currently working on a monograph for Routledge on 'covid poetry', which explores how poets represented the pandemic and, drawing on reading group data, how readers make sense of the poems and show empathy towards the experiences of others. Parts of this project are funded by the British Academy and through a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship.
Dr. Ian Reid
Adjunct Prof., English & Literary Studies, University of Western Australia
Ian has taught at all levels from primary school to adult education, and written extensively on curriculum history, education policy, literary theory and classroom practice. Among his 20 books is The Making of Literature, published 40 years ago by the AATE and still influential. Most of his employment has been in universities. He is an Adjunct Professor in English at UWA. His creative writing includes five novels and a recent poetry collection, Breaking the Surface.
Dr. Ian Reid
Adjunct Prof., English & Literary Studies, University of Western Australia
Ian has taught at all levels from primary school to adult education, and written extensively on curriculum history, education policy, literary theory and classroom practice. Among his 20 books is The Making of Literature, published 40 years ago by the AATE and still influential. Most of his employment has been in universities. He is an Adjunct Professor in English at UWA. His creative writing includes five novels and a recent poetry collection, Breaking the Surface.
Dr. Ian Reid
Adjunct Prof., English & Literary Studies, University of Western Australia
Ian has taught at all levels from primary school to adult education, and written extensively on curriculum history, education policy, literary theory and classroom practice. Among his 20 books is The Making of Literature, published 40 years ago by the AATE and still influential. Most of his employment has been in universities. He is an Adjunct Professor in English at UWA. His creative writing includes five novels and a recent poetry collection, Breaking the Surface.
Ms. Louise Dempsey
Literacy Consultant and Director, The Literary place
Louise Dempsey is an experienced literacy consultant and a director of The Literacy Place. She has co-authored four books with Sheena Cameron that sell extensively in New Zealand, Australia and internationally. Their latest publication is The Poetry Book. Before establishing The Literacy Place with Sheena, Louise worked for 10 years in the UK and was a literacy consultant and then the Primary Strategy Manager in Hackney, London. Louise is committed to working in classrooms with teachers and students and regularly models lessons and leads inquiry projects. She works with schools in New Zealand, Australia and internationally to raise achievement in literacy and develop consistent, researched-based best practice.