The annual ATEA conference provides a wonderful opportunity for those with an interest in teacher education to exchange ideas pertaining to research, practice and innovations in the fields of teacher education and professional learning. Given the tropical location of Townsville, adjacent to the world heritage Great Barrier Reef and rainforest, and in context of climate change and its threat to both natural environments and the sustainability of many, especially tropical, societies, the conference focuses on the theme of sustainability in relation to teacher education.

It invites delegates to think about ways in which teacher education and teacher education research can address issues of sustainability   conceptually, practically and methodologically – in a wide range of ways and contexts. It asks them to examine, among other possibilities, the role of teacher education in the development of teachers with:

• the knowledge and understanding of
• what it might mean to talk about sustainability
•  the different domains of experience and activity in which sustainability might be a critical issue,
• how sustainability issues might be addressed, and
• the skills and the passion and commitment to pursue such issues.
• It also invites delegates to consider the sustainability of current teacher education -- from national policies, through fiscal and budgetary regimes, to practices around student engagement, curriculum and pedagogy – and teacher education research.

A key assumption is that exploring and addressing such issues offers ways in which teacher education and teacher education research can simultaneously engage with one of the most pressing issues of our time and generate worthwhile and sustainable agenda for research in our field of professional practice.

One key goal of the conference is to facilitate engagement in scholarly debate around such issues, through the presentation of individual papers and thematically organised symposia with a view to the sharing, debating and developing of knowledge and ideas.

A second is examine and build sustainable and mutually sustaining relationships between initial, transitional and continuing teacher education, and learning and teaching (including professional learning) in a variety of settings. To this end we are encouraging presentations that showcase and reflect on pedagogical practices in schools, early childhood centres, universities, TAFE, workplaces and community settings. We especially invite partnership or cross-institutional presentations, and we are offering one day registration for teachers and community representatives.

A third is to contribute to the development of worthwhile and sustainable research practices. In part, this will be enabled through opportunities for sustained small-group discussion of emerging research projects and papers under development through roundtable formats; this may be particularly valuable for early career researchers and postgraduate students by way of testing research ideas with a small audience. Conference participants may also wish to propose a forum which identifies and provides opportunity to explore potential projects and collaborations in relation to matters of wide interest, or which explore possible synergies between local or small scale case studies.

 Download complete accommodation and registration information package here.