QLD Youth PD Workshop May 2021
The QLD Youth Professional Development Workshop was held in Cairns from 17-20 May 2021. Nathan Schrieber joined us again as a guest trainer alongside Amy, with Ebony joining us online for some sessions. We also had online guest appearances from Hiroko Shioji (Mabu Yawuru Ngan-ga) and Annalee Pope (First Languages Australia), and a special in-person visit from Alberta Hornsby and Nana Tomihara from North Queensland Regional Aboriginal Corporation Language Centre. We were also very lucky to have Mununjali and Butchulla Young Champion, Sarah Sandy, join us as an intern at the workshop, supporting trainers and participants to make sure the workshop ran without a hitch.
Our participants came from across mainland QLD and the Torres Strait Islands. Over the week they focused on learning and practising different teaching methods; activities and resources to help teach their languages; how to build words and sentences in their languages and understanding the terminology linguists use to describe them; and project planning to help design and carry out their language projects. We also had a fieldtrip to Ngamuma - a local initiative dedicated to providing a culturally safe and nourishing space for Mums and their babies during the first 1000 days of development.
So much of the learning came from the group sharing their own experiences, advice and resources, and it was great to have such a strong group of language warriors come together for the week. We’re all looking forward to getting together soon for more sharing and learning.
