Keynote: Changing times, emerging trends: The future of education in Australia

Workshop: Understanding and engaging with the new generations of parents and students

About: Mark McCrindle is a demographer, futurist, social researcher, TEDx speaker, author and Principal at internationally recognised McCrindle

Keynote – ‘Why Christian leaders need the gospel’

Effective leadership starts with leading self—if we cannot lead ourselves, we will eventually encounter unnecessary barriers in leading another individual, let alone a team, a school, or a community. Drawing on biblical and scholarly perspectives, this talk will discuss the gospel as a sense-making and meaning-giving tool to re-examine five areas of our personal leadership effectiveness, namely desire, identity, dignity, motive, ambition.

Workshop – “How the gospel shapes Christian leaders’

In this workshop, participants will be working in small groups to discuss how the apply the gospel in their individual lives in relation to specific issues that are most salient in their current personal and professional lives.

Dr Sen Sendjaya, PhD.

Sen Sendjaya is Professor of Leadership at the School of Business, Law, and Entrepreneurship (SoBLE), Swinburne University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. from Monash University in 2005. Sen serves as an Elder at the Scots’ Church Melbourne, and is the Preaching Pastor at its Indonesian-congregation, which he planted in 2005. He is married to Associate Professor Lyfie Sugianto, and has two teenage children.

A leading scholar in the field of servant leadership, Sen has published four leadership books, and more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. He has received several research and teaching awards, including the Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management Best Educator Award 2017. Through MBA and executive leadership development programs, Sen has engaged with leaders in the education, government, transportation, finance, and healthcare sectors. He is also regularly invited to speak to Christian leaders in various churches and Christian organisations.

TOPIC: Maximizing Hinge Moments: Building Momentum as We Recover from the Pandemic

D. Michael Lindsay, Ph.D., serves as the President of Taylor University, one of the nation’s leading Christian universities. Lindsay assumed this role after a decade of service at Gordon College on Boston’s North Shore. His tenure at Gordon coincided with record years of fundraising, campus diversity, sponsored research, athletic success, and faith expression on campus. Since assuming the Taylor presidency, the University has experienced significant momentum in advancement, admissions, and campus excitement for a new strategic plan.

Prior to arriving at Gordon, Lindsay was a member of the sociology faculty at Rice University, where he won multiple awards both for his teaching and academic research. He is the author of two dozen scholarly publications and numerous books, including, Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite, which was nominated for the nonfiction Pulitzer Prize, and his award-winning View from the Top, which has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. His most recent book, Hinge Moments, was launched globally on the Taylor campus in 2021 and is published with InterVarsity Press.

Lindsay earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University and graduate theological degrees from Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University and Princeton Theological Seminary. He is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Baylor University where he has been named Outstanding Young Alumnus.

TOPIC: Recruiting Educational Leaders in a Connected World

The Great Resignation is said to have begun in Australia, and attracting and retaining high quality educational leaders will be a challenge for schools and organisations. What are the contemporary recruitment strategies utilised to attract and appoint executive leaders into senior roles, and how might we plan to retain educational leaders through a focus on flexibility, development, wellbeing and current remuneration packages.

TOPIC: Brain, Mind and Faith: The Perfect Union

In this interactive workshop, Dr Ineka will explore the magnificent design of the human brain, how the mind ‘thinks’, and demonstrate the powerful ways in which prayer and Christian meditation can impact the physical structure and function of our brain, and help us to be ‘made new in the attitudes of our minds’. Expertly melding the science and scriptures, Dr Ineka demonstrates with practical, evidence-based tools how nourishing the health of our brain, taking dominion over our thoughts and going deeper in our intimate relationship with God is truly the ‘perfect union’, and the key to greater well-being.

Dr Ineka Whiteman, PhD (Med)

Dr Ineka Whiteman is a neuroscientist with 20 years international training and experience in brain research, including undergraduate studies at the University of Oxford, UK. With a PhD in Medicine specialising in neurobiology of dementia and other neurological disease, Ineka’s award-winning research has been published in numerous international peer-reviewed medical journals and invited for presentation at scientific conferences world-wide.

Ineka’s passion for teaching and communicating the science of the brain and mind has led her to work with a wide variety of organisations. Among these, she has held university research and teaching positions, liaison roles to Federal Government Ministers, she sat on the Board of Science and Technology Australia, consulted within the National Rugby League (NRL) and held senior Medical Affairs roles in the biopharmaceutical company Pfizer. Currently, Ineka serves as Head of Research, Medical and Scientific Affairs for two national not-for-profit patient advocacy organisations supporting children with rare neurological and metabolic disorders.

Alongside her academic and corporate experience, Ineka is an accomplished athlete having gained an ‘Oxford Blue’ in swimming, Oxford University college rowing merits and has competed at several Australian National Swimming Championships.

A passionate Christian and engaging communicator, Ineka has a heart for empowering and inspiring others to live well, think well and transform their lives.

TOPIC: How personal sentiment influences demand dynamics for the economy and the sustainability of schools.

• What can human behaviour, big data and how people “feel” tell us about the economy, consumers and our schools?
• Findings from the NAB Independent School Survey.

Dean Pearson – Head of Behavioural Economics at NAB

As a behavioural economist and commentator with almost 30 years’ experience, Dean has worked to debunk the view that humans are rational, clear-thinking beings. Instead, we behave and make choices that are often illogical and based on emotion.  And, if we are to truly understand the economy, it is important that we know the underlying emotional state and motives of the people who work and live within it. Dean is a sought-after key note speaker at major business forums, with the ability to present complex information in a readily digestible and  entertaining manner.

TOPIC: Crisis Public Relations 101 for School Leaders

Liam Renton is an Australian Media Personality. His first major media role came as the National Newsreader for the Channel 7 Kids TV show The Big Breakfast in his early 20’s. Liam’s since been heard on various radio stations around Australia hosting national breakfast radio shows. Liam was the host of the national Christian Countdown Show played weekly for a decade on over 500 radio stations and was voted the 35^th Best Australian radio announcer of all time in a recent 2021 poll. He is an author of highly successful book titled “First Time Father” and more recently as a Podcast host was awarded the honor of hosting the 3^rd Best Christmas Podcast on the Planet. Liam attributes much of his success to his time as a student at Immanuel Luther College throughout the 90’s laying the groundwork for who he has become and what he’s achieved. He has been married for 19 years and has two daughters who attend Northside Christian College.

TOPIC: How to Navigate the Ongoing Teacher Shortage

Join education recruitment consultant Ryan McKenzie for an expert-led discussion on ways to attract and retain quality teachers in the current job market.

Having completed a Bachelor of Exercise Science and a Post Graduate Diploma of Education, Ryan took the step into teaching in 2012, working in schools in Australia, England and Spain. Upon his return, he moved into Education Recruitment where he spent 4 years at another Education Recruitment company before moving into his consultant role here at SchoolHouse. He prides himself on his ability to find quality educators for schools and works tirelessly to ensure he understands the individual contexts of each school to make this happenHe is delighted to be working alongside the most experienced and dedicated team of Education Recruitment Consultants in Australia and looks forward to building more connections with teachers and schools in 2022 and beyond.