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13 December 2017ACT Professional Development: three fantastic days
A great three days were had by ACT academics as we gathered together at SMBC from 6-8 December 2017 for our Professional Development (PD) Conference, and a TATAL workshop. Fifteen people were present at the TATAL workshop, and 65 at the PD conference.
First up at the conference was the launch of Theological Education: Foundations, Practices and Future Options, the forthcoming book in the ACT Monograph Series, edited by Ian Hussey and Andrew Bain. The conference was based around this book, with several papers based on various chapters. A lot of interest was generated for what is a great reflection upon Australian theological education with relevance to a broader context. Martin Sutherland, ACT Dean launched the book.
The first day ended with a conference dinner, a time of developing friendships between academics of different colleges.
The first plenary session was given by Dr Kathryn Harden-Thew of UoW, speaking about the reflective practitioner. This continued the theme of reflecting upon what we are doing as theological educators. Kathryn presented a research backed practical approach to being reflective educators.
The second plenary session was given by Professor James Dalziel of Morling College, on matching our educational practice to our own graduate attributes, and having a head, heart, hands approach.
Papers given by ACT academics looked at such topics as theological perspectives on theological education, eLearning, Formation, Women in Theological Education, Missional education, Asian perspectives and the long term value of theological education.
The conference ended with a challenging address by Dr Brian Harris of Vose on the future of theological education.
We thank SMBC for a fantastic job of hosting the conference this year, and for the organising team, Cathy Harris (MAC), John Coulson (BST), Jim French(YWC), Geoff Harper (SMBC), Iris Leung (CTCA), Geoff Treloar (ACT), for a job well done.