Free expo seminar on ConnectED

What if every voice in your school community could genuinely shape improvement initiatives? What if collaboration moved beyond tokenistic consultation to become a powerful driver of meaningful change?

This group of 6 round table dialogues invites participants into exploration of co-production as a transformative approach to school improvement planning. Through carefully crafted provocations and peer to peer sharing, participants will deliberate and reflect on key messages from research as they make connections and share their own experiences in designing, developing, creating and implementing a school’s annual improvement plan.

We examine how one principal's practice of leading with the social brain in mind transforms stakeholder engagement from silent participation to authentic co-production.

Our case study demonstrates how understanding the social and cognitive complexities of collaboration enables adaptive processes that honour context rather than impose rigid frameworks. This principal's deliberate practice shows how research-informed leadership can empower all stakeholders - from teachers to students to community members - as genuine change-makers within their unique school environment.

Our facilitated dialogue will explore provocations around:

Schools as complex and sophisticated organisations

Social and cognitive complexity of collaboration – what gets derailed in your context and why

Differentiated relationships and cultures grounded in trust  

Silo Mentality as a construct of function, knowledge and experience – mechanisms of self-protection from the metaphorical avalanches, hijacking and tsunamis

Determining what is reasonable in the time available – competing tensions and multiplying demands

Creating adaptive pathways that work – for whom, when and how

Each table becomes a microcosm of co-production itself, where participants' diverse experiences illuminate new possibilities. By weaving together this compelling example of social brain-informed leadership with the collective wisdom of educators from across Australian contexts, we'll discover how adaptive practices can fit within each unique setting.

Join fellow educators as we forge connections that acknowledge the true nature of collaborative work while harnessing its potential to drive meaningful change across Australian schools.

This ConnectED round-table session will support educators to step beyond headline conversations about AI and move into practical, peer-informed approaches to assessment design in AI-enabled learning environments.

Participants will engage in a facilitated, solutions-focused discussion centred on questions such as:

• What good assessment looks like when generative AI is readily available
• How to design assessments that privilege thinking, process, and judgement over production
• Where AI creates risk — and where it creates opportunity — in assessment practice

Through shared examples, challenges, and strategies, attendees will:

• Exchange current approaches being trialled across schools, RTOs and tertiary settings
• Surface common tensions around academic integrity, workload, equity, and policy
• Co-design practical assessment ideas that are authentic, defensible, and transferable
• Build confidence in using AI-aware assessment practices that support learning rather than simply policing technology use

The session will be conversational and participant-led, reflecting the unconference model. Attendees will leave with practical strategies, reflective questions, and design principles they can apply immediately within their own classroom, team, or institution.

This roundtable session builds on research conducted at The Lakes College and published in ReConnectEd (The Australian Council for Student Voice): First Steps Matter: A case study for schools beginning their journey towards Student Voice and Partnership. In this roundtable, participants will engage directly with the study’s key insights through collaborative discussion and applied activities. Together, we will examine what students identify as the enablers of meaningful partnership, analyse real examples from The Lakes College’s partnership framework, and explore practical strategies for moving from consultation to co-creation. Attendees will also co-develop actionable next steps tailored to their own school contexts. The session concludes by synthesising the first steps that matter most, the common pitfalls that stall momentum, and the organisational conditions that enable student agency and partnership to become embedded, consistent, and resilient rather than episodic.