Bandar Seri Begawan - The Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education (SHBIE) at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) will be hosting the 15th International Conference on Education (ICE 2010) from May 24 to 27 to discuss the challenges facing contemporary educators particularly in providing effective schools and schooling.

According to Pg Hjh Jamilah Pg Hj Othman, ICE 2010 Secretary said the focus of the conference themed: "Changing Models, Challenging Minds: Initiating Effective Educational Reform and Development'', will be on the challenges and opportunities faced by educators, administrators, teacher trainees as well as students who are encountering a bewildering array of reforms and requirements.

"The conference acknowledges the important role of educational institutions in facilitating change and challenges. It will also provide a forum for comparing the rhetoric of educational reform with the reality of effective implementation," she said.

On the sidelines of yesterday's press conference held at SHBIE for local media, Pg Hjh Jamilah told The Brunei Times that by inviting international participants, the local participants will have the opportunity to meet, discuss andexchange ideas on education.

This conference is important because we (local participants) can make a comparison and learn what good practices are being implemented outside Brunei, and then adapt their practices here," she said, adding the conference is hoped to provide local participants different perspectives on education.

During the conference, which will be held at the UBD Chancellor Hall, three keynote speakers and experts from abroad will deliver their presentations in three plenary sessions.

Professor Ivor Goodson, a professor of Learning Theory at the Education Research Centre at the University of Brighton will present his paper titled "Professional Knowledge in Education and Health: Restructuring Work and Life between the state and citizens in Europe", Professor Malik Badri from Malaysia International Islamic University will be talking about "The role of Islamisation and Indigenisation in Reforming the Theory and Practices of Psychology and Education", while Education Industry Solution Strategist, Jason Trump of Singapore Microsoft Asia Pacific will be presenting his paper titled "Personalised Learning- Are we there yet?".

A number of sub-themes have also been selected to give a wide range of choices for participants to share their areas of expertise in current educational issues, reforms and development. These include teachers' preparation, effective schools and schooling, educating children with special needs, counselling issues, early childhood education and care, and educational reform in Brunei.

Parallel sessions comprising presentations of academic research papers and small group workshops will take place during the first three days of the conference.

It will be followed by scheduled educational and social visits by the participants on the final day.

At least 101 papers will be presented during the conference by both foreign and local speakers. There will also be a poster presentation by a participant from Taiwan and nine workshop sessions, where three will be conducted by international presenters and six by Bruneians.

To date, there have been 549 local and international participants who have registered for the conference, of whom 255 are locals and 294 are from abroad.

Pg Hjh Jamilah said there has been increase in the number of international participants who have registered, compared to last year's conference.

Registration will be opened on May 24 for those who wish to participate in the conference from 730 to 8.30am before the conference's opening ceremony.

The registration fee for international participants is $418 (USD$300), while local participants are required to pay $250. Local paper presenters are required to only pay $150.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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