Archived material
Some aspects of the documents in this section no longer apply, however they have been archived for reference.
Introduction
From the proceedings of a forum conducted by the Board of Studies NSW on 26 October 1995
Return to the Nature of the Learner Forum Table of Contents
The Nature of the Learner Forum was conducted by the Board of Studies
NSW at Bradfield College, North Sydney on 26 October 1995.
The forum was attended by over 100 participants representing all
sectors of the education community: education systems and agencies,
universities, TAFE NSW, government and non-government schools, and
parent and teacher organisations.
The aims of the forum were to:
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explore the research on how students learn and effective pedagogy;
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examine some of the significant issues in the area of effective teaching methodology and classroom best practice within the context of curriculum development; and
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assist the Board to develop principles and guidelines for student learning based on current research.
The forum opened with three presentations, each of which was followed by a brief discussion session. The speakers were:
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Dr Greg Hotchkis, member of the Board of Studies, formerly of Macquarie University, on The Nature of the Learner versus The Nature of Instruction;
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Mr Peter Westwood, Senior Lecturer in Special Education, Flinders University on Current issues in effective teaching and learning; and
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Professor Christine Deer, School of Teacher Education, University of Technology, with Faculty staff members Ms Janette Griffin, Ms Rhondda Brill and Mr Alan Scully, on Current practice in teacher education.
Following the dinner break the President chaired the plenary session, Effective learning: establishing guiding principles. Discussion centred on the relationship between effective teaching and learning outcomes. A number of teaching approaches were explored, with debate focused on teacher-directed and student-centred models of pedagogy.
The papers presented at the forum, along with a discussion paper arising from the plenary session, are published here for distribution to participants and other interested individuals and organisations. These papers have also been presented to the Board. The forum was clearly successful in bringing together a broad cross-section of the education community for the purpose of exploring issues of significance based on current educational research. The Board plans to conduct follow-up forums to continue discussion of key areas of research and practice in learning and pedagogy.