The 29th annual ATEE Conference titled "Teacher Education between Theory and Practice. The End of Theory - the Future of Practice?" will take in Italy, in Agrigento, Sicily.
The congress is organized by ATEE and by C. E. S. E. S. (European centre for continuous teacher training) and entrusted to Professor Cesare Scurati of the Catholic University, Milan and to distinguished university professors who are part of the ATEE Scientific Committee and C. E. S. E. S.
Congress Venue
The Congress will take place in Conference Centre which is part of the Mosè Resort, near the wonderful Valley of the Temples of Agrigento, in Sicily.
The local hotels will accommodate the participants.
The nearest airport is Catania. From Catania there are regular busses to Agrigento.
Conference Theme
Is teacher education mainly a matter of theory or a fact of practice? This dilemma summarizes in itself the most relevant and important contents and issues concerning the question of the preparation of teachers all through the world. In every country and in every known historical and cultural context the main effort has always been the effort of finding the best ways of analysing and harmonizing the contributions and the influences coming from the theory on one side and from the practice on the other side.
The last decades have seen, in general terms, a decline of the predominance of theory, considered too abstract and too far from the concrete issues of the teaching profession, in favour of practice, considered more respondent to the immediate needs and demands of the teacher on the field. Instead of learning consistent theories about teaching it is more effective to learn from the best practices taking place in the schools.
At this point, we can raise some questions:
- Has theory reached a final end?
- Has its uselessness definitively been demonstrated?
- Has practice in its own the possibility of sustaining the whole process of professionalization of teaching personnel?
- What are the most prominent perspectives of a productive interaction between theory and practice?
- What is the role of research in the development of a productive approach to a consistent vision of teacher education process?
- What do you & me know about teacher education based on recent research and development?
Finding the way of reshaping the cooperation between a sound theory and a self reflecting practice can be the strategy of the future implementation of teacher preparation.
The above questions constitute some basic problem instruments as challenges for the conference activities.
Official Languages of the Conference
The official languages of the congress are English, French and German.
Simultaneous translation is assured far the plenary meetings.
Structure of the Conference
1. Plenary Meetings
The plenary meetings will take place twice.
The first meeting is aimed at developing the theme and to pinpoint the consequent problems (discussion). The discussion will be able to give a first answer of the participants to the theme of the congress.
The second meeting will present the summary and conclusive documents formulated from the parallel session and from the R.D.C.
2. Parallel Sessions
These are meetings of fairly large groups of participants who will discuss specific topics of the conference theme and papers of individual participants accepted by the scientific committee.
3. RDC-meetings
The ATEE R(esearch and) D(velopment) C(entres) cover most of the topics dealing with teacher education. These groups work permanently throughout the year under the co-ordination of a Chair and most of them hold intermediate meetings during the year. They publish their articles in the ATEE web site and in the electronic ATEE magazine "ATEE-e-NEWS". Their main contributions can also be published in the European Journal for Teacher Education (EJTE). They are, no doubt, the main working instrument of the association, many of them co-coordinating and participating in research and innovation educational projects within the EU and beyond.
4. Round Table and Poster Session (Free Market)
Small groups or individual participants can exchange information, publications, videos, CDs about experiences in the field of teacher training.
5. Link between Participants
The exchange of information between the participants will take place through pigeon holes. Each participant will have an own pigeon hole to receive any news or information from the other participants.
A big hall with notice boards will be made available to all (the groups) of participants.
Programme
Saturday, October 23
10.00 - 13.00 Registration of participants
14.00 - 19.00 Registration of participants
16.00 - 17.00 ATEE AC Meeting
17.00 - 18.30 Meetings of RDC-chairs, chairs of parallel sessions, Scientific and Organizing Committee
19.00 - 23.00 Visit to the "Pirandello Theatre" in Agricento city. Welcome Party
Sunday, October 24 09.00 - 18.00 Registration of participants
09.00 - 10.00 Keynote 1 (30‘ + 20‘ discussion
10.00 - 11.00 Keynote 2 (30‘ + 20‘ discussion
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 - 13.00 Group discussions
13.00 - 14.30 Lunch
14.30 - 16.00 Parallel sessions
16.00 - 16.30 Coffee break
16.30 - 18.00 RDC meeting
18.00 - 19.00 Newcomers and chairs reception
20.00 Visit to the "Valley of Temples". Party
Monday, October 25 09.00 - 10.30 Parallel sessions
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 - 12.30 Parallel sessions
13.00 Lunch
14.30 - 16.00 RDC meeting
16.00 - 16.30 Coffee break
16.30 - 18.00 RDC meeting
20.00 Folk music. Party
Tuesday, 26 October 09.00 - 10.30 Parallel sessions
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 - 12.30 Roundtables + Poster sessions
12.30 - 14.30 Lunch
13.00 - 14.30 EJTE Editorial Board meeting
14.30 - 116.00 RDC meeting
16.00 - 16.30 Coffee break
16.30 - 18.30 ATEE General Assembly
20.30 Social Dinner + New Presidency Entrance
Wednesday, 27 October 09.00 - 10.00 Parallel session reports
10.00 - 11.00 RDC Reports
11.00 - 12.00 Vision by a member of the EU Parliament
12.00 - 12.30 Discussion
12.30 - 13.00 Final Conclusions - Presidency
13.00 Goodbye
13.00 - 14.30 AC + RDC meeting
14.30 - 17.00 RDC chairs meeting
Innovations in the 29thATEE Conference
A more direct involvement of the participants.
A wider time frame dedicated to the individual presentations in the parallel sessions.
- More time given to the work of the RDC's.
- Attendance by members of the European Parliament.
- The publication on CD rom of the conference proceedings.
- The use of new technology in the global running of the conference.
Proposals of contributions
Only papers sent by e-mail will be accepted.
Deadline for the presentation of the abstract June 30, 2004.
Notification of acceptance by the Scientific Committee before July 30, 2004
The accepted abstracts will be published in the conference guide.
The complete text of the contribution must be sent in by November 30, 2004
The final product of the conference
The conference proceeding will be published on CD rom and will contain:
- Keynote speeches
- The contributions of the participants that were accepted by the scientific committee
- Reports of the parallel sessions and the RDC's
- Final documents of the conference
The CD rom will be sent to each participant within six months of the end of the conference.
Cost and Inscription of the Conference
There will be two types of cost:
The cost of the conference registration, including conference documentation, meals and coffee breaks, social events and the conference proceedings on CD rom.
The cost of accommodation.
Registration form
The forms have to be sent in by fax or mail.
