Invitation

In this age of flows of peoples and ideas across geopolitical and networked societies, the context in which teachers and educators work is rapidly changing and making problematic many taken-for-granted practices. The processes of globalisation and of post-colonisation, and the impact of new technologies have required that any educational reform must necessarily take into account cultural factors, local/global knowledge systems and the ability of the school system to engender deep understanding for both students and teachers.

Culture in all its manifestations - from the home and classroom to the nation-state and region - thus plays an undeniably significant role in educational practices and contributes to the richness and diversity of education systems in Asia and around the world. Indeed, the reconstruction of education systems in the Asia-Pacific region is increasingly grounded in thick understandings of what counts as valuable local knowledges, practices and ideologies.

The 2007 Redesigning Pedagogy conference will provide a platform for educational practitioners and researchers to productively discuss and share research, theories and best practices across languages, contexts and countries. It will enable the international research community to forge new innovative directions and educational research and practice that centre around notions of culture, forms of knowledge, and the complex processes of engaging learning and understanding.

The conference is intended to inspire and invite rather than restrict or exclude; proposals that examine central issues from an inter - and multi-disciplinary perspective as well as research from the Asia-Pacific region are particularly welcome. The strands that the conference aims to address are outlined on the facing page. Papers that fall outside those listed but still within the broad arena of educational research will also be welcomed.

The conference hopes to create opportunities for cultural exchanges that can build towards transformative educative experiences for all, and thus extend our appreciation of diversity - a necessary prerequisite for emancipatory teaching, learning and deep understanding.

Prof David Hogan Dean

Prof S Gopinathan Vice Dean