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Notes from the Regions

Greetings from Australia. The Australasian Association for Cooperative Education (AACE), which has in the past enjoyed close and mutually supportive connections with the IASCE, is looking forward to rejuvenating those connections, and to welcoming members to Australia.

AACE is now 10 years old, and in honor of this anniversary the new AACE Central Council, has revisited the aims of our organization. At our November meeting in Perth, West Australia, the Council revised AACE aims:

1. Share expertise and promote cooperation and collaboration;

2. Promote the development of effective learning communities;

3. Promote collaborative strategies for continuously improving personal,
team and organizational learning;

4. Offer a diverse range of opportunities for participation in the exchange
        and generation of knowledge (building social and intellectual capital).

These reflect our intention to take co-operation and collaboration beyond classrooms and schools and into the community and workplaces. This is already happening and the work that we are engaged in building learning communities in the corporate and business world as well as schools and communities is being well received. Over the past 12 months the Central Council developed our magazine, Connections, published 3 times a year and contains research and practitioner information. We have also developed a practitioner newsletter called AACE Tips which highlights practical and experiential ways of using cooperative/collaborative learning strategies effectively. AACE is in the process of building a repository of research that has been done here in the Australasian region.

Our November conference in Perth entitled,"Collaboration, Cooperation and Building Resiliency" drew 350 attendees. The keynote presenters then went on a "round Australia" workshop trip after the conference and reached many more people who weren't able to come to Perth.

Our biannual symposium in July, 2000, will be held either in Tasmania or Cairns on the theme: "National Professional dialogue." The 2001 biannual conference will be held in Darwin, Northern Territory, and will focus on cooperation and collaboration across education, community and business sectors. For further information on our conferences or other AACE activities please check the AACE website at www.ozemail.com.au/~aacedu or contact Julie Boyd, Central Council Member, at globallearning@vision.net.au.

MAACIE is sponsoring Spencer Kagan for a two-day workshop on March 6 & 7, 2000. Back by popular demand, Spencer will be presenting an exciting workshop on "Cooperative Learning and the Multiple Intelligences"

MAACIE now has a web site www.maacie.org. Check It Out!

The Maine Support Network is sponsoring a Spencer Kagan two-day workshop on February 6 & 7, 2000. Spencer will be presenting on "Win-Win Discipline: Strategies for Every Discipline Problem". For more information on this workshop call 1 (800) CO-OP LRN or check out our web site www.mainesupportnetwork.org