College of Education hosts 37th annual Pacific Circle Consortium Conference

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Jennifer Parks, (808) 956-0416
Communications Coordinator, College of Education
Posted: Jul 2, 2013

Pacific Circle Consortium participants. Photo courtesy of CRDG.
Pacific Circle Consortium participants. Photo courtesy of CRDG.

The Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa's College of Education (COE) hosted the Pacific Circle Consortium’s (PCC) 37th annual conference at the UHM Hawai‘i Imin Conference Center from June 3-7, 2013.

During the five-day event, participants examined the conference theme, "Sharing Perspectives—International Conversations about Education: Recurring Themes in PCC." With more than 40 sessions, which featured prominent scholars, award-winning writers from the COE, and University Laboratory School students, participants came from the Pacific, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Fiji, Sāmoa, Japan and the United States.

The PCC bestows two awards each year – the Peter Brice Award and the Arthur King Jr. Curriculum Innovation Award, named for one of PCC’s founding members.

The Peter Brice award is presented by the conference host country to an individual who best exemplifies the aims of the organization. This year's recipient was Robert Witt, the Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) and CEO of the Hawaiian Education Council. He has 40 years of experience in the field of education and is a national leader focused on transformative leadership, generative governance and teacher professionalism.

Said COE Dean Don Young, “Robert exemplifies the qualities for which we honor Peter Brice, who represented New Zealand in the early days of the PCC. The PCC Executive Committee created this award as a credit to Peter’s wisdom, humanity and lifelong commitment to educational ideals. The selection of Robert Witt was an obvious choice.”

The Arthur King Jr. Curriculum Innovation Award is presented to an individual or group for developing an innovative, effective program or curriculum focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. Receiving this award was David Grossman, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East-West Center, former Dean of Education at Chaminade University, and former Head of the Department of Social Science and Dean of the Faculty of Languages of Arts and Science at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He directed three global education programs that are recognized both nationally and globally

CRDG Director Kathleen Berg commented, "A contemporary of Arthur King, David Grossman exemplifies the values and work celebrated by this award. As a participant and supporter of the PCC for many years, his work has enriched the consortium. Dr. King, who was the founding director of CRDG, would have been very pleased that Dr. Grossman was selected for this award."

The Pacific Circle Consortium was established in 1977 as an initiative in international co-operation between educational research and development institutions in the Pacific Region initially drawn from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Membership has since been extended to other countries from within this region and from Asia. The focus has also changed from one of collaboratively produced curriculum materials to broader issues of policy development and educational research.

To view the CRDG website, see http://manoa.hawaii.edu/crdg/.