Peter Doherty, Heather-jane Robertson and John Ralston Saul

Internationally renowned speakers for September conference

By Sally Edsall

Eminent Canadian philosopher, essayist and novelist Dr John Ralston Saul will be the keynote speaker at a landmark conference being organised by the Public Education Alliance for September 22 and 23.

Dr Saul is best known for a trilogy of philosophical works: Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West, The Doubter's Companion and The Unconscious Civilization.

In September 2004 Dr Saul gave a public lecture in Vancouver, sponsored by the Vancouver School Board and its education partner groups on the subject "In Defence of Public Education".

Saul has said in the past that "any wilful undermining of universal public education by our governments and the direct or indirect encouragement of private education would be a flagrant betrayal of the basic principles of middle-class representative democracy".

Another keynote speaker will be Australian Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty. Professor Doherty won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1996 and was Australian of the Year in 1997. In 2003 Professor Doherty stated his belief that "this country will not continue to prosper if we fail to provide adequate support for public education, at every level" (Sydney Morning Herald, November 19, 2003).

The Conference is being sponsored by the Public Education Alliance, which consists of eminent education academics and consultants such as Professor Tony Vinson and Dr Lyndsay Connors, the Federation of P&C Associations, Principals' organisations and Federation.

The Conference is being organised for a time just before a state election in March 2007, and a likely federal election during 2007, in an attempt to help develop a community dialog about the pressing issues in contemporary public education.

Leading academics, researchers and public policy activists will address topics such as the future of comprehensive public education, quality teaching and learning environments, commonwealth-state relations and funding.

Leading Canadian educator, Heather-jane Robertson, who is a recipient of Phi Delta Kappa's Outstanding Educator Award for 2005, and Vice President of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a public policy think tank, will address the conference on Canadian experiences in activism, public policy development and setting up effective think tank organisations.

Ms Robertson, a former teacher and officer of the British Columbia Teachers Federation, has also worked as director of professional development for the Canadian Teachers Federation and been named as "a distinguished educator" by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and received the Teacher of the Year Award from the Canadian College of Teachers.

Further information about registering to attend this important conference is being prepared now, and will be communicated in Education, through Teachers Federation Associations and via Principals' and parents' networks and websites. Invitations will be sent to universities, departments and ministries of Education and colleague unions. Anyone interested in the future of public education is encouraged to attend.

Sally Edsall is a Research Officer.

For further information

March 2006 contents