Glen Pearsall (B Ed) is a highly experienced class room teacher who has been recognised as “one of the leading professional development presenters in Victoria.” His passion is improving the class room experience of teachers and young people by creating engaging and practical everyday approaches to new ideas in teaching. Glen has worked for the past seven years as English Teaching and Learning Leader at Eltham High School and is a board member of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority. He has presented a wide array of professional development seminars and workshops for the TLN, AEU and Critical Agendas. He co-authored Literature for Life, a text for young people dealing with grief. Glen has a particular interest in the role of graduate teachers and has worked part time as a seminar leader and research fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne

Tracy is the Head of Mathematics at Strathcona Baptist Girls’ Grammar School. She has excellent experience in developing innovative curriculum at the Year 7 – 9 level. She has presented a variety of workshops at the MAV Annual Conference and NAVCON 2K7, as well as running quality professional development for her school. She has been highly influenced in her practice and thinking by her knowledge gained when undertaking Teaching for Understanding course at Harvard University School of Education and attending the 12th International Thinking Conference. Tracy has a great interest in problem based learning, inquiry learning and Habits of Mind in Mathematics. She has a strong knowledge and passion for improving Mathematics teaching through innovative yet practical changes in teaching and learning.

Peter is the Head of Science at Beaconhills College. He completed his PhD in Biochemical Engineering in the UK in 1997, migrated to Melbourne and got a job as a bank clerk. He then began a series of sessional lecturing/teaching roles at University and TAFE after which he completed a DipEd at Melbourne University in 2000 and has been teaching Maths and Science ever since.

Peter has presented at Science Teachers Association Victoria conferences and been active in the organisation including roles on the council and as the convenor of the Beginning Science Teachers Network. His background and experience of teaching adults and adolescents mean his presentations are hands on, minds on and tailored to suit the needs of the group.

Kellie has a unique and diverse background, having worked in all year levels and many specialist areas during a career in both Government and Independent schools over the past 20 years. She has also held senior leadership roles in Early Childhood settings. She has been employed at Caulfield Grammar School for the past 8 years is currently the P-2 team leader and Prep teacher at the Wheelers Hill campus.

Her philosophy as an educator is a reflection of current best-practice teaching and learning. She has experience in the development and application of Professional Learning programmes, assisting and supporting staff to implement new and innovative programmes into their classrooms. Kellie’s passion is the care and education of young children. She is particularly interested in inquiry learning and thinking skills. Kellie believes that a commitment to innovative yet practical ideas in teaching and learning can create the perfect environment for a learning community to thrive.

Ross has taught in both Australia and the UK and is currently the Director of ICT at a Girls’ Secondary College in the Southern suburbs of Melbourne. He specialises in programming, multimedia tools and using Web 2.0 technologies with his students, as well as the development of student friendly assessment tools and techniques. Ross has completed his Masters in School Leadership and Post Graduate Certificate in Assessment and Evaluation.

Ross utilises free and open source programming and multimedia software with his students and is focused on spreading the use of such software through other schools and colleges.

Anna Murphy is currently the Humanities Domain Co-ordinator at St. Columba’s College, Essendon. Over a twenty year career she has taught a wide variety of Humanities subjects including History, Geography, Legal Studies, Political Studies and Accounting and across all secondary year levels. In her work she continually strives to improve and refine her teaching practice. Anna is excited that Humanities subjects have been recognised within the National Curriculum as essential in the education of Australian students.

She is passionate about the way Humanities is delivered and the role of the teacher in engaging students in their learning. As a domain co-ordinator Anna has supported teachers who are new to Humanities subjects by providing access to professional development and teacher networks. She has presented workshops at VCTA Comview, developed VCE course material for commercial purposes and conducted in-house professional development for her school.

Carol Booker is a leading teacher, working full time at Willmott Park PS. Carol has 18 years of experience in schools and has successfully undertaken a variety of roles.

Carol’s current role is student engagement and wellbeing leader, but her experience and expertise is vast. She has lead and supported curriculum development in planning, implementing, managing and assessing initiative programs. She has been instrumental in bringing about sustainable change to further develop exemplary teaching and learning skills by planning and delivering purposeful learning opportunities in order to support, motivate, engage and challenge professional learning teams.

Simon has been involved in the Arts for over 20 years, working as a Visual artist for ten years, followed by art consulting work in Europe and Japan and then, teaching of Visual Arts in a variety of government and non-government independent schools in metropolitan Melbourne for the past 13 years.He is currently working as a Visual Arts educator at Caulfield Grammar School, where he has held the positions of Learning Area Leader - Middle School Visual Arts for 5 years and Head of Teaching and Learning - Middle School in 2008. He is currently on leave, undertaking post-graduate studies at RMIT in Multi-Media and Design.

During the past twelve months, he has been writing for a number of magazines in the area of Art and Design and in past years, has held positions for the VCAA in Studio Arts reviewing and worked closely with the Catholic Education Victoria, in Visual Arts and the Cross arts platform. Simon has also held advisory roles in the implementation of Arts literacy with the University of Melbourne and writing of curriculum around Philosophical Inquiry and Arts Education.