Thank you, Heather.

Good morning everyone! It is my pleasure to be here this morning to open the first ever conference conducted by the Association for Secondary Research Teachers (ASRT).

Congratulations on getting to this point – and clearly, judging by the fact that there are 220 participants here… on a Saturday… in near flood conditions… after a record heat wave… early in Term 1 – the Association and the Conference are responding to a need and providing a forum for people to share their passion for research, and for teaching research.

Congratulations to the conference organisers, and to the key people in the Association, and a special thank you to Tracy Dorian, Chris Maguire and Meridie Howley, whose initiative and enthusiasm have culminated in us all being here this morning.

To open this conference, I would like to group some reflections and comments about research in general, and the Research Project, in particular, around three well-known educational quotes.

The first is by Sir Ken Robinson, from his book: Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative.

“The only way to raise overall standards is to engage the energies and imaginations of every student in the system.”

This can be read in many ways but, to me, it’s about passion.

The Research Project is an opportunity for a student to direct his or her own learning. To choose the curriculum, so to speak, and to choose the discipline in which they would like to embed their research.

Indeed, how would a young person know if they would enjoy being a biologist, for example, if they didn’t get a chance to do some of the thinking, researching and writing that a biologist does? Without doubt, research in general, and the Research Project, in particular, engages a student’s intellectual curiosity, satisfies their thirst for discovery, and gives them an outlet for their creativity. Research invariably leads to a better understanding of and a deeper appreciation for the discipline under investigation. Through the Research Project, a student can, perhaps for the first time, explore their passion within the confines of clearly defined learning requirements and performance standards. They are able to develop new insights about their topic and about themselves; and they are able to set their own academic goals, develop strategies to meet them and reflect on their academic performance. When you can drive your own learning, then surely that passion grows, and surely lofty ambitions like ‘engaged’, ‘committed’, ‘informed’, ‘inspired’, ‘scholarly’ and ‘passionate’ simply become adjectives by which we come to describe young people. The second quote is by Carl Rogers: “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change." As we look around our nation today, at such challenges as the imminent demise of the car manufacturing industry, it is clear that all of us – and especially our young people – need not only to be able to find new answers to existing questions, but also new questions to ask. Our society needs its young people to be strategic learners. We need our students to be able to analyse, synthesise and form rational and reasonable arguments; to read for meaning; and to have the capacity to infer and interpret. We need them to be part of an innovation-oriented economy. Research and the Research Project provide young people with the opportunity to develop the essential skills for living now, in this world, and for a rapidly changing future. Young people must know how to question and plan, to evaluate and make judgments, innovate and solve problems, and make effective decisions. In fact, we all depend on them actually being able to do these things so as to navigate our society through this challenging phase. The third and final quote is by Grigori Perelman, a Russian mathematician. According to Perelman: "Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century." It is easy to make a case for young people here: of course they must learn, and to learn one must know how to learn. This is why research is important. And this is why teaching research, or thinking skills, or any cognitive process for that matter, is important. But, all of us sitting here this morning are adults living in the 21st century. Indeed, every teacher in every school right now is an adult living in the 21st century! We, too, must learn… A great outcome of the Research Project is that it has challenged us to evolve and improve as teachers. It has reminded us, perhaps gently for some, and in not so gentle ways for others, that we are learners too, and with every new school year, and every new group of students, we continue to search for ‘the best lesson ever’! The Research Project has challenged us to adapt; to be flexible; to know the right questions to ask; to inspire and guide; to know where to look, rather than just what to look for; to value the ‘way there’ as much as the ‘product’; to ‘keep track’; to change direction; to teach research methods; to explicitly teach and scaffold critical thinking; and to appreciate just how amazing young people can be when they follow their passion. Yes, the Research Project has helped us to look at our work differently. Perhaps, then, Perelman was talking about teachers when he said: "Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century." The Research Project has also helped us to come to see the word “content” in new light because, in the Research Project, the “content” of the subject is one of the most important gifts that we could offer a young person – that is, the gift of knowing how to direct one’s own learning, how to evaluate what has been learnt, and how to evaluate the way that they went about it. I think we could safely call that profound learning. Thank you to all of you here today for taking the time to continue to learn about research and the teaching of research. If I could please close with one final reflection about the relevance of Perelman’s quote: Who would have thought, say five years ago, that there would be an Association for Secondary Research Teachers (ASRT)? And who would have thought that you would be sitting here, calling yourself “a Research Project teacher”? Yes, all people, young and older, must know how to learn and change. Thank you for being so open to change. Thank you for being prepared to lead the way for others to follow. And thank you for teaching young people how to learn, how to evaluate what has been learnt, and how to evaluate the process they followed. I am sure that they – and, indeed, all of us - will be forever grateful! It is my please, therefore, to officially open this conference. Thank you!