During October our Year 9 and 10 students were given the opportunity to participate in the Integrity 20’20 & Beyond virtual conference, hosted by Griffith University, Queensland.

Integrity 20 gathers remarkable people to examine and discuss some of our greatest social, moral and political challenges. Integrity 20 promotes ethics and integrity as central considerations for creating a just, peaceful and prosperous world.

Students chose breakout sessions based on their interests. During the sessions our students got to know the speakers and workshopped some of the issues and ideas raised in the morning talks. 

Some of the topics included:

• Designing a way out of a pandemic
• The future of humans in space
• The business of changing the world
• Human rights and lockdown
• Designing a future with technology 

Questions and contributions were made via a moderated text chat. Our students’ questions showed great depth of knowledge, understanding and maturity!

Andrea Merrylees (Old Collegian) and I coordinated the morning and facilitated a reflection plenary session to conclude the conference. Some of the student’s reflections included: 

“It was inspiring to hear the opinions and views of those who had so much experience in each area and their thoughts on how to move forward and how we can make a difference ourselves”.

“It really expanded my thinking! What a fantastic opportunity to be exposed to speakers and researchers of such high calibre”.

“Use this new information to build a profile of understanding that can be put towards making a positive difference”.

“The presentations really opened my mind to new ideas and consider the future of technology, astronomy, health, economics and so many other topics. Positive or negative, it is interesting to consider what my future will look like and what initiatives need to be taken”.

Our students were asked what topics they would like to explore in future through this forum. Their responses included: social entrepreneurship; the future impacts of technology in business, health care, science and engineering; student agency through youth forums; journalism and media; impacts/strategies of grassroots social justice campaigns. The student responses have been provided to Griffith University to inform future conferences.

Of the twenty-eight schools that participated across Australia – we were the only SA school! We look forward to attending the conference next year – either virtually or in person.

Tracey Wallace
Service Learning Coordinator