Topic
Making Futures - How Do We Get It Right? Activating Student Voice at The Decision Table

Speaker
Prof. Margaret Robertson (Professor of Education at the University of La Trobe)

About the talk
We can speculate on the needs of the planet from the science. We can predict the social needs of the population from the demographics. We can also observe trends in economies and their capacities for growth and responding to changing patterns. All that seems certain as does change itself. But what if we get it all wrong? One thing the political turmoils of recent years has taught us is that the panoptical gaze over the lands in which we live is not so structurally tight as we (or governments) once considered. People – ordinary people – are on the move physically and virtually. ‘Power’ is being handed over to the people. E-democracy, online commerce, flows of goods and services can all fall below the gaze. Do governments enforce the old structures or do we search for new ways of accepting what exists. History shows that denial can be fatal and make a community vulnerable to attack – this can be from floods, earth tremors, insurgencies, diseases and plagues. The list of vulnerabilities is long and complex. However, one thing seems clear and that is we need to listen to the voices of the generation who are growing up in this whole new world of infinite flows. It can be done!

In this presentation Professor Robertson will outline the research of colleagues working in eleven countries scattered across the globe. Each context provides a case study of a methodology developed in Australia in earlier work with adolescents (see Abbott-Chapman and Robertson, 2009). The strategy has been adapted to local contexts but each case retained the central questions which were ‘How do you see the world of 2020?’; ‘What are your big puzzles for the world in which we live?’; ‘How can we fix the problems’; What advice do you have for your teachers on how best to prepare for this world?’. The findings reflect a global awareness and perhaps a pessimism that should cause concern for educators and community members alike. At the same time children as ever are resilient and find their own solutions for difficult problems. Shouldn’t we rewrite the script - legitimise their voice and give their views the formal credentialing they deserve?

About the speaker
Prof. Margaret Robertson is a Professor of Education at the University of La Trobe. Margaret is a former Research Director for the Faculty and currently holds the position of Deputy Chair of the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for Geography. Her long association with the International Geographical Union has included serving an eight year period as Executive Secretary for the Geographical Education Commission. Her current involvement is as the member of the Steering Committee for the International Year of Global Understanding project responsible for outreach and communications. Her research and publication interests focus on cultural geography particularly young people’s geographies and applications of social media and digital technologies. Research projects also include a range of issues related to environmental and community based education. Margaret has been recognised for her contributions to education with a Fellowship of the Australian College of Educators. Her recent publications include: Young People: Views and Visions. Cross-cultural understandings (Camberwell: ACER Press, co-edited with S. Tani, forthcoming in August 2012), and “Young "netizens" creating public citizenship in cyberspace”, International Research in Geographical and Environment Education, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp.287-293 (2009).

Enquiry & Registration
For registration or enquiries, please RSVP to Ms. Pinky Chan at (+852) 2948 8129 or by email pmcchan@ied.edu.hk.