Philosophers to think at Te Papa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Philosophers to think at Te Papa

Wellington will host the annual conference of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia in the first week of December.

Over eighty academics will present papers around the theme of “Creativity, Enterprise, Policy – New Direction in Education”.

“Education systems around the world face the challenge of creativity - be it within students or organizations. This conference is a contribution to several pressing policy debates”, said Society president, Professor John Ozolins of the Australian Catholic University, Melbourne.

“We are pleased to have papers from people with expertise in fields as diverse as creativity in art, business entrepreneurship, and public policy. The focus of our work is on the philosophical aspects of such topics.”

Presenters come from Canada, Iraq, United States, Spain, Hawaii, Japan, China, and Australia.

One keynote speaker is Paul Smeyers a professor of psychology and educational sciences at Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium. The title of his paper is “The entrepreneurial self and informal education: On government intervention and the discourse of experts”. Another keynote speaker is the profession of philosophy at Otago University, Alan Musgrave, who is an authority on the philosophy of science and science education.

The host organization is the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. Conference organizer, Robert Shaw said Wellington won the competition to be the host city after losing out to Sydney last year. Previously the conference was in Hong Kong, and Hawaii is next in line.

“Our bid was based on the excellence of Te Papa and the convenience of the Museum Hotel being within easy walking distance of Te Papa. Those who usually attend this conference have high standards.”

The Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia was founded in 1971. It seeks to advance educational research, policy, and practice. Its specialist discipline is philosophy and it publishes the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory. The papers to be discussed at the conference are available on the internet. Anyone wishing to attend the conference from 6 to 9 December may contact the organizers via www.pesa.org.au

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