Our childhood can often become a distant memory as we grow older, but our experiences in childhood provide a foundation that shapes and informs the rest of our lives.

Childhood in Australia today is complex – full of conflict, competition, inequalities and anxieties, but also opportunities, choices, learning and growth.

Childhood is a “special, protected time” (UNICEF), but what actually makes a good childhood? What does that look like in Australia today? What does a child need for a good childhood? Who should decide what makes a good childhood?

Hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, this public seminar brings together an array of voices within the Australian community to answer those questions. The seminar will showcase a new video featuring a broad range of perspectives around childhood, from children to parents and grandparents, social workers, and representatives from organisations like the Raising Children Network, Alannah & Madeline Foundation, TalkiPlay, Life Without Barriers, and more. These voices will provide valuable insights into what a good childhood means to different people.

We are thrilled to also have two special guest speakers - Professor Sonia Livingstone from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Dr John Davis from Deakin University - who will join this important conversation and lend an international and First Nations voice, as they examine the state of contemporary childhood across the country.

Note: this event is in person and also online. If you select online attendance, you will be sent the webinar link closer to the event date.

Please join us immediately after the seminar for canapes and drinks.

WEBEX LINK FOR THOSE JOINING ONLINE:

https://telstra-events.webex.com/telstra-events/j.php?MTID=mb68fcc1df1d950936249a82d20b7ea22

Webinar number: 2653 605 7916

Webinar password: 2024 (2024 when dialing from a phone or video system)

Join by phone +61-2-9338-2221 Australia Toll

Access code: 265 360 57916

PROFESSOR SONIA LIVINGSTONE
Sonia Livingstone DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA, is a Professor in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published 21 books on media audiences, including “Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives.” She has advised the UK government, European Commission, European Parliament, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, OECD, ITU and UNICEF and others on children’s internet safety and rights in the digital environment. She directs the Digital Futures for Children research centre at LSE and 5Rights Foundation and Global Kids Online with UNICEF. See www.sonialivingstone.net

DR JOHN DAVIS
John Davis is an experienced educator, teacher, manager, and school principal. John is a Senior Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, and the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab (Deakin University). He is a regular media commentator, and the former CEO of the Stronger Smarter Institute. John is a proud Murri Ambae man, and he is a Traditional Owner of the western sides of Bunya Bunya Mountains. John completed his PhD in Indigenous Community Models of Education – Community Durithunga, with the Queensland University of Technology. John's research interests include Indigenous languages as LOTE, and embedding Indigenous Knowledges and Indigenous ways to multimodal literacy.

EVENT CONVENER: PROFESSOR JULIAN SEFTON-GREEN

Julian is a Professor of New Media Education at Deakin University, and a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. His research is mainly ethnographic, focussing on socially marginalised communities, social inequality and the powerful ways that people demonstrate ingenuity, creativity and resistance often when education systems are stacked against them.

Julian is also a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics (LSE) and a Visiting Professor at the Playful Learning Centre, University of Helsinki (Finland). He is currently co-leading a study with the University of Utrecht on the reimagining of young people’s understanding of learning; and is also co-directing a study of long-term impacts of out-of-school arts learning on life chances funded by the Wallace Foundation. Julian is extensively published – he has authored, co-authored and edited 18 books, including a recent chapter on how children’s play and learning have evolved in the digital age.