The ECA Colloquia on Leadership and Ethics provides a select group of leaders in the early childhood sector with the opportunity to engage in deep, connected professional learning through a series of facilitated dialogues.
Occurring in a dedicated space with facilitators who bring expertise in the study and practice of ethics and ethical leadership, the colloquia dialogues interlink with the key themes and content of the ECA National Conference.
I know you won’t believe me but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others.—Socrates
Expression of interest
The 2025 ECA Colloquia on Leadership and Ethics will be held in Perth in October 2025, in line with the 2025 ECA National Conference.
To submit an Expression of interest to receive more information, please click on the button below.
Preparation
Prior to coming to the conference, colloquia participants are asked to engage with a curated set of thought-provoking resources (these will include readings as well as audio/visual resources). It is recommended that participants allow 30 hours for preparation in the weeks leading up to the colloquia.
The dialogues will be structured around a tailored conceptual framework containing three key themes that historically and currently shape our sector—childhood, civil society and identity.
Outcomes for participants
As a participant in the colloquia, you will:
• expand your understanding about ethical leadership using a critically reflective approach for advocacy and action
• gain deeper understanding of the importance of diverse perspectives, dialogue and negotiation as critical elements of ethical leadership
• strengthen your capacity to be an informed thought leader for achieving improved outcomes for children, families and the community
• challenge and reconsider your role in empowering, enabling and enhancing future leaders in the children’s services sector.
Development and framework
The colloquia dialogues have been developed by a team of experts in ethics and leadership, both within and beyond the early childhood professional context.
The program facilitators, guest speakers and group dialogues will expand and reimagine the early childhood leadership landscape as we know it, laying the foundations for participants to create a sense of shared humanity as trailblazers tasked with ethical decision-making as they contribute to a more civil society.
Facilitators
Our highly skilled facilitators will use the conceptual framework and Socratic questioning techniques (or similar) to generate deeper, broader and transformed ways of thinking and being. Each dialogue session will be led by two facilitators, who will be confident with the content and processes and have a broad understanding of ethics as well as their application to early childhood sector leadership.
Catharine Hydon is the Principal Consultant and Director at Hydon Consulting. She has been practising, leading and advocating in early childhood education for more than 30 years. Her work as a consultant and critical friend supports innovative practice, pedagogy and transformational change. Catharine’s collaborative approach has taken her all over Australia to think alongside leaders and educators in a collective effort to define quality. Cultivating professional dialogue that responds to complexity and invites deep reflection is central to Catharine’s work, and her ongoing aim is to make grounded connection between theory and practice.
Trent Moy is the founder of Halide, a consultancy specialising in ethics, decision-making, culture and leadership. He spent 25 years in managerial and leadership roles in financial services, including as head of corporate responsibility and sustainability for one of Australia’s largest companies. Trent teaches educational philosophy and social justice as a casual academic at the Australian Catholic University. He is a long-term associate of the Ethics Centre, a Fellow of the Institute of Community Directors and holds qualifications in arts, business and higher education. Trent defines ethics as ‘thinking and doing decisions when something of critical value is at stake’.
We need to look to our past. Has anything really valuable been lost in the onward surge? … We need to evaluate our present very carefully. There is so much that could be done. … We need to look to the future lest present habit and expediency determine our direction; rather should we be guided by reasoned planning based on expanding knowledge of children and seen in relation to a complete scheme of education in its widest sense. Editorial excerpt from the Australian Preschool Quarterly, 1963
Dates and location
The 2025 ECA Colloquia on Leadership and Ethics will be held in Perth in October 2025, in line with the 2025 ECA National Conference.
Colloquia on Leadership and Ethics Alumni
Inaugural, 2022 Brisbane |
2022 Canberra | 2023 Adelaide | 2024 Brisbane |
Jane Bourne | Susan Anderson | Amie Arthur | Eleanor Behrens |
Sandra Cheeseman | Jantiena Batt | Jackie Bennett | Merise Bickley |
Penny Cook | Kim Bertino | Bev Book | Jane Bobbermein |
Alastair Gibbs | Juliette Bover | Penny Dakin | Danielle Bopping |
Louis Hamlyn-Harris | Andrea Christie-David | Sarah Louise Gandolfo | Liz Brown |
Nicole Jones | Amanda Docksey | Renata Harris | Catherine Clucas |
Sharon Jordan | Adam Duncan | Kirsten Holland | Carolynn Gill |
Dan Leach-McGill | Alison Evans | Sigi Hyett | Natalie Grenfell |
Nicole Pilsworth | Joan Gilbert | Allison McCartney | Sarah Herbert |
Julie Price | Ron Gorman | Melinda Miller | Tarryn Holland |
Carrie Rose | Fay Hadley | Georgie Nutton | Slavica Hristova |
Kay Turner | Susan Jackson | Naomi Witt | Nesha Hutchinson |
Kellie Watson | Rachelle McMahon | Tristan Reed | Carley Jones |
Anita White | Robyn Monro Miller | Kate Ryan | Madonna Lee |
Rowena Muir | Sebastian Tuttle | Mikaela Murray | |
Michelle Newell | Fran Myers-Baird | ||
Italia Parletta | Susan Reade | ||
Pippa Procter | Sarah Rheinberger | ||
Susan Robb | Debbie Roper | ||
Pauline Roberts | Ramesh Shrestha | ||
Amy Shine | Jo Walsh | ||
Joanne Tapley | Katherine Wilson | ||
Sarah Wilcox |
Colloquia Alumni testimonials
The facilitators led the participants on a path of challenge, deep conversation and questioning of ethics, leadership and our identity. We were united in our desire to discuss and deeply reflect on the readings given prior to the colloquia. The management of our time and dialogue that we were inspired to enter into have given me an even deeper thoughtfulness about my own leadership and ethics in the early childhood sector.—Jane Bourne
The opportunity to step back for a week and reflect on readings and engage in professional discussion is often so undervalued, but is potentially life changing for participants.—Robyn Monro Miller
I had been looking for something a bit different to engage with my own leadership and ethical skills. The colloquia seemed like the perfect opportunity to do this. What transpired was beyond my wildest expectations. I was offered the tools and space to take a deep dive into philosophy, ethics, leadership and rights, all the while using the opportunity to reflect on my own professional journey, the perspective of the sector and ways we can or ought to exert our influence.
I would recommend joining the colloquia, where you will be able to connect with a small number of professionals from a diverse range of locations, vocations and career pathways. You will be invited to take part in events that will connect to social justice issues within local communities. Most importantly, you will engage in dialogues that will leave you processing your potential long after the event.—Alistair Gibbs
Terms and conditions
ECA’s usual terms apply for cancellations, and due to the nature of this event we will need to approve any registration transfer. Refer here for more information.