natd conference 2009

Oxford 2009

2009-08-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

Join us for a weekend full of inspiration and practical know-how designed for all teachers keen to harness the power of the imagination and transform the quality of learning in their classrooms.

After years of prescription and testing, targets and conformity, change is in the air. We know that if we want schools to be places where reflective and creative thinking happens, where children develop their potential and welcome responsibility for their part in shaping our world, then it starts with the teacher in the classroom.

This conference offers teachers a mix of inspirational keynotes and detailed practical workshops together with space for sharing their own experience and insight with others.

All of this takes place within the glorious setting of Oriel College in the heart of Oxford – guaranteed to invigorate every hard-working imaginative teacher.

To launch the conference, Gwent Theatre will be performing Dr Korczak’s Example by David Greig on Friday evening. This fine play, by Scotland’s leading contemporary playwright, tells of an episode in the life of Janusz Korczak, the Polish paediatrician and educator who ran an orphanage inside the Warsaw ghetto. Refusing help to escape, he perished with the 200 children he cared for, in the Treblinka concentration camp. Though too little known in this country, his writings on education have had a profound influence on how we view young people and his work directly led to the establishment of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Within the hell of the ghetto, Korczak established his own form of utopia: a self-governing republic in which children set up their own court, council and newspaper. Greig's play similarly enables young people to acknowledge and judge their peers. It suggests that children are capable of dealing with difficult themes if treated with dignity, autonomy and respect.

Keynote speakers:

Dorothy Heathcote – still working in the classroom with young people and their teachers, the octogenarian powerhouse who has inspired so many, shares her newest thinking with us.

Paul Howard Jones – psychologist and neuroscientist, shares his research on brain, creativity and learning.

Duncan Bathgate – primary school Headteacher, who has used philosophy for children and drama practice to transform his school to QCA and Ofsted acclaim.

Workshops

This year we’re delighted that Maggie Hulson, Chris Ball, Brian Woolland and Kate Katafiasz are returning, by popular demand, to lead workshops for us. Between them, their expertise covers the whole age range from pre-school to university level, from cross curricular work at KS1,2 &3 to specialist drama and theatre practice.
New to natd workshops this year are the Blahs, Miles Tandy and Jo Howell. The Blahs are Yorkshire’s leading Theatre in Education team with over 20 years’ experience of close work with teachers, youth workers and children across the full age range. Miles works closely with teachers nationally to support their innovation in the classroom. Jo is a primary specialist and advisory teacher and the only AST for Creativity and Literacy in the country.

To secure your place, complete the application form and return it to Kirsty as soon as possible. No bookings can be processed after September 21st .

NB 10% discount for institutions sending 2 or more participants.

At this Year's Conference

2009-07-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

Click a name for further information

Keynote Speakers

Dorothy Heathcote
Paul Howard-Jones
Duncan Bathgate
Gwent Theatre

Workshop Leaders

Brian Woolland
Kate Katafiasz
Blah, blah, blah
Maggie Hulson
Jo Howell
Miles Tandy
Chris Ball
Eileen Pennington

2009-05-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

Teachers in an educational system that takes imagination seriously must . . . be accorded a greater degree of autonomy. They cannot be treated as consumers and distributors of the contents of curriculum guides, nor as animated textbooks, nor as worksheet pedlars.
Kieran Egan

This is an exciting time to be in education. The central roles of creativity and the imagination in learning are being recognised once more. The natd has always understood the need for a creative curriculum and over the years has striven to persuade educators that a lot of what has happened in schools has ignored the importance and power of the imagination. After many years of prescribed curriculum content and teaching methodology, reports, research findings and inspection overviews have highlighted the adverse effects of a system based on measurable results, league tables, targets and conformity. This year’s conference deals directly with the belief that the teacher has the power to mould and change minds and that this responsibility must be taken seriously.

We are delighted to include amongst our keynote speakers Dorothy Heathcote (President of natd) whose pioneering work has now been recognised as a major influence in schools and colleges worldwide. Giving the scientific perspective on education and the imagination will be Paul Howard-Jones from the University of Bristol’s Graduate School of Education whose work has revealed the significance of creativity on the learning process. Workshops will further develop the theme in terms of practical applications allowing delegates opportunities to fully explore ideas with recognized experts in the field.

All of this amongst the glorious setting of Oriel College in the heart of Oxford ensures a highly profitable and enjoyable weekend which offers so many opportunities to invigorate any hard-working, imaginative teacher.

Imagination and not reason makes us human.
Edward Bond

Secure your Place at Conference

2009-05-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

Places are limited so get in touch soon.
For enquiries and bookings contact Kirsty Fechter on:
Telephone: 01226 738 591
E-mail: k.fechter@barnsley.org
By post: Kingstone School
Broadway
Barnsley
South Yorksire
S70 6RB

Funding your place at Conference

2009-05-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

Continued Professional Development is now recognised as a right and a duty for all teachers in the UK.

Attending the natd conference is an ideal way to develop expertise, keep abreast of current educational thought, study good practice and network with colleagues from Britain and abroad. Funding your attendance at the conference for professional development is not necessarily your responsibility and this document is aimed at assisting in proving the value to those who can help you pay.

Approaching your line manager when discussing Performance Management.

The two of you will need to work out your training needs and attendance at the natd conference needs to be shown as a way of satisfying many.Here are some suggestions:The natd is not exclusively concerned with the teaching of drama, a number of members are primary school teachers and teachers of a variety of subjects in secondary, further and higher education. The association believes strongly in the use of drama as a means for accessing all areas of the curriculum and a creative entitlement for all children. You may like to point out the work of Essex County Council where Dorothy Heathcote’s (natd’s President and keynote speaker this year) work has been adopted by many schools as its principal teaching method in many subject areas. Refer to their website:http://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/index.php

Some statements from the Natd’s policy document will show the breadth of educational concern. Here’s one: If the curriculum is to genuinely serve the needs of all young people it needs to:

1. have genuine breadth and range and not neglect some aspects of human culture at the expense of others;
2. help young people to grasp the unity and interconnectedness of culture – for example, how technology both shapes and is shaped by the social and political context; the crucial value judgments it raises; and the powerful influence technology has on the development of the arts;
3. assist young people to enquire critically into human culture – if they are to build on past gains their initiation cannot be a passive one: they need to understand the limitations, as well as the extent of those gains.

The full document can be downloaded from the website: http://www.natd.50megs.com/
It can be emphasised that your participation at the conference will also serve to advance the work of the school as a whole in that the areas tackled are not necessarily subject specific and the expertise gained is useful to all working in an educational context. It has been realised by education policy makers and the reinstitution of creativity in curriculum development is high on their agenda.

The natd has always held firm to the belief in the importance of the imagination in learning and is in an advantaged position of being able to guide people in this renewed interest.Financial Support from the General Teaching Councils. All teaching councils in Britain acknowledge the value of attending conferences as part of a teachers CPD and welcome applications for funding to attend. The GTCE, for example, states: Teachers enhance their subject and specialist professional knowledge by:
Sharing teaching approaches with teachers from other schools
Participating in collaborative enquiry and problem-solving
Engaging with subject or specialist associations

All four councils recognise the value of conference attendance and each has funds available for this activity. Methods of application vary but the Welsh model gives clear step-by step-advice. Guidelines for financing CPD are given on the separate councils’ websites as follows:

Northern Ireland: http://www.gtcni.org.uk/index.cfm/page/Home/area/information
Wales: http://www.gtcw.org.uk/cpd/information.html
England: http://www.gtce.org.uk/
Scotland: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/Home/home.asp

Finally, when asking for funding remember that you are not asking anyone to pay for a ‘jolly’ weekend. Although the natd conference is highly enjoyable it is attended by committed educators who wish to develop their work in affording provision for the educational development of children and young people.