The NICE annual Educating for Hope Research Symposium brings together Christian education scholars from around Australia and overseas to exchange scholarly research, insights and innovations, in order for our Christian education sector to flourish and grow. The 2026 symposium will be a full-day, in-person and (partially) online event held on Monday, 4th May 2026 at the Alphacrucis University College campus in Sydney.
Word. World. Wisdom.
The 2026 Educating for Hope Research Symposium invites Christian educators, researchers, and scholars to engage deeply with the three interwoven dimensions shaping our calling today: Word, World, and Wisdom.
The Word theme grounds us in theological vision, calling us back to the nature of God and the centrality of Christ and asks us to wrestle with what this might mean for scholarship, research, and teaching and learning. The World topic asks us to attend carefully to cultural currents: the social, political, technological, and philosophical trends that shape the content of our research, our policies, the context of our classrooms, and the imaginations of our students. The Wisdom lens turns to the art and practice of education itself, asking how we form people in ways to attend to the world beyond information acquisition.
In a time when education is navigating shifting moral frameworks, rapid technological change, and widening cultural divides, Christian education requires voices and visions that can hold theology, culture, and pedagogy in constructive tension. This symposium is a space for robust scholarly exchange, for research that is both academically rigorous and spiritually attentive, and for conversations that can imagine what Christian schooling needs to be for the decades ahead.
Keynote Speakers
We are thrilled to also announce our two keynote speakers for the 2026 symposium, Dr Miriam Jessie Fisher, and Dr Dan Anderson. Both speakers bring a wealth of knowledge from their experience in education and research from the tertiary and theological sectors, and we are so excited to welcome them as key guests to our symposium.
Miriam Jessie Fisher is Acting Head of Education at the Christchurch campus of Laidlaw College, New Zealand. Miriam is an interdisciplinary lecturer in education and theology, a poet and textile artist. Her research interests include creativity and arts in education, spirituality and formation, and engagement between theology and imagination. Her work focuses on the Bible as our defining story, the one that vivifies all of our living. Methodologically, Miriam Jessie enacts research that combines traditional, intellectual, creative and embodied expressions. She seeks to enact educational practice and theological expression that honours the context of Aotearoa, bicultural partnerships, te Reo me ona tikanga Māori, New Zealand Sign Language, and Deaf culture. Miriam Jessie has qualifications in Theology, Education, Supervision and Drama.
Dan Anderson is the Director (CEO) of the Lachlan Macquarie Institute (LMI) based in Canberra, Australia. LMI’s mission is to train wise Christian leaders for politics and culture. Prior to LMI, Dan worked in Christian ministry with University students in Sydney as the Pastor/Chaplain at Robert Menzies College, Trinity Chapel, and Macquarie University, and as a campus staff worker with Christian Union in Sydney and Canberra. Dan has served on a range of Boards, including as the Chair of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) and as Board Chair of Emmaus Christian School (a CEN member). Dan holds a B.A. (Hons) from the ANU; B.Div from Moore College and a PhD from Macquarie University. Dan is married to Emma and they have two children (Nat and Evie).
Across our keynote presentations, papers, networking, and panel presentation, participants will explore how these three lenses inform one another and together offer a richer picture of what it means to educate with hope. Join us as we listen, question, and collaborate towards a vision of education that is rooted in the Word, responsive to the World, and shaped by Wisdom.
Abstracts Welcome
We welcome abstract submissions from researchers in a variety of contexts, including K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and other organisations involved in Christian education research and scholarship. We encourage submissions from scholars, educators, and graduate students (for example, NICE graduates) working in the field of education.
Proposals may include different types of scholarly work connected with the conference theme of Word, World, and Wisdom, including:
- Original primary (empirical) research projects completed or in progress.
- Conceptual or theoretical investigations drawing on the philosophy of education, or theological foundations for relevant themes in education.
- Best practice research for innovative programs, partnerships, community practices in the education fields, and/or recommendations for educational or school policy.
The research symposium will include several keynote research addresses, concurrent (stream-based) research presentations, and a panel discussion, depending on presenter numbers.
Concurrent Streams include:
- Stream one: Word. Exploring the centrality of Christ, Scripture, and theological imagination for education, research, and scholarship. In this stream, research and scholarship draws on Christological and theological insight to discern the purposes, practices, and distinctives in shaping learners and communities.
- Stream two: World. Engaging with the social, political, technological, and philosophical influences shaping education today. Christian scholarship cannot ignore the complex realities affecting students, schools, and communities. Research in this stream examines Christian education in its full cultural, moral, and political context.
- Stream three: Wisdom. Exploring the art and practice of teaching and learning that forms the whole person in love, character, virtue, discernment, and knowledge. Through this stream, we focus on research in Christian education that seeks to cultivate wisdom: the capacity to live faithfully, think critically, and act justly in a complex world.
Submissions are due by February 15th, 2026. Proposals received by this date will be reviewed, and individuals will be notified of the decision in late February 2026.
