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Wednesday, 16 December 2009

Jane Elliott, the Iowa third-grade teacher who in 1968 gave her class a lesson in discrimination that changed education around the world, will visit Perth next year for the international Positive Schools 2010 Mental Health and Wellbeing conference supported by The University of Western Australia.

Elliott, whose controversial and startling Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes exercise labels participants as superior or inferior based on eye-colour, will present a day of new material at the pre-conference event A Day with Jane Elliott. She will also present a one hour address on the main conference day .

UWA conference speakers include Associate Professor Helen Street, who will discuss teacher wellbeing and Associate Professor Sean Hood, whose topic will be finding solutions to childhood anxiety.  Among the nine workshops on offer, Associate Professor Moira Sim will present a workshop on prevention of drug and alcohol abuse; and Associate Professor Sue Byrne, whose workshop will address positive body image.

Other keynote speakers are also focused on creating a safe Australia for young people.  These include WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan, who will give the keynote conference speech, on "safety among young Australians" and "it's OK to dob"; and Australia's first Indigenous MP, Carol Martin.

The other supporters of the pre-conference event and the conference, on May 20 to 21 2010 at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle, are Wise Solutions, the Australian Psychological Society and Constable Care.

For more information and for early-bird registration, visit www.positiveschools.com.au and www.janeelliott.com.au and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx3v5okNztM

Media references

Neil Porter (Wise Solutions)  (+61 8) 9388 8843
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716

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