Inclusive Education Forum
On September 17, the Whittlesea Tech School hosted the Inclusive Education Forum, with a focus on Cultural Inclusion, in collaboration with CMY, the Hume Whittlesea LLEN and the City of Whittlesea. Featuring a guest speaker, a student panel and four different training sessions, it was an all-day event for educators and those who work with young people to learn how to include all students in the work that they do.
The day started off with a Welcome to Country from Wurundjeri elder Annette Xiberras who linked the event’s theme with her own identity as a First Nation’s woman with multicultural heritage.
Adongwot Manyoul then gave a keynote speech about her own experience in Australia’s schooling system. Detailing her early days at school as a recently arrived South Sudanese migrant who lived in Egypt, she felt isolated at school. Teachers were often discriminatory and did not see Adongwot’s full potential. She then highlighted a particular teacher at school who saw her full potential and used this story as inspiration for all educators to “see the whole student.”
Attendants were then treated to a student panel discussion moderated by speaker and storyteller, Vera Gorel. Vera spoke with four students about their own experiences in schooling as people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, as well as one student from a First Nations background. There were discussions on some of the issues that arise from being from their cultural backgrounds, but the panel was an inspiring collection of lessons that educators can consider in their daily work.
“A true sense of belonging is actually being able to embrace who you are and showing those parts of yourself.”
Vera
“It’s so important to have a really truthful conversation [about racism]. Sometimes it will make [people] feel vulnerable but I think that’s what’s important and that’s what’s going to help.”
Student panelist
Throughout the rest of the day, attendants were treated to four separate workshops. Two were hosted by CMY staff Chelsea and Anna on the topic of Culturally Responsive Practice, as well as Farah and Rahel on refugee and migrant perspectives in education. Intertwine speaker Ulysses hosted a workshop on intersectionality, privilege and power and Walpiri/Jaru woman Michelle led an outdoor yarning circle.
The whole event was an eye-opening opportunity for all participants to sit back and consider the structures of discrimination that can exist in education and find ways to put the student first in their everyday work.