MENTOR Magazine is India's most respected print magazine focused on School Leadership, Principals and Educators. From the past 5 years, MENTOR has established itself as a leading voice where educators work together to reinstate their position to improve the educational system.

The last few decades have witnessed a significant change in the demands on the schooling system. The Indian Education space has hardly any platforms or forums for educationists and educational researchers to share their learning and experiences with the Edutopia. In our attempt to converge and diffuse the good practices be it local or transcontinental, MENTOR Magazine felt the need to create a platform in the educational arena for educators to get together and work towards enhancing their skills and knowledge. MENTOR Magazine organised its first conclave titled Excellence in School Education in November 2011, which witnessed exchange of ideas and learning on various issues and addressed concerns to improve the quality of education imparted to children.

This year, MENTOR Magazine is bringing forth the MENTOR Conclave 2012 from the 16th - 18th November 2012, at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The MENTOR Conclave 2012 aims to provide a multinational platform, where educators, practitioners and researchers across the globe can come together and share with their fellow-mates experiences, innovations and the latest trends in education, with an aim to learn from each other.

Themes of the Conclave

We invite the submission of different papers reporting high quality research or practices in the space of education. Prospective presenters are encouraged to submit the abstract of their papers, which should be written in English, the official language of the event.

Below are the topics of interests, but are not limited to:

Experiences in Education

• Key processes and planning in a school
• School Social Responsibility
• Right to Education
• Creating eco-friendly schools
• Co-scholastic practices in school (life skills, health education, civic awareness, citizenship, creative arts education etc.)
• Academic guidance and counselling for students
• School infrastructure
• Learning experiences in primary and secondary school

Leadership and Management

• Facilitating school change through effective leadership
• Effective school management case studies
• Corruption/influence in schools
• Educating the educators - nurturing future school leaders
• Overcoming leadership challenges in schools
• Implementing innovations in schools
• Transferring skills and disciplines
• Setting high standards in schools – who is responsible?

Understanding Stakeholders

• Nurturing talents of teachers
• Teacher training courses - professional courses for teachers across Universities
• Teacher training and education for personal and professional development
• HR practices in schools - recruiting and training the right teachers
• Knowing the child and behaviour management
• Building student friendly schools
• Motivating students through active learning
• Engaging parents to improve the quality of education

Pedagogy, Curricula and Assessment

• Whole brain learning – focus on multiple intelligence
• Experiential Learning
• Trends in curriculum and assessment design across the world
• Designing curriculum and pedagogy to build and enhance the creative capacities of students
• Language learning innovations
• Collaborative and Problem based learning
• Lifelong learning
• Need for vocational learning in schools

The Future of Education

• Whole school transformation
• Creating state of the art schools
• Global education and education for sustainable development
• Open educational resources
• Preparing students for future professions
• New media in education (ICT, e-tutoring, mobile learning, gaming, social networking, web and phone applications etc.)
• Customisation and individualisation of curriculum
• Eliminating diversity and minority issues in education

Formats of Presentation

• Oral presentations: Each presentation will last for 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes for discussions. Each session of 90 minute duration will consist of five presentations that will be chaired by an eminent educator.
• Workshop presentations: Each workshop is of 60 minutes duration. The workshop has to feature an educational research/practice or innovation in action. The workshop facilitator must ensure that the workshop is interactive and the participants are engaged during the entire course of time.
• Panel discussions: This will provide an opportunity for three or more presenters to speak in a more open and conversational setting with the conference participants. All the panellists will be given 5 minutes to make their opening remarks on the topic and then the floor is open for interaction between the panellists and the audience. The session will last for 90 minutes.
• Project exhibitions: This will provide an opportunity for educators and researchers to display their work/study/research/innovation/finding etc. to the participants. The display can be in the form of posters, models, experiments, demonstrations etc. The exhibitors are welcome to bring in external resources such as students/educators/equipment/audio-video aids etc. to help support their display. The exhibition will be a scheduled part of the conference and will last for 90 minutes and consist of a large number of exhibitors. During this time, participants will be allowed to speak with the exhibitors on a one-to-one basis.

Types of Papers

• Experience Papers: These papers will be based on the presenters’ experiences/practices that they have had and would like to share. These papers are not necessarily based on research.
• Research Papers: Completed research papers in any of the topic areas.
• Student Papers: Research done by students in any of the topic areas that can be presented either by the student or faculty on behalf of the university/college.
• Case Studies: Intensive analysis by individuals or organisations in any of the topic areas.
• Work-in-Progress Reports or Proposals for Future Research: Incomplete research or ideas for future research in order to generate discussion and feedback in any of the topic areas.

Important Dates

Last date of submission of Abstract: 30th August, 2012
Notification of acceptance of Abstract: 10th
September, 2012
Last date of submission of full manuscript: 30th September, 2012
Intimation of acceptance of manuscripts: 10th October, 2012
Last date of registration for the conclave: 15th October, 2012
Conclave dates: 16th – 18th November, 2012

Paper Submission Guidelines

• Prospective presenters are encouraged to submit the abstract of their manuscripts for presentation by the 30th of August 2012.
• The abstract must contain the title, format of presentation, type of paper, key words, a short profile of the presenter and a presentation brief not exceeding 200 words. The format of the abstract submission will be available online at www.mentormagazine.net or can be emailed on request.
• All abstracts must be emailed to
conclave@mentormagazine.net.

Shortlisted Papers

• The authors of the selected abstracts will be notified via email on the 10th September 2012. Upon notification, short listed authors must submit their full manuscript by the 30th September 2012. Only pdf or doc files will be accepted for submission. All received manuscripts will be acknowledged by an e-mail.
• Manuscripts should not exceed 5000 words and should follow the prescribed format. The format of the manuscript submission will be emailed to the shortlisted authors.
• Final manuscripts must be emailed to conclave@mentormagazine.net.

Publication

The shortlisted papers of the conference will be published in the MENTOR JOURNAL. Authors, whose papers are considered for publication, must also provide information about previous/earlier publications of the same manuscript in any other journals/magazines/portals etc. Some selected papers may also be published in Mentor Magazine and/or www.mentormagazine.net.

Registration Note

All shortlisted authors must register for the conference to qualify for presentation. A subsidized Registration Fee of Rs.1500 INR or 50 USD will be charged for presenters. This cost is inclusive of the conclave kit, lunch and refreshments on all the three days, participation certificate and publication. The cost does not cover accommodation or transport facilities for presenters residing in India.

*Accommodation and local travel will be arranged only for international presenters.

Disclaimer

1. By submitting abstracts and manuscripts to the Mentor Conclave, the authors/presenters agree to abide by the rules and terms of the conclave.
2. All abstracts and manuscripts sent by the authors/presenters undergo peer review to ensure fair balance, objectivity, independence and relevance to educational need.
3. Authors/presenters must make every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy and validity of the content provided. They will be responsible for the facts, content and views expressed in their respective manuscripts.
4. Authors/presenters must make every reasonable effort to ensure that references and acknowledgements are clearly elicited in their manuscripts. Authors/presenters need not obtain permission to quote a person, however, they need to clearly mention the name of the person they are quoting.
5. Authors/presenters must understand that the content printed is subject to change to suit the essence of the journal.
6. The decision of the organisers will be final and binding to all matters relating with selection of papers and journal publishing.

Terms of the Conclave

1. Organisers reserve the right to alter the conclave proceedings due to time constraints, natural calamity or any untoward incident (if any).
2. The organisers will be at the liberty to use content, photographs, voice and motion pictures of the author/presenter at the conclave for media coverage, advertisement or publicity in any form which is existing today or will be known anytime in the near future without any consideration.
3. Organisers shall not be responsible for any loss, injury or any other liability arising out of the conclave.
4. Organisers shall not be liable for any loss, delay or damage due to act of God, governmental actions, other force majeure circumstances and shall not be liable to pay any amount as compensation, or otherwise, for any such loss, delay or damage.
5. All disputes and matters relating to the conclave shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Courts at Bangalore, India only.