Theme & Streams

Learning in Times of Change: Imagination, Identity, and Impact

Change is one of the few constants in education, but it rarely arrives as a single, decisive moment.

It gathers gradually—in the questions our students bring into the room, in the technologies that alter what is possible, in the shifting worlds of work and community, and in the ideas that ask us to reconsider what and whose knowledge we value. At other times, it arrives all at once: unsettling familiar ways of thinking and working and asking us to imagine what might take their place.

The theme for the 2027 WA Teaching and Learning Forum is Learning in Times of Change: Imagination, Identity and Impact.

At its heart is an invitation to think more deeply about change: not only how we respond to it, but how we participate in creating it.

Imagination

Imagination allows us to look beyond what already exists. It gives us the capacity to ask different questions, to see familiar problems from new perspectives and to envision forms of education not yet fully realised.

In times of uncertainty, imagination is not an escape from reality. It is one of the ways we engage with reality more fully: testing possibilities, challenging assumptions and creating room for new ideas, relationships and ways of learning to emerge.

What becomes possible when imagination is understood not as an optional creative exercise, but as a genuine educational practice?

Identity

Education is shaped by who we are, what we have experienced and the knowledge we carry with us. Students and educators do not enter learning spaces as abstract or interchangeable participants. We bring our histories, cultures, disciplines, communities, values and different ways of understanding the world.

To consider identity is to ask who feels recognised within higher education, whose knowledge is made visible and whose experiences remain at its edges. It is also to recognise that education can change how people understand themselves, one another and their place in the world.

How might closer attention to identity deepen learning—and help us create educational experiences in which more people can participate, belong and excel?

Impact

The language of impact often turns our attention towards outcomes, measures and evidence. These matter: we need to understand whether our work is making a difference and for whom.

But the impact of education is not always immediate or easily counted. It may be found in a student beginning to see themselves differently, in a teaching practice carried into another discipline, in a relationship that makes learning possible, or in an idea whose influence continues long after a course has ended.

What changes when we think about impact not only as something to demonstrate, but as the human, institutional and social difference our work makes?

An Invitation to Think Together

Imagination, identity and impact do not sit apart from one another.

What we are able to imagine is shaped by who we are and whose perspectives we encounter. The choices we make in response have consequences: for our students, our colleagues, our institutions and the communities of which higher education is a part.

The 2027 theme holds these ideas together because meaningful change is rarely created through one idea, one discipline or one person acting alone. It grows through relationships, shared inquiry and the willingness to encounter perspectives beyond our own.

WATLF 2027 invites Western Australia’s higher education community to come together in that spirit: to share what we are learning, examine what remains difficult and consider what kind of change our work might make possible.

Whether your work is in teaching, student support, operations, leadership, or service innovation, your insights can help shape a richer, more connected future for higher education.

2027 Streams

The six streams approach the theme from different but connected perspectives. The examples of what proposals might explore are intended as prompts rather than limits. We also welcome work that approaches these streams from perspectives we may not yet have anticipated.

Relational Education, Equity and Inclusion

Proposals might explore partnership pedagogies, co-creation, peer learning, mentoring, collaborative practice, learning communities, inclusive curriculum and teaching, Universal Design for Learning, accessibility, widening participation, culturally responsive practice, student equity, neurodiversity or initiatives shaped with communities whose perspectives have historically been overlooked.

Education is built through relationships: between educators and students, among peers, across disciplines and institutions, and with communities beyond the university. Yet access to higher education does not, by itself, ensure that everyone can participate fully or experience education equitably.

This stream explores approaches that place connection, collaboration, dialogue and reciprocity at the centre of learning while identifying and removing barriers to participation. It invites us to consider how relationships, structures and teaching practices can create the trust, accessibility and shared responsibility through which meaningful and equitable learning becomes possible.

Indigenous Voices in Curriculum

Proposals might share Indigenous-led or collaborative work, place-based learning, curriculum transformation, culturally responsive pedagogy, or honest reflections on the processes, relationships and responsibilities involved in this work.

Curriculum reflects decisions about what knowledge matters, whose authority is recognised and how learning is connected to place.

This stream centres Indigenous voices, knowledges and perspectives in curriculum and teaching practice. It invites thoughtful engagement with Indigenous leadership, decolonising approaches, cultural capability and the responsibilities of educators working within the distinct histories and living cultures of the places in which we teach and learn.

Learning and Teaching with Emerging Technologies

Proposals might explore artificial intelligence, immersive or adaptive technologies, digital learning environments, technology-enabled pedagogies, or critical approaches to the adoption and use of emerging tools.

Emerging technologies are changing not only the tools available to education, but the questions education must ask of itself.

This stream welcomes practical, critical and imaginative engagement with technologies influencing how we teach, learn, assess and connect. It creates space to share new possibilities while also examining questions of ethics, equity, academic integrity, human agency and the purposes technology should—and should not—serve.

Assessment, Evidence, and Impact

Proposals might address assessment and feedback design, authentic assessment, academic integrity, evaluation, learning analytics, scholarship of teaching and learning, or approaches to understanding educational quality and impact.

Assessment shapes what students attend to, how they approach learning and what they come to understand as valuable. Evidence, in turn, helps us examine whether our educational choices are achieving what we hoped they would.

This stream explores assessment as a site of learning, judgement, experimentation and change. It also asks how we can understand and communicate the impact of our teaching without losing sight of the experiences behind the evidence.

Belonging, Wellbeing, and the Human Experience

Proposals might explore belonging, identity, wellbeing, care, connection, transition, student or staff experience, psychologically safe learning environments, or practices that affirm the humanity of those who learn and work within our institutions.

Higher education is an intellectual experience, but it is also an emotional, relational and deeply human one.

Students and staff learn and work within lives shaped by uncertainty, responsibility, aspiration and change. This stream considers what enables people to feel recognised, connected, supported and able to thrive—and what happens when they do not.

Employability and Learning for the Real World

Proposals might explore authentic and work-integrated learning, industry or community partnerships, career development, entrepreneurship, transferable capabilities, professional identity or approaches that help students connect their learning with lives and futures of meaning.

Preparing students for the world beyond university means more than preparing them for a first job. It means supporting them to carry knowledge into unfamiliar contexts, respond to change, work with others and contribute thoughtfully to their professions and communities.

This stream explores how learning can connect with the complex realities students will encounter beyond the classroom—realities in which careers are rarely linear and the capacity to keep learning may be as important as any single technical skill.

Find the Right Place for Your Proposal

The streams are intended as starting points, not rigid boundaries. Many proposals will connect naturally with more than one.

When submitting, choose the stream that best represents the central question, contribution or conversation within your work. The review panel may recommend a different stream when developing the final program.

Explore the presentation formats and submission guidelines

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