This is the Prezi I made (my first one!) for the AATE/ALEA Annual Conference last week.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
AATE Conference Prezi – Kelli McGraw, posted with vodpod
The National Curriculum will bring with it a host of challenges and problems that may leave us grieving for our familiar local curriculum. What can we expect to feel in this time of change? And what will the effects of this be on our beliefs, our pedagogy and our practice? How much of what we are already doing, really, are teachers expecting to be able to carry forward? It seems this point in curriculum history is an ideal spot for us to revisit and revise our curriculum philosophies, as well as our beliefs about the purpose and goal of teaching English.Reflecting on the findings of my PhD research into the changes and innovations of the 1999 HSC English syllabus in NSW, in this paper I consider the processes by which teachers have coped with change. What is likely to make us uncomfortable in the National Curriculum for English? What have we already shown in NSW that we fear? The audience will be invited to consider their own philosophies, and begin preparing for change.
Kelli McGraw 
#1 by Sally Leaney on July 15, 2010 - 4:37 pm
Hi Kelli,
Thank you so much for your visit to my blog – it made me smile and know that I am on the right track!
I really liked your first prezi. I wish I could have been able to hear your presentation. The National Curriculum is of great concern for me as an art teacher and I would love to hear the views of others in a range of subject areas. Of most concern is that less time will be given to Visual Arts as a subject and that the different forms will also be collapsed (art, drama, music). We have a lot to lose considering the quality of the NSW 1999 Visual Arts Syllabus.
Anyway, just thought I would pop by and say hi and let you know of the appreciation that I have for people working in innovative ways in the field of education, via blogs, twitter, etc. Staying up to date over the last few weeks has been terrific. Thanks again!
Sally
#2 by kmcg2375 on July 18, 2010 - 11:49 am
Hi Sally! I couldn’t agree more about being fearful for Creative and Performing Arts. Just ask any primary school teacher about the effects of ramping up class time spent on ‘core’ subjects like English and Maths…don’t get me wrong, I love English, and I’m all for supporting literacy and numeracy development. But kids read and count in Visual Art too! And they get to imagine, create and express themselves; they get to really engage in the emotional.
The NSW VA syllabus is great. I love the concept of working with theoretical ‘frames’. It is actually something that quite a few English teachers have adopted, I think. Mark Howie did some great work with the ETA (and now in his own research, I believe) developing frames for English that speak to the history of our subject – Subjective, Structural, Cultural and Critical.
I’m so glad you’re getting a lot out of online life, and glad to have you in my network 🙂
#3 by Troy on July 16, 2010 - 10:42 am
The presentation looks great. Would have loved to hear the narrative…
Dixon’s comments hit me again. That constant battle between idealised ‘English’ or reproducing ones own experiecne with ‘English’. The multimodal can not be overlooked, particularly in teaching of ‘concepts’.
#4 by kmcg2375 on July 18, 2010 - 11:53 am
Thanks Troy – I had so much more fun building a Prezi than doing another PowerPoint. PPT is OK for a linear presentation, but I tend to return to concepts and ‘zoom in and out’ of ideas.
I’m submitting a paper on this to English in Australia soon. It won’t come out for another few editions though, so I’ll be sure to email you a copy earlier. I had plans to record it on my digital voice recorder and make a podcast…but left me recorder at home 😦 FAIL!
#5 by BiancaH80 on July 20, 2010 - 11:37 am
Hey Kelli,
Love your prezi – such a neat tool!
Like Troy and Sally, I too would have like to hear your talk that accompanied your prezi. It looks so interesting and challenging – what great ideas to present on and discuss!
I am having real issues at the moment with subject English – it seems so foreign to the students, as though it has been constructed in an alien world and thrust upon them. I am on the cusp of a significant change in teaching direction, I can feel it – but I know that it is counter to what others do, even those that consider themselves ‘forward-thinking’.
The point you make taken from Dixon is essential – English is about communication of experience, it is about thoughts and feelings. Coupled with the point about aesthetics, I feel moved to change my practice. And not even subtly. I just resist the pressure that the Stage 6 syllabus has put on subject English. It has torn the heart from it. Or maybe I just need to go and re-read the syllabus to find the heart between the lines?
Ta for sharing … ‘things are going to change, I can feel it’ (can you hear that from Beck’s ‘Loser’? Ah, 90s indie rock…lol)
xx
#6 by kmcg2375 on July 20, 2010 - 12:02 pm
More like “In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey…”
Ha!
I think there is plenty in the Stage 6 syllabus about creativity, imagination and reflection, if you look…the problem is that very little of it is supported/enabled by the oppressive and soul destroying HSC assessment and examination structure 😦