SPEAKERS 2012 INSPIRED IMPACT CONFERENCE

The 2012 Inspired Impact Teachers' Conference is shaping up to be the education event of the year with a dynamic lineup of internationally recognised keynote speakers including:

Richard Gerver
2005 School Head Teacher of the Year UK

Richard Gerver is one of the world’s foremost thinkers on education. In 2005 he was judged the best head teacher in the UK, after turning a failing school into an innovation success story. Since then, he has helped governments around the world to shape education policy and major organisations to make the most of their talent. His unique teaching formula is a blend of simple ingredients – communicate with impact and empower those in your charge. But the underlying techniques he has developed are powerful enough to make learners of all ages feel inspired. His is the ultimate turnaround tale, and a step-by-step guide to unleashing human potential.

Dr Ron Ritchhart
Project Zero/Thinking, Harvard University

Ron Ritchhart spent years in the classroom as a teacher before joining Harvard Project Zero where he is now a Senior Research Associate.  Over the past 16 years, Ron’s research has explored such issues as teaching for understanding, the development of intellectual character, creativity in teaching, and the development of thinking dispositions.  He currently directs the worldwide Cultures of Thinking project aimed at supporting  teachers in the creation of classrooms where thinking is valued, visible, and actively promoted.  Ron's research and writings, particularly his theory of Intellectual Character and his framework for understanding group culture through the Cultural Forces, have informed the work of schools, school systems, and museums throughout the world.

Professor Jenny Poskitt
OTJs

Dr Jenny Poskitt is Director Graduate School of Education, Massey University, New Zealand.  Dr Poskitt began her career as a primary teacher, teaching in three different schools. She was seconded as a researcher in a national project on Curriculum Review and subsequently appointed to Massey University.  Her tertiary teaching and research interests relate to assessment and moderation, professional learning, research methods, middle year and tertiary level student learning and engagement.  With three children spanning primary to secondary level schooling, Jenny is realistic about the challenges in education. 

Mark Treadwell
The Future of Learning

Mark is an independent education consultant,who has presented keynote addresses to over 250 national and international conferences in the last 4 years including The International Confederation of Principals; the 21st Century Learning Conference in Hong Kong; the Irish Principals Association ; Australasian Distance Education conference; the International Thinking Conference; British Schools Conference; NSW Secondary Principals conference; the International Science & Technology Educators Conference.

Suzie Johnson
Entrepreneur

In three years businesswoman Suzie Johnson has transformed Shannon's retail scene - and she's not done yet. Suzie has opened art and jewellery shop Gallery 57, gift shop Oosh, women's clothing shops Oosh La La and For Frock's Sake.

But that's not all. Suzie and husband Kiwi are in the process of starting up a website and converting half of Oosh into a shoe shop which will be known as Oosh Hoof. Suzie designs much of the clothing she sells and designs and makes her own jewellery. She has also designed many of the ranges of shoes she will be selling.

She also gives her time to public speaking as a fundraiser for schools in the region.

Andrew Jamieson
ICT Massey

Andrew Jamieson (A.J) is a Teaching Consultant at the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Manawatu campus at Massey University. He trained as a Primary teacher at the College of Education in Palmerston North. A.J has taught at local schools and has also facilitated two ICT professional development clusters with 24 schools in the Manawatu/Southern Rangitikei regions. He has also coordinated an Extending High Standards Across Schools project, which involved 5 schools from the Manawatu and Kapiti Coast.

He is passionate about learning and teaching at any level and most of his work with teachers has centred on the purpose for doing what we do, and how can we augment what we do as educators. He is also takes any and every opportunity to explore new technologies to enhance teaching and learning.

In his spare time he enjoys quality family time, most sports, playing and listening to music and performing on stage in any capacity. Quite often, the stage is his lounge dancing with his family!

Angie Farrow
Literacy Massey

Angie Farrow is a Senior Lecturer at Massey University who specialises in Theatre and Creative Processes. She has won five awards for her teaching since she came to Massey, including a National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award (2010) and last year she was voted ‘Lecturer of the Year’ by Massey students.

Although teaching is her first love, she also writes plays for theatre and radio. She is the author of two anthologies of plays. Plays for Physical Theatre: (Thompson Learning) and Plays for Physical Theatre 11 (Dunmore Press). Her theatre works have been performed in many countries overseas including Canada, U.S.A., Singapore, Australia, and India. She has won numerous national and international prizes for her plays including The Pen is a Mighty Sword International Playwriting Competition for Despatch, and this year her play, Tango Partner received a People’s Choice Award at The Inspirato Festival in Canada. She has just finished writing a full-length play about The Manawatu River that performs in November in Palmerston North.