2025 Conference

ACAL and VALBEC have joined forces to bring you Inclusion, Empowerment, Employment: Literacies for a dynamic future, our 2025 conference to be held on September 4 and 5.

Explore the role of literacy in empowering adults, fostering inclusion, and increasing wellbeing in a range of contexts – personal, community, study and work.

Explore the website and consider submitting an application to present: https://acal.edu.au/wp/25conf-home/

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

The Trauma Informed Classroom 

A VALBEC (Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Educational Council) Professional Learning session presented by Lucia Prinzi and Rod Begbie.

Lucia and Rod believe that a trauma-informed classroom is one in which the students become the heroes of their own story of healing from trauma and thriving, and where the teacher curates a space where that is possible by being a safe, authentic and connected presence and creating consistent and predictable rhythms for the class – hearing and validating their students, and feeding the part of them that believes that the world is safe and predictable.

In this session, with this kind of transformation in mind, Lucia and Rod will talk about how trauma presents in the classroom and how we can make the classroom a genuinely safe place for students and teachers, a place where healing and thriving is possible.

They will finish their session with a discussion of the kind of self-care required to do this work sustainably.

Lucia Prinzi has dedicated over 20 years to the non-profit sector, focusing on trauma-informed practice principles and concepts. Her passion lies in raising awareness and responding to domestic and family violence. Lucia has held executive board positions at both Safe and Equal and the InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence. Throughout her career, she has taken on various practice, leadership, and policy roles.

Currently, Lucia is sharing her extensive knowledge by educating students studying for the Diploma of Community Services at Melbourne Polytechnic. She firmly believes that good practice leads to safe responses, and she is committed to fostering this belief in the next generation of community service professionals.

Rod Begbie, LN Teacher, B/Arts, M/Theatre Studies, Dip Ed (Secondary) English/Drama, Cert IV Workplace Training and Assessment, Clinical Pastoral Education (Level 1).

Rod has worked for over three decades in public and private sector adult education both in Australia and overseas. Initially training as a Secondary English and Drama teacher, Rod pivoted early in his career to teaching English to International Students in TAFE and University language schools both in Australia and overseas. More recently he has moved into the LN Support area at Melbourne Polytechnic and is loving this opportunity to engage with a wider range of students and departments.

Rod also works in pastoral care and leadership coaching and is exploring what a trauma-informed lens looks like in both these spaces.

We look forward to seeing you there.

VALBEC PL Forums Team

Who: Lucia Prinzi and Rod Begbie

When: Wednesday, 25^th June 2025, 5.30-6.30 pm AEST

Where: Zoom

Cost: VALBEC Members Free; non-Members $10

Registration

Scaffolding in adult literacy education 

A VALBEC (Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Educational Council) Professional Learning session presented by Jo Medlin.

In this session Jo will present current research on adult literacy learning that has implications for the way we scaffold learning. This presentation will move beyond traditional considerations of scaffolding in education that we might commonly think of when we talk about scaffolding, such as Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development.

Instead, linked to the literature will be examples to illustrate how we might envisage good practice and ensure scaffolding is used to full effect in adult literacy contexts. The role of Australian frameworks for adult learning, such as the ACSF and AQF, will also be considered.

Jo Medlin is an Associate Lecturer in Adult Vocational Education in the School of Education / Faculty of Arts and Education at Charles Sturt University (CSU). She coordinates and teaches adult literacy and numeracy teaching subjects and a variety of vocational teacher LLND subjects. Jo has been working in adult literacy and numeracy for over three decades. In addition, she volunteers as the president of the Australian Council for Adult Literacy. Although a strong advocate for learning, literacy, and plain language, her main interest is in ensuring everyone has the ability to read for pleasure. Her favourite new T-shirt reads: A book a day keeps reality away. 

We look forward to seeing you there.

VALBEC PL Forums Team

Who: Jo Medlin

When: Wednesday, 23^rd July 2025, 5.30-6.30 pm AEST

Where: Zoom

Cost: VALBEC Members Free; non-Members $10

Registration