The ECW Educators Festival – not your usual professional development opportunity

The Australian Education and Care Workforce Professional Body (ECW) was formed to connect, inform and evaluate the education and care workforce, and bring together educators from all arms of the workforce under one professional body. To progress their work, they have arranged a second educator’s festival, bringing together the sector for learning and inspirations. 

By working collaboratively with ECW Collective members, ECW hopes to speak with one strong voice, about the health, well being and professional profile of educators across Australia, acknowledging their wealth of knowledge, expertise, and practice wisdom. 

When it comes to professional development offerings, ECW wanted to offer educators “an alternative to the usual arrangement of Professional Development that was being offered”. 

As a collective, ECW was “looking for something that was fresh, inspiring, motivational and affordable. Something that would inform best practice, build capacity, be outdoors, stress free and relaxing while supporting real connections and relationships”. 

When speaking with The Sector about the educators’ festival, ECW outlined that the collective members were searching for that sense of ‘village’ and community, the place where educators and leaders could come together, recognising that no one person or organisation holds all of the knowledge.

ECW wanted to find the village, and share it with educators, making a space where they could seek out the information, services and connections that were relevant to them on their own professional learning journeys.

In conceptualising the festival, focus words included “fresh” “inspiring” “motivational” and “affordable”. Something that would inform best practice, build capacity, be outdoors, stress free and relaxing while supporting real connections and relationships. 

The bulk of ECW are educators, and, as such, are working in the profession, and dedicating their efforts to “giving something back” and drawing on their own knowledge and experiences to pass on what they have learned to a new generation of educators, in the hopes that they feel supported and connected. 

The second ECW festival will be held at Kindilan, in Queensland’s Redland Bay, on 7 September 2019. 

ECW promises a “glorious day” out in the sunshine, filled with incredible speakers and presentations, good food, great coffee, and a range of organisations, trades and suppliers, all with a focus on providing educators with an authentic, meaningful and affordable learning experiences. 

To learn more about the festival, see here.