The conference theme is Imagination and Literacy: Theory and Practice. It will provide a forum for teachers, teacher educators, writers, librarians, researchers, academics, publishers, parents, children, and local and international development workers to showcase research, practice and innovative literacy strategies that imaginatively engage literacy development across Africa.
The event will begin with three days of talks, academic papers, and workshops on classroom practice. The final day will be open to the public and aimed at community involvement through a series of events including stalls, installations and practical sessions around the theme of igniting imagination.
Keynote speakers will include International Literacy Association Director Marcie Craig Post, South African activist and storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, research professors Barbara Comber (Australia), Viv Edwards (UK) and Kieran Egan (Canada), as well as principal of the St Mary's Junior School in Waverley, Johannesburg, Desiree Hugo.
Steve Cilliers, Managing Director of Oxford University Press Southern Africa notes that: "South Africa's continued challenge to turn the corner in improving literacy rates requires a redoubled commitment from all role-players which include curriculum developers, teachers and publishers. The challenge of preparing most South African learners for English as the language of learning while they are still mastering their mother tongue makes this particularly challenging. OUP is a global leader in emerging literacy and we commit ourselves to sharing this expertise as widely as we can."
Pan-African Literacy for All conferences, are important literacy events in Africa, providing a platform for literacy professionals and researchers to interface with policy makers in government and the donor community. They have taken place every two years since 1999 in countries including Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland and Uganda.
This year's event will be run in association with the International Literacy Association (ILA) and the International Development Committee-Africa (IDC-A). It will be organised by RASA - a leading South African literacy organisation which regularly organises conferences that draw together most of the South African experts on literacy.
Associate Professor Karin Murris, Chair of the RASA/Pan-African 2015 Literacy Conference committee, said: "To raise standards worldwide it is essential that everyone involved in teaching literacy learns how to engage the imagination systematically and to its full potential. The imagination is tied up with feelings and images, with wonder and excitement. From making learning engaging to making it possible to comprehend and critique a text, the imagination is an educational tool that needs to be nurtured, nourished and invested in. The conference will provide the theoretical and practical ideas to bring more imagination into your teaching, whether in school or at university."
