VALBEC AGM and speaker

Members and friends of VALBEC are invited to the Annual General Meeting of the Council and a presentation by Sally Thompson.

• Wednesday, May 14,
• Tea and coffee from 5:00
• AGM formal meeting 5:30
• Guest speaker Sally Thompson
• Dinner afterwards at own expense
• Mail Exchange Hotel
• 688 Bourke St Melbourne.  

Annual General Meeting
The AGM will involve presentation of reports on the 2024 VALBEC year and the election of the new Executive committee for 2025 – 2026.
The agenda for the AGM is:

1. Reports

• Presidents
• Professional Development
• Treasurer

2. Election of new office bearers.

VALBEC Committee nominations
The VALBEC committee is a dynamic and collaborative group who meet once a month to discuss, plan and take action on behalf of members and the ALBE field. Nominations to be forwarded to the returning officer before the meeting.

Consider a role on the Committee

Get a nomination form

Presentation: ‘Literacy Mediators’

What would a learner centred adult literacy system look like?

What would a national adult literacy strategy look like if it began with what people with low literacy need to operate in an increasingly textually complex society, rather than what powerful interests think they should do? In this presentation, Dr Sally Thompson will draw on her recent empirical research with literacy mediators: people who help other people to read and write texts for particular social purposes. Through the eyes of the mediators, the research gathered insights into the everyday practices of people who struggle to read and write texts. The research raises questions about how best to respond to the needs of people who struggle to operate in increasingly textually dense and technologically enhanced social worlds.

Dr Sally Thompson is an education researcher, policy analyst and leader, currently working for the Victorian Department of Education. She has worked in leadership roles in TAFE, Higher Education, an education union and in the Adult and Community Education sectors. Her current professional interests focus around equity in education particularly for learners with intersecting disadvantage. She is a former President of VALBEC and former member of the Victorian Adult Community and Further Education Board. She has previously published on adult literacy, adult education and vocational education and recently completed her PhD researching literacy mediation practices in a small rural town.