How can we transform education practice to enable holistic growth for all students? That’s the topic for Research Conference 2025. The conference, hosted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), takes place in Melbourne in February.
In today’s expert Q&A, we speak with Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy – Research Director for ACER’s Centre for School and System Improvement – about the conference theme, and why it’s an important topic for school leaders and teachers.
Can you give Teacher readers an overview of the conference theme, 'Transforming learning systems: Enabling holistic growth for all students.'
The conference theme was inspired by the seminal work conducted by Professor Geoff Masters (2023) which investigated the practices of 5 of the world’s top performing education systems, and ACER’s growing impact internationally in designing and supporting the transformation of learning systems.
Findings from this study showed that effective learning systems comprise 6 integrated elements that work together dynamically. These areas are: a supportive learning ecosystem; strong leadership of learning; comprehensive student support; highly effective teaching; informative assessment processes; and quality curriculum.
Our recent work has also focused on the relationship between wellbeing and learning and the increasing recognition of the importance of seeing learning as holistic. Conference strands will address all these aspects and, importantly, present research and practice from different systems and contexts.
Why has this theme been chosen for 2025?
This theme has been chosen because we see in our work in Australia and internationally that all education systems are grappling with how best to prepare all young people for an uncertain future. We know the importance of holistic development and learner wellbeing in this endeavour.
Systems face significant challenges, including how to ensure that students have the requisite skills to learn over their lifespan, contribute to an effective, agile workforce and thrive in modern society. Attracting, retaining and developing quality teachers and school leaders is critical to this endeavour. These issues are complex, and we hope this theme will provoke thinking, reflection and action at every level of an education system.
Why is this an important topic for both teachers and school leaders?
Teachers and school leaders are key to transforming learning systems. Research shows that a supportive learning ecosystem has a sharp focus on the pedagogical ‘core’ or the interconnections between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment and a commitment to learning growth and success for all learners, regardless of their starting points.
This is central to teachers’ and school leaders’ work. We think the opportunity in this conference to bring together the voices, perspectives and research across different layers of an education system will foreground the importance of investment in developing teachers and school leaders across the career span and will be an opportunity to speak into dialogue about system transformation practice.
It's a mix of presentations, keynotes, panel sessions and concurrent sessions. What do you expect participants to gain from attending?
We have been deliberate in this conference to focus on opportunities not just to listen to keynotes from leaders in their respective fields but to be able to network, discuss and interact with other participants.
Our work globally shows us that, although contexts can be vastly different, the challenges faced by education systems, schools, leaders and teachers are shared. Session formats will bring together thought leaders, policy makers, system and school leaders and teachers in a way that fosters dialogue and shared understanding between groups that are often siloed within education systems. Concurrent sessions will involve groups of presenters around a key theme and are designed to be interactive.
References
Masters, G. N. (2023). Building a world-class learning system: Insights from some top-performing school systems. National Center on Education and the Economy. https://ncee.org/book-report/building-a-world-class-learning-system/
Research Conference 2025 – Transforming learning systems will be held in Melbourne at the RACV City Club on 6 and 7 February 2025. To learn more about the conference and register at early bird prices, visit the website. #ResearchConf25
