Conference program – Politics

Below is a list of all sessions in our VCE Australian and Global Politics conference stream. 

Please note that registrations have closed.

Registrants will be invited to select their sessions in the weeks prior to the conference, which will take place on Friday 31 March at Melbourne Polytechnic Conference Centre, Preston.

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Challenging sovereignty: encouraging complexity in the classroom (keynote)

In conversation, Dr Joyce will delve into the core concepts of VCE Australian and Global Politics and explore how students can and should explore the complex theories therein. From sovereignty to international law, interrogating the aims of international organisations, to questioning the colonial aspects of cosmopolitanism, and ensuring the voices of the Global South are heard, this session will work to deepen teachers understanding and perspectives of the key themes of the subject.

Dr Richard Joyce is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Monash University. His main research interests are in the history and theory of international law, with a particular focus on sovereignty, violence and responsibility. He draws extensively on continental philosophy and post-colonial theory.

He is the author of Competing Sovereignties (Routledge, 2013) and, with Professors Fleur Johns and Sundhya Pahuja, the editor of Events: The Force of International Law (Routledge, 2011). He is currently leading an ARC-funded project encompassing populism and international law, with colleagues from Monash, Melbourne Law School, Kent Law School and the State University of San Francisco. Richard is also a member of the Global Faculty of the Institute of Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School.

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Curriculum update – VCE Australian and Global Politics

VCAA will be providing an update on the design and implementation process of the new study design for VCE Politics from 2024.

Nicola Sabbadini is Curriculum Manager for Politics and Civics and Citizenship with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).

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Supporting teachers new to Australian and Global Politics

This session will provide support for new teachers to Australian and Global Politics – in particular, selecting case studies for Units 1 and 2 that are engaging, address the Study Design and help to streamline your course. Resources will also be shared, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss approaches regarding teaching Australian and Global Politics.

Adam Scanlon has taught VCE Australian and Global Politics for almost a decade in the state education system. He has experience in student management and educational leadership. Adam’s favourite part of teaching Politics is encouraging students to think about how politics shapes their lives, and the lives of others.

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3

Chinese power in the Asia-Pacific: Case analysis

Join international relations scholar Ben Habib in an exploration of the nuances of China's power and leave with additional innovative teaching strategies for your VCE Global Politics classroom. This session will highlight key trends in Chinese foreign policy, defence posture, and power projection and explore the factors that shape China’s national interests, the differing interpretations of these interests, and the types of power wielded by China. Ben will also lead an examination of China's main foreign policy instruments and evaluate the effectiveness of the Chinese state in achieving its national interests.

In the brave new world of AI chat bots, teachers need interactive teaching tools to help students achieve deep learning of subject content beyond text-based source material that can be easily reproduced by AI. Ben will also be sharing a curated list of interactive online learning resources used in learning activities for undergraduate students of ‘Contemporary Politics of Northeast Asia’, ‘Security in the Indo-Pacific’, and ‘International Politics of Climate Change’ at La Trobe.

Dr Benjamin Habib is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University. Ben is an internationally published scholar with a current teaching and research interests in traditional and non-traditional security in North Korea, environmental movements and international climate politics, and innovations in university teaching practice in global environmental politics and international relations. He has extensive overseas field experience in Northeast Asia and has led short travel program subjects for undergraduate students to China and South Korea, themed around global citizenship and environmental sustainability.  

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4

The power of transnational corporations

This session will feature an examination of the kinds of power that transnational corporations can wield in relation to markets, consumers and states in the global political arena. A key emphasis will be placed on how transnational corporations exercise their financial and market power in ways that can directly challenge or undermine state power and sovereignty. This session will include some contemporary case studies – particularly Huawei, Apple and Facebook – which teachers can use to explore these themes more deeply in a classroom context.

Dr Daniel Bray is Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University. His research lies at the intersection of international relations and political theory, with a focus on pragmatist approaches to cosmopolitan politics, global governance, and the theory and practice of representative democracy. His current research examines the representation of children and childhood in democratic politics. He is the author of two books, Pragmatic Cosmopolitanism: representation and leadership in transnational democracy (Palgrave MacMillan, 2011) and Global Democratic Theory (with Steven Slaughter, Polity, 2015).

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4

New case studies for Global Politics

This presentation will provide new case studies that can be used to replace some of the most used (and overused) examples in VCE Global Politics. If you’re feeling uninspired by Panda diplomacy, Operation Sovereign Borders, or even UN Security Council Resolution 2118 – this session is for you.

Ben Hay teaches VCE and IB Global Politics at Methodist Ladies’ College, Kew. He is a member of SEV's Committee of Management and is also an experienced VCE assessor. He has been teaching for 10 years and has been a frequent partner, contributor and participant at SEV events.

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5

Formative process: Building student agency while deepening understanding

Are you finding that some students seem to grasp the content or ideas in discussion, but can't execute it in the same way in writing? This workshop will explore teaching ideas and strategies for and unpacking written responses with students through a formative process. We will explore how students can learn how to unpack command terms and questions to ace the key skills and bring their content knowledge to life in a well-developed argument. With a focus on implementing at Units 1-2, the ideas discussed in this workshop are transferable and will help student prepare for Units 3-4.

Jess Parker is a VCE Australian and Global Politics Units 1-4 teacher and Learning Area Leader for Senior School Humanities and Caulfield Grammar School. An experienced VCE Assessor and practice exam writer, she is passionate about student engagement and critical thinking around of the political, social and cultural issues to become informed citizens who are inspired to take action.

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Using visible thinking routines in Global Politics

This session will explore how visible thinking routines, from Harvard Graduate School’s Project Zero team, can be a valuable addition to teachers’ repertoire of pedagogical tools, in a way that both promotes deeper thinking by proficient learners whilst also making learning more accessible for emerging students. This session will not only provide teachers with a range of classroom activities to select from, but also with hands on examples of where best to utilise them with within Units 1-4 of the Global Politics study design.

Tim Wright has worked as a classroom teacher and educational leader in Victorian schools and internationally for 12 years, predominantly in the humanities area. He currently teaches at Christian College Geelong, where he has been teaching Global Politics for the last five years. He has a strong passion for promoting global competency and global citizenship to as many students as possible.

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Youth digital cultures, media and misinformation (Q+A)

All young people, and particularly students of politics and sociology, need to be able to interpret and make sense of the competing voices within the media ecosystem. This interactive session will give teachers a chance to discuss and reflect on youth digital cultures, media misinformation and pedagogies that can support students to build skills in these areas.

Dr Clare Southerton is a Lecturer in Digital Technology and Pedagogy in the School of Education at La Trobe University. Her research explores how social media platforms and other digital technologies are used for learning and sharing knowledge, as well as disinformation and misinformation practices. Her previous work has explored digital youth cultures, surveillance and privacy, digital health and sexuality. She currently teaches digital literacy, and has previously taught sociology and media studies, at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Before joining La Trobe, Clare was a postdoctoral fellow at UNSW Sydney, and Aarhus University in Denmark. Her work has been published in New Media & Society, Social Media + Society and the Journal of Sociology.

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2022 External assessment report – VCE Global Politics

Lou Spanos
2022 Chief Assessor – VCE Global Politics

This session will feature 2022 Chief Assessor for VCE Global Politics, Lou Spanos, presenting the External assessment report. This address represents crucial professional learning for all VCE teachers and provides useful insight into trends, common points of confusion and recommendations. This year’s report will provide key insights into 2022 examination process which will be of relevance to this years' cohort.

Lou Spanos is a dedicated and passionate teacher of Global Politics at Mentone Grammar School. He has worked as a VCAA assessor of VCE Global Politics and International Studies since 2005. In 2010, 2014 and 2016 he served on VCAA’s study design review panel. Lou has written extensively in Global Politics as a writer of practice examinations and other web-based resources for students. He continues to be involved in professional development and regularly presents at lectures and seminars for both students and teachers.