2024 VicTESOL Symposium – Keynote Session: Refugee education in Australia: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change
11 November 2024, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Summary
VicTESOL were very pleased to have Dr Melanie Baak present the key note address for the 2024 symposium, which set the scene for the rest of the symposium events. Melanie presented on a significant body of research looking at how schools foster resilience for students from refugee backgrounds. She presented key learnings and information that resonated with the experiences of attendees. Melanie’s insights were very thought provoking, which generated lively discussions between attendees in break out room sessions and led nicely to the next programmed event – hearing the experiences of young people of refugee backgrounds in Victorian schools.
https://i.imgur.com/aeJqqIF.png00Association Officerhttps://i.imgur.com/aeJqqIF.pngAssociation Officer2024-11-22 16:54:132024-12-11 13:16:462024 VicTESOL Symposium – Keynote Session: Refugee education in Australia: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change
2024 VicTESOL Symposium – Workshop: Impacts of Trauma on Learning and Behaviour
20 November 2024, 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Summary
In this session, Lindsey Hogg, Professional Learning Officer, and Allison Greene, Lead and GROWTH Coach, from Foundation House Schools Support Program presented a session on Foundation House’s Recovery Model. This session unpacked practical and developmentally appropriate support strategies for learners’ impacted by trauma. The session emphasized the importance of trauma informed practice when working with learners from refugee or refugee like background and the importance of creating safe and culturally responsive learning environments that empower and promote the establishment of safe and nurturing relationships.
For More information of Foundation House Recovery Model or Refugee Education Support Program or wellbeing services for education sites contact: (03) 9389 8900
School support: https://foundationhouse.org.au/specialised-programs/schools/
This panel was held in response to symposium keynote address by Melanie Baak, Refugee education in Australia: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change. The Pannel was facilitated by Victesol committee member, April Edwards. Pannel members from a range of settings including school leadership and refugee support services discuss their experiences of working with students from a refugee background. This included the teaching of English as Additional Language, creating welcoming and inclusive social environments, supporting pathways and supporting wellbeing. The Pannel discussed ways schools can be culturally responsive and importance of supporting wellbeing and being aware of challenges faced within the settlement process and establishment of new lives and identities.
Panelists:
Sarah Cunninghamhas been employed with CatholicCare Victoria since 2020, coordinating a Job Readiness Program for refugee youth and their mothers in Geelong’s Northern Suburbs.
Debra Gibsonis the Principal of Doveton College – a vibrant learning community comprising an Early Learning Centre for children 0-5 years of age, school for Foundation to Year 9 and a range of adult learning classes.
Christine Bakopanos is a Counsellor-Advocate Senior Practitioner at The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture- known as Foundation House. Foundation House provides a range of services to people from refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds who have survived torture or war related trauma.
Houda El Kheirhas been working as a Multicultural Education Aide at Meadows Primary School, in Melbourne’s north for the last 5 years. She works closely with teachers, the principal and the wellbeing team in supporting newly arrived and refugee families to navigate the Australian schooling system.
2024 VicTESOL Symposium – Pre-recorded Interviews: The Experiences of Students from Refugee Backgrounds
13 November 2024, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Summary
Summary to come
Resources
https://i.imgur.com/aeJqqIF.png00Association Officerhttps://i.imgur.com/aeJqqIF.pngAssociation Officer2024-11-22 16:53:082024-11-22 16:53:082024 VicTESOL Symposium – Pre-recorded Interviews: The Experiences of Students from Refugee Backgrounds
Non-native English Language Teachers’ Stories: Constructing Cosmopolitan Professional Identities in Australia 30 April 2024, 4:00 – 5:15pm AEST, Online
Summary
In this professional learning session, Non-native English Language Teachers’ Stories: Constructing Cosmopolitan Professional Identities in Australia, Nashid Nigar shared her recent PhD findings. In her research she interviewed 16 participants, using a hermeneutic phenomenological narrative (HPN) approach, examining the professional identity construction of immigrant English language teachers (ELTs) in Australia, who speak English as a second or additional language. Nashid discussed the concept of “hybrid professional becoming”, which transcends the binary construct of native and non-native ELTs. This allows for a ‘fluid identity shaped over time by transnational professional agency, ideologies of power, race, language, and cultural intersection’.
The session was a powerful showcase of the challenges and opportunities that exist within the Australian education system. It provided valuable insights into the experiences of immigrant ELTs and how we can foster a ‘richer, more inclusive teaching and learning environment’. Attendees were grateful for the learning opportunity and were given the chance to share their own personal and professional experiences.
VicTESOL would like to thank Nashid for generously sharing her research and for her valuable contribution to the VicTESOL professional learning community.
https://i.imgur.com/aeJqqIF.png00Association Officerhttps://i.imgur.com/aeJqqIF.pngAssociation Officer2024-05-26 16:58:382024-07-12 15:16:44Non-native English Language Teachers’ Stories: Constructing Cosmopolitan Professional Identities in Australia
