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Please call HTAV on 03 9417 3422 if you wish to attend.

The annual conference of the HTAV is always a highlight in the Association’s professional development calendar. Over the past decades, many History teachers have come to see the conference as their main professional learning event for the year. Whilst many of you participate in other HTAV activities, the annual conference is perhaps the only opportunity in the year to meet with peers from Victoria and beyond. The positive atmosphere at an annual conference is palpable as so many ‘like-minds’ come together in one space over a couple of days.

2010 is a special year for the HTAV and therefore the theme of the conference, ‘Future Directions’, is apt. The path ahead for history education may be (somewhat) unstable, with the Australian Curriculum imminent. Most importantly, though, 2010 is the year that the HTAV celebrates its thirtieth anniversary as an incorporated entity. The HTAV’s origins, of course, go back much further than 1980 – the Victorian Historical Association (VHA), formed in the early 1950s and composed of school and university history teachers, was the HTAV’s forerunner. Its remit –‘to provide history teachers with a forum in which they can discuss professional matters [and to hold] a number of meetings throughout the school year, sponsor lectures, discussions, film nights and displays’ – is certainly not dissimilar to aims of the HTAV today. The legacy of the VHA, not to mention those people who established the HTAV in the 1980s (and had the foresight to develop a viable business structure), continues in 2010.

You will see from the diverse range of sessions that this conference is a ‘must attend’ event. From examining the Australian Curriculum and using technology in the classroom to the latest research in history education, the workshops on offer ensure that there is something for everyone, no matter where one’s personal or professional interests lie.

The annual conference, which was traditionally held in October, will now be held in July on a permanent basis. This timing enables many more teachers to participate in the conference.

I look forward to seeing you at Future Directions 2010 – particularly at the social events!

Annabel Astbury
Executive Director
HTAV