Four of Centacare’s Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program staff gave presentations last Monday 15th April at the Western Australian Adult Literacy Council Conference at North Metro TAFE in Northbridge. All teachers attending the conference were generously supported by grants from Lotterywest and Centacare funding.

Lynn Koehler presented information on job applications and resume writing and taught skills in how to make your resume sit atop of the pile. The interactive presentation, titled “Writing Winning Job Applications and Resumes” ensured attending teams benefited from Lynn’s extensive experience in recruitment and combined their own experiences to share expertise and industry insights with other attendees. Centacare students wanting to improve on their resumes are welcome to attend any of our free resume writing workshops.

Our Kadadjiny Bidi (Learning Path) program was represented at the conference with presentations from teacher Yvette Terpestra and Aboriginal Community Development Officer Simone Collard. They gave a run-down on the benefits of program based learning in the classroom and demonstrated how teachers can motivate students by giving them control over their learning. Yvette provided bags made by her Kadadjiny Bidi small business student project specifically for the conference – which featured a slogan the nerdiest of teachers would love! Morpheme: takes the pain out of spelling. Don’t get it? (Don’t worry… neither did we!)

Simone explored the benefits of project based learning for her teenage Bidi students in their Kwinana Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) classes. Learning through engagement in culture is strong in the Bidi program, with activities that involve working with elders, readying for the Youth NAIDOC Ball and developing a publishing project centered around culture. Through these initiatives, students relate more to content in the course, develop their sense of identity and decrease shame. This, in turn, boosts confidence in their learning, communication skills increase and a sense of empowerment is gained among students.

Rachel Yesuratnam’s session “Interactive Oracy Activities in the Classroom” was a total highlight of the conference, with such hilarity ensuing that other sessions were shutting their doors from the noise! As difficult as this may have been for other presenters, teachers will know that a happy, noisy classroom is a sign of positive student-centered learning. The workshop focused on ready to go learning games for the classroom that can be used to entertain, lift classroom morale and develop language skills. Most of these activities are adaptable to different lessons and can be used as icebreakers, warm-ups, breaks, or a quick review when there’s a little time left towards the end of class.

It’s always great to see our staff sharing their insight and expertise within the industry. Find out more about our Kadadjiny Bidi courses here and our Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) courses here.