Village High School, in South Gippsland, Victoria, is looking forward to hosting the 2023 ADEC Conference being held on 30th Sept / 1st Oct.

We hope as many of you as possible can join us for two days of conversation, connection and learning about democratic education and a multitude of other inspiring topics.

Here are some of the speakers that have been confirmed:

Lael Stone, speaker, educator (Aware Parenting), author (Raising Resilient and Compassionate Children), school co-founder (Woodline Primary) on the importance of relationship in the work we do.
Kelly Bettridge, former primary and secondary teacher, practicing psychologist, on supporting neurodivergent children and young people to advocate for themselves in their school and home environments.
Katherine Phelps, lecturer (LaTrobe Uni), author (Surf’s Up: Internet Australian Style), Systems Analyst with a passion for open source computing and knowledge, now wondering whether AI will be a helpful tool or artificial additive

Here are some of the topics that ADEC members and friends have offered to present on:

Navigating Autism - as a parent, educator, colleague, individual
Regenerative Schools - beyond sustainability - what might this look like?
Small School Finances & Funding - financial statements, budgets, capital works
ADEC AGM / Strategic Planning - what do ADEC members want us to focus on?

Here are some topics that ADEC members have said they would like to know about:

Recruitment - attracting, training, retaining educators that match our schools
Succession Planning - how are other approaching leadership development?
School start-ups - meeting others on the journey
Student Agency - what does this look like in your school?
Enrolment - getting the match right
Student Feedback - what about, how do you get it, what do you do with it?
Cross-school activities - camps, sports, drama - who’s interested…?

How does a Democratic Education Conference work?

If you haven’t been to a democratic education conference before, they tend to have a flavour all their own. There is usually a range of speakers organised by the host school and then open space in the schedule for attendees to co-create the program based on what they would like to share and what others would like to learn or be part of.

Please note that attendees will be contacted after payment to provide additional information such as dietary, accessibility and event preferences, so please ensure a valid email address is listed for each ticketholder. A full conference program will be provided prior to the event.

See https://www.adec.edu.au/ for more information.