VicTESOL Symposium 2024

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Events

Date	Session details
11 November	Keynote Session: Refugee education in Australia: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change Dr Melanie Baak
13 November	Pre-recorded Interviews: The Experiences of Students from Refugee Backgrounds Interviewer: Simone Cassidy
18 November	Panel Session: Working with Students from Refugee Backgrounds Facilitator: April Edwards
20 November	Workshop: Impacts of Trauma on Learning and Behaviour Lindsey Hogg and Allison Greene

Keynote Session: Refugee education in Australia: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change

11 November

Dr Melanie Baak

University of South Australia

Biography

Melanie is a Senior Lecturer in UniSA Education Futures and co-convenor of the Migration and Refugee Research Network (MARRNet) and the Race, Coloniality and Education collective. She is a member of the Centre for Research in Educational and Social Inclusion. Her research and teaching are underpinned by understandings of how systems and structures work to marginalise sections of the population, particularly Afro-diasporic peoples and those from refugee backgrounds in settler colonial Australia. She currently holds an ARC DECRA Fellowship where she is exploring understandings of un/belonging for Afro-diasporic youth in Australia, particularly in schools. She was a Chief Investigator on the ARC Linkage Refugee Student Resilience Study (2018-2023). Melanie was awarded an Endeavour Research Fellowship to the University of Glasgow in 2017 where she researched schools as sites of resettlement for Syrian refugees.

Refugee education in Australia: what helps, what hinders and what needs to change

Previous research has established that young people from refugee backgrounds may have experienced loss and trauma prior to coming to Australia, may experience ongoing racism and discrimination in their host country, and may struggle to adapt to a new and sometimes unfamiliar culture. Students from refugee backgrounds may also require additional learning support to engage with the Australian education system due to limited English language capabilities, missed or interrupted schooling, and unfamiliarity with Western curricula and schooling approaches.

Our study, the Refugee Student Resilience Study, sought to explore how schools foster resilience for students from refugee backgrounds. To do so, we examined existing policies that shape refugee education and undertook case studies with seven secondary schools. The case studies were undertaken across two phases. The first phase engaged with over 50 school leaders and teachers to understand current school practices. The second phase privileged the perspectives and voices of almost 50 students from refugee backgrounds from across the seven schools.

The students described the school-level relationships, activities and services that enable them to develop resilience despite their sometimes-challenging life experiences as young refugees as well as their concerns about cultural issues and educational arrangements that impede their positive development as emerging citizens of an increasingly diverse Australia.

In this presentation, we present key findings from school staff and refugee background students that highlight what currently works and what could be done better in refugee education.

Pre-recorded Interviews: The Experiences of Students from Refugee Backgrounds

13 November

Pre-recorded Interviews: The Experiences of Students with Refugee Backgrounds Hear the unique experiences of senior secondary school students who arrived in Australia through humanitarian pathways. Stay tuned…More information to come!

Panel Session: Working with Students from Refugee Backgrounds

18 November

Panel Session: Working with Students with Refugee Backgrounds Come join the multidisciplinary team of panelists who will unpack the keynote session and discuss their experience working with students from refugee backgrounds; The panelists will discuss their experiences, not only from a teaching of English language perspective but will discuss a wide range of issues that students from refugee backgrounds confront in contemporary schools. Our panelists will be made up of individuals in different professional capacities with a whole range of diverse expertise and experience.

April Edwards (Melbourne Graduate School of Education) April has extensive experience working as an EAL and English teacher, EAL Coordinator and EAL specialist mentor to English teachers. She has promoted the implementation of EAL strategies across the curriculum and for the last 6 years she has worked in Initial Teacher Education and as an EAL consultant to both the Victorian Department of Education and the Victorian and Curriculum Assessment Authority. April currently works at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, as a Teaching Academic of English, TESOL and literacy across the curriculum. Her research focuses on culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies that seek to include all learners whilst evoking new, more pluralistic understandings of the self and others.

Sarah has been employed with CatholicCare Victoria since 2020, coordinating a Job Readiness Program for refugee youth and their mothers in Geelong’s Northern Suburbs. She is passionate about their clients having informed options, choice and control over their own education and employment journey once they arrive in Australia. Sarah has worked in education and employment programs and been an advocate with disadvantaged communities for over 14 years and worked alongside many refugee and multicultural clients during that time. Sarah sees any role she undertakes within the Refugee Community as an absolute honour and loves working alongside inspirational clients and colleagues, to achieve great things. “We play a small part of a much bigger puzzle for many of our clients, we can’t do it on our own and I value the many partnerships and programs, we work with including many amazing teachers and educators.”

Debra Gibson is 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. Throughout her career, she has been dedicated to creating positive and inclusive learning environments for all students with a particular focus on supporting disadvantaged and at-risk young people. Under her leadership Doveton College continues to improve student outcomes (emotional, social and educational), provide equality of access and opportunity and wrap a wide range of health and allied health supports and services around children, young people and their families. As a educator and educational leader in a range of primary and secondary school settings, Debra brings a diversity of experience, a wealth of knowledge, and an unwavering determination to ensure that every child gets what they need to succeed.

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. Christine has been working at Foundation House for the past 24 years in both research and counselling roles with adults, young people and children. She has also undertaken professional debriefing, reflective practice and supervision of other service providers, particularly school wellbeing staff and bicultural workers. Through her years of experience at Foundation House she has developed expertise in refugee trauma counselling, however her strength and key interest lies in working with refugee young people individually and in therapeutic group work. She also has had a keen interest in supporting school staff and educators, as well as the broader educational, youth service, and justice sectors, in being able to best respond to the complex needs and presentations of highly traumatised refugee and asylum-seeker youth, including unaccompanied minors, and disengaged at-risk youth who are from refugee backgrounds.

Houda El Kheir has 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. Her cultural lens, strong connection to community and Arabic language have been integral in fostering a safe and supportive environment, which facilitates the personal growth, resilience and confidence in both the students and their families.

Houda facilitates small groups to support students in developing their oral language and communication skills. She translates at Student Support Group meetings and will at times attend school visits with refugee families, in preparation for high school transition, or when exploring a Specialist School setting.

Workshop: Impacts of Trauma on Learning and Behaviour

20 November

Impacts of Trauma on Learning and Behaviour Workshop In this workshop participants will build collective understanding of how traumatic refugee experiences impact children and young people’s learning, wellbeing, and development. In this session you will:

explore frameworks and tools to support trauma-informed practice
work with colleagues using a case study to promote discussion and learning
identify strategies you can use to support trauma recovery and learning in the school context

Lindsey Hogg (Foundation House) Lindsey Hogg is a Professional Learning Officer in the Foundation House Schools Support program. Lindsey has a background in developing and facilitating professional learning to support capability building in schools and organisations working with children, young people and families of refugee backgrounds.

Allison Greene (Foundation Hosue) Allison Greene is the leader of the Foundation House Schools Support program. Servicing schools statewide across all sectors, the Schools Support program is part of the broader Education and Early Years Program, working to build the capacity of the education sector to meet the needs of children, young people and families of refugee backgrounds. Allison has a background in school leadership in the Victorian government system and is a certified GROWTH coach.