Conference Dates: 15 & 16 August 2027

Dr Ron Ritchhart is an internationally recognised researcher, author and educator whose work has influenced how teachers around the world understand and develop thinking in their classrooms.

A retired Senior Research Associate at Harvard Project Zero, Ron has spent decades researching intellectual character, visible thinking and the role of classroom culture in student learning.

He is the author and co-author of several influential publications, including Making Thinking Visible, Creating Cultures of Thinking, The Power of Making Thinking Visible and Cultures of Thinking in Action.

At Bialik's 10th Cultures of Thinking Conference, educators will have the opportunity to learn directly from Ron, explore his research and consider how intentional changes to classroom practice can support deeper learning.

Flossie Chua is a Principal Investigator at Project Zero, and her work focuses on understanding how people think about and experience complex ideas and challenges in different contexts, and how we can nurture good thinking and practices that develop not just better thinkers but also learners engaged by a range of topics, relating them to both individual and social needs and aspirations. Her latest projects explore ways that (1) strategic and sustained engagement with artistic practice can create supportive conditions for individuals and communities to find personal and broader purpose in times of unprecedented uncertainty and challenge; (2) good ideas might be brought into action in the contexts of school leadership and student learning by understanding how entrenched beliefs create cognitive distortions and what we might do to avoid or correct them; and (3) catalyzing young people’s creative and civic capacities might prompt shifts in the way they see themselves in relation to others and in the way they apply creative impulses to civic challenges.


Flossie has worked with Art21 Educators to support K-12 teachers to bring contemporary art, artists, and themes into classroom teaching and learning, and broaden their curricular focus to include inquiry into contemporary issues and questions that demand cross-curricular knowledge and ways of thinking through contemporary art. She is also currently working with BroadBand Collaborative and OAcademy to design reflective artistry practices that support and empower musicians to play leading roles as artists in orchestras and changemakers in communities. Flossie holds an Ed.D from Harvard University, and is also an Instructor in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Alongside Dr Ron Ritchhart's keynote presentations and workshops, the conference will feature breakout sessions facilitated by Bialik College educators and invited guest presenters.

Further presenter details will be announced closer to the conference.

Tracey is widely recognised for her ‘Ferocious Warmth’ leadership philosophy and her work in fostering professional collaborative cultures. Her framework, The Buzz, has been instrumental in creating environments of trust, learning, and innovation across educational and organisational settings in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. She is a conference speaker, as well as trusted advisor to senior teams and schools.

With her Buzz Diagnostic on collaborative cultures engaging over 550 schools and more than 15,000 participants, Tracey has spent the past 19 years delivering leadership programs for education and system leaders across all education sectors in Australia and New Zealand, as well as working with federations in the UK and Asia.

Tracey was awarded the ACELVic Hedley Beare Educator of the Year (2022) and is a National Fellow of the Australian Council of Education Leaders (FACEL). She was also named in The Educators’ 2024 Hot List and received the Professional Speakers Association Breakthrough Speaker of the Year Award (2023). With a background spanning teaching, educational leadership, business, and project management, she brings a dynamic and strategic lens to leadership and cultural transformation.

As an author, Tracey has penned three books:

- Ferocious Warmth – School Leaders Who Inspire and Transform
- Glue – The Stuff that Binds Us Together to do Extraordinary Work, a guide for leaders across sectors aiming to elevate their teams beyond convention
- The Buzz – Creating a Thriving and Collaborative Staff Learning Culture, supporting education leaders in driving transformation in schools

Beyond her work in leadership and culture, Tracey serves as Board Chair of The Corner Store Network, a social enterprise dedicated to eradicating food poverty in Timor-Leste and Australia. Running her own speaking and consulting practice for 19 years, she continues to inspire leaders and teams to create thriving, high-performing cultures. Tracey is an ex-recorder player, Harley Davidson rider who also co-owned a bar and restaurant on a small island in Indonesia for a while, which considering an earthquake and a pandemic followed soon after buying it, may not have been the best investment. When she’s not at work, you’ll find Tracey out exploring the world, often on the back of that Harley motorbike, and enjoying time with her partner, two adult children and her dog.