Gender-based violence is a major issue in Australia specially in an age where young people’s exposure to different societal narratives and messages has increased dramatically in traditional as well as social media. Efforts to communicate positive and empowering messages must be backed with formats that engage students and address key concerns as experienced by young people themselves. TESSA Inc. gender specific respectful relationship programs (EXPECT RESPECT and MATMAN) use interactive conversations, brief concept presentations, and physical activities to engage the students and help them embody the concepts explored.
Themes in each program have been selected using a combination of research, Respectful Relationships curriculum consideration, as well as stakeholder and young people consultation. The evaluation processes aim to capture both, the objective understanding of particular themes as well as the subjective experience of the students. During the 45-minute workshop, participants will experience some of the key activities and their links to respectful relationships and gender narratives. They will also learn how this format provides agency, voice and sense of ownership to the students highlighting the importance of participatory and active respectful relationships education. As one program participant stated, “this program is not about DO THIS but more about YOU CAN DO THIS!”.

Rodrigo Castellanos

Rodrigo has over 20 years’ experience in project management, sustainability and environmental markets. In 2010 Rodrigo cofounded RAMP Carbon Pty Ltd while leading the development of a series of major environmental and social programs in Latin America and Africa.  In 2005 Rodrigo joined as Director of Research the corporate social responsibility ratings agency RepuTex in Melbourne, Australia focusing on Risk Assessment and Carbon Finance. Prior to this he worked in the Citigroup Private Bank in New York and Mexico City.  In February 2017 Rodrigo was employed as the inaugural MAT Life Skills Program Manager for TESSA Inc.

Irena Krol 

Irena is a certified shiatsu practitioner with extensive experience in teaching people about self-care and wellbeing practices. Since 2015 she has been a certified life skills instructor helping to empower young people to better manage challenges in their lives.

In 2024, she co-developed the Expect Respect program, an initiative focused on fostering respectful relationships and personal safety for young women and is currently the leading instructor of the program in Victoria.

Irena started training Aikido in 2002.  For several years she has been teaching beginners’ classes helping students to establish strong foundations in terms of body awareness and technical development.

Kami Castellanos Krol

Kami is currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at the ANU.  She has a strong passion for diplomacy, policy development, and human rights. Kami has been actively involved in initiatives that promote social justice and community empowerment.  At TESSA Inc., she co-developed the Expect Respect program, an initiative focused on fostering respectful relationships and personal safety for young women. She has also volunteered with Melel Xojobal in Mexico, supporting indigenous children through education and life skills programs.  Kami is fluent in English and Spanish and thrives in multicultural environments, enjoying engagement with diverse communities.

How does the design of learning environments impact education? 

Most classrooms still follow a traditional design with desks facing a teacher at the front. How does the physical space of a school shape learning experiences? What are some innovative approaches to classroom and school design? How can students have a say in designing learning spaces that work for them? 

These sessions are designed to be participant-led, meaning the conversation will evolve based on the interests, experiences, and ideas of those in the room. Facilitators will let the discussion flow organically and only refer to the prompts if needed to spark new ideas or refocus the conversation. 

How can we create more inclusive environments? 

Schools are increasingly recognising the importance of student mental health, but are current efforts enough? What role do students play in shaping school wellbeing initiatives? How can we ensure wellbeing support is accessible, non-stigmatising, and student-led? 

These sessions are designed to be participant-led, meaning the conversation will evolve based on the interests, experiences, and ideas of those in the room. Facilitators will let the discussion flow organically and only refer to the prompts if needed to spark new ideas or refocus the conversation. 

In the age of the internet and mobile phones, students have the power of attaining knowledge that fundamentally challenges the role of education systems, standardised curriculum and teachers. In my own teaching practice, within high schools, in my own tutoring model and at universities, I have persistently based my practice upon finding opportunities to hand over the learning to students, for students and with students. Within this workshop, I hope to share my practice and curriculum models that may offer counterpoints to the top-down, hierarchical structures that education systems and classrooms have historically depended upon and been shaped by. This workshop intends to be exploratory and discursive, based upon personally reflective praxis and small case studies of teaching, learning and curriculum design outside of institutional learning spaces for their potential to imagine different ways of empowering students.

My own student-led project model – combining the work of inquiry, problem-based and project-based learning into frameworks and cycles of learning that put the purpose of the learning in the hands of the students. As a high school teacher, often we are posed with critically challenging questions from students:

“Why are we learning this?”

“When am I going to ever use this information?”

“How is this relevant to my life?”

“I’m never going to need this information with where I want to be in my future.”

Through my own observations of different project-based, inquiry-based and problem-based programs, I experimented with refining and clarifying how these pedagogical approaches can be both better understood by students and their subtle differences clarified in the process. With these cycles, it offered students themselves to dictate what the purpose of their learning was – driven by their concerns or curiosities. Through these interests, students could learn critical thinking, digital and media literacy, metacognitive and communication skills that made their learning both meaningful and deeply relevant to their current and future lives (regardless of their interests or aspirations). In this workshop I hope to raise questions and offer solutions to the sticky world of untangling assessment, curriculum, knowledge, skills and student identities, motivations and aspirations.

Within these project cycles, and the potential questions they probe and power they provide students, we can consider their implications for policy and practice in ways that not only prepare students for their future, but are inherently inclusive, empowering and supportive. Arguably this workshop has the power to speak to all themes of the conference as it puts students as partners and leaders of their learning at its core.

TESSA Inc. invites attendees to collaborate on a dynamic workshop exploring our six core principles of Managing Challenging Behaviour. This hands-on learning experience is designed for students in social work, community services and education, equipping them with essential tools to foster safe and supportive connections with learners.
Workshop Overview This interactive session emphasises the link between educator-learner relationships and effective behaviour management. Participants will gain insights into how positive, structured engagement strategies enhance social skill development and overall classroom success.
A key feature of the workshop is hands-on instruction and implementation of the TESSA Inc. Prompt Cards, a valuable tool that reinforces positive engagement and behaviour interventions. Participants will practice real-world application through role-play and collaborative exercises.
We welcome the opportunity to bring this engaging, skills-based workshop to your institution and look forward to discussing how we can support student development through meaningful, practical learning experiences.

Natalie Deacon

Natalie began her career in Community Services in 2017. She is the Engagement Support Services Manager and Professional Learning Coach with TESSA Inc., supporting adult learners in Youth Work, Community Services, Social Work and Educational Employees. She also works for the Department of Education(DE). Natalie trains tertiary students on placement and staff working in Education, delivering TESSA Inc.’s Managing Challenging Behaviour modules. Additionally, she oversees the Engagement Support Officer (ESO) program, which provides trained staff to mainstream schools to support students with complex behavioural concerns. With extensive experience in education and community services, Natalie plays a key role in workforce development and student support.

Humanitas High School, a democratic school where student voice is at the heart of governance, proposes an interactive panel discussion led by a small group of our students. This session will explore how inclusive, student-led governance practices can create safe and supportive school communities while empowering young people to actively shape their educational experience. Our students will share firsthand insights into the decision-making processes at our school, where students hold significant roles in shaping school policies, resolving conflicts, and driving initiatives. Through their stories, they will highlight the transformative power of student agency and how governance grounded in shared responsibility fosters a safe, inclusive, and future-focused learning environment. This session invites participants to engage in dynamic discussions and activities aimed at sharing innovative strategies for integrating student voice into school governance and creating supportive educational ecosystems.

Evaluation reports of Student Voice, Agency and Participation initiatives within schools frequently point to the sustainability of such approaches. “If we came back in five years,” they say, “would this still be happening?” They point to a concern that initiatives are often driven by individual enthusiasms, and vanish when the initiator moves on.

At the same time, where schools are being asked by their systems to include student voice, agency and partnerships/participation in their school plans, there is little guidance as to what this might look like. Schools report that they struggle to know what is required and to define such on-going policy and practice commitments.

This workshop is intended to start a conversation about the need for embedding student voice, agency and partnerships/participation within school plans and planning processes. How do we make such lasting commitments, in ways that ensure that we go beyond individual enthusiasms or sometimes tokenistic responses to central policy directives?

The language and terminology, as well as system requirements, differ between jurisdictions eg in Victoria, government schools are required to:
• develop 4 year School Strategic Plans with long term improvement goals;
• each year, develop Annual implementation plans, with strategies and actions to meet those goals;
• establish school improvement teams, who are in charge of driving and monitoring implementation;
• publish Annual Report to the School Community; and
• go through a 4 yearly school review.

What does this look like for Student Voice, Agency and Participation? How does or might this planning happen, in ways that reflect the principles of student voice, agency and partnerships?

This workshop will explore these ideas, with a view to generating some practical examples of appropriate school planning. These examples could be collected in a future issue of ReConnectEd, as a way of providing some ideas and guidance for schools around policy and practices.

It is envisaged that the workshop will start with a short re-iteration of the need, then invite participants to contribute their own stories and examples of school plans and policy – including the process of developing these. Hopefully, these will draw on the situation in different jurisdictions across Australia. We’ll test out whether (and how) we might collect these examples for publication.

Roger Holdsworth

Roger is a semi-failed retiree; ex-secondary teacher; ex-youth sector policy worker; ex-University researcher; ex-consultant; ex-editor, Connect. Currently: presenter of the Global Village on PBS 106.7 FM

Wellbeing & Mental Health in Schools 

How can we create more inclusive environments? 

Schools are increasingly recognising the importance of student mental health, but are current efforts enough? What role do students play in shaping school wellbeing initiatives? How can we ensure wellbeing support is accessible, non-stigmatising, and student-led? 

These sessions are designed to be participant-led, meaning the conversation will evolve based on the interests, experiences, and ideas of those in the room. Facilitators will let the discussion flow organically and only refer to the prompts if needed to spark new ideas or refocus the conversation. 

How can teachers effectively amplify and support student voice in the classroom and beyond?

Teachers are key in creating environments where students feel heard, valued, and empowered to express their opinions and ideas. What are some effective strategies teachers can use to ensure all students have a voice in their learning? How can teachers balance their role as facilitators with allowing students to lead discussions, shape classroom culture, and influence decisions? What are the challenges teachers face in fostering student voice, and how can they overcome them to build a more inclusive, participatory classroom?

These sessions are designed to be participant-led, meaning the conversation will evolve based on the interests, experiences, and ideas of those in the room. Facilitators will let the discussion flow organically and only refer to the prompts if needed to spark new ideas or refocus the conversation. 

How can we ensure student voice is inclusive of all backgrounds and experiences?

Many students experience barriers to education based on race, disability, gender, sexuality, or socio-economic background. What are the biggest equity challenges in schools today? How can schools move beyond just talking about diversity to actively ensuring inclusion? How can student voice be central to making schools more equitable?

These sessions are designed to be participant-led, meaning the conversation will evolve based on the interests, experiences, and ideas of those in the room. Facilitators will let the discussion flow organically and only refer to the prompts if needed to spark new ideas or refocus the conversation. 

Student voice is seen by many as a desirable inclusion in schools, seeking the voice of students to gather feedback on school climate or initiatives. However, occasionally seeking the voices of students does not suggest a true partnership with students. To truly connect and empower students we need to move beyond sharing ideas to sharing responsibility and working together to create, cultivate and collaborate to achieve our shared goals. Beginning with a shared definition of voice, the school voice process looks at how teachers listen to, learn from and lead with students on a daily basis to share responsibility for teaching and learning. Empowering students means giving them the tools and opportunities to take charge of their learning journey. This empowerment can lead to increased confidence, independence, and a lifelong love of learning. This presentation introduces the School Voice Process, a deliberate process of connecting teachers and students as partners in the daily teaching and learning cycle. Participants will learn how schools have deliberately integrated the School Voice Process to build respect and trust between students and teachers. By implementing and sustaining explicit strategies across the school, they have created a sustainable climate of a collaborative community.

The School Voice Process involves:

• Creating Safe Spaces: Establishing an environment where students feel safe to express their opinions and ideas without fear of judgment or repercussions.

• Recognising and respecting the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students, ensuring that their voices are heard and valued.

• Making deliberate pedagogical decisions to activate student voices within the teaching and learning cycle to ensure student voice is not just a token, an add on or a survey.

• Working with students to set goals, ensuring that they have a say in what they want to achieve and how they plan to get there.

• Learning from students about what is and isn’t supportive of their learning and wellbeing. Using iterative cycles of data analysis and problem solving with students.

• Building student capabilities and confidence to accept responsibility to lead their own learning.

• Reflective Practices: Encourage students to reflect on their learning experiences, helping them to identify their strengths, areas for improvement, and future goals.

In a rapidly evolving world where leading your own learning is a vital mindset and skill, the School Voice Process creates a culture of authentic partnership between students and teachers. Every student has a voice, but teachers must authentically seek to activate each voice as a vital partner in daily practice. This presentation will invite participants to think critically about how they partner with students to inspire and create learning and the role of students in the teaching and learning cycle.

Student voice and agency is not something given to students but is activated by a genuine desire to partner with and empower every student. By connecting with students, sharing responsibilities, and empowering them to co-create their educational experiences, we can foster a culture of mutual respect, trust, and excellence.

Sue Bryen

Sue Bryen is passionate about learning and equity of access to high quality learning. She has been a teacher, instructional leader and principal, and has over 30 years experience as an educator in both the UK and Australia. Working in a variety of schools from large urban schools to small rural schools, Sue chose to spend the majority of her career in rural and regional areas and schools serving disadvantaged populations. In 2017 Sue moved into the field of professional learning, working with hundreds of school teams across Australia, translating research-informed practice into contextually relevant processes and actions. Her role at the Quaglia Institute as Director of Learning Services–Australia provides Sue with the opportunity to design and present professional learning which enhances student and teacher voice across schools and systems throughout Australia.

Sue spends her free time walking, reading and enjoying the outdoor environment with friends and her dog.

Negotiating the curriculum was championed by Australian educator, Garth Boomer, and involves teachers and students undertaking curriculum as a process of co-construction. Whilst the current applicability of Boomer’s ideas is supported by research and policy focused on student agency at a local, national and international level, the current emphasis on standardisation and datafication in education systems presents challenges for both teacher and student agency to be realised. In light of these tensions, this presentation explores the findings of a recent PhD study focused on how the process of negotiating the curriculum can be sustained over time within a primary school setting. The study reviewed expert insights and analysed a case study of a primary school that has undertaken a negotiated curriculum for 25 years. Three major contributions to the field emerging through this analysis will be presented. These include a new model for sustaining curriculum negotiation across a whole school, exploration of how the findings contribute to understanding the role of the teacher and how teaching and learning is undertaken, and discussion of threats to the sustainability of curriculum negotiation. The study demonstrates that although many challenges exist for teachers and schools seeking to negotiate the curriculum, sustaining a negotiated curriculum is still possible, and Boomer’s ideas are highly relevant to classrooms today.

Nadine Crane

Nadine Crane is a primary school teacher who is currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Education. Her current roles include Lead of Research in Schools for the Ngarrngga project. Prior to joining the FoE, Nadine worked extensively with schools as a consultant in the areas of integrated curriculum and inquiry based learning, with a specific focus on the inclusion of student voice and agency by negotiating the curriculum. During her time lecturing in the Master of Teaching, Nadine has worked across the core subjects in pedagogy and assessment, and was the coordinator for Clinical Teaching Practice practicum subjects in the Master of Teaching Primary for many years. Nadine's PhD research is focussed on how primary schools sustain the pedagogical practice of negotiating the curriculum with students.

Largely missing from the research on school attendance difficulties is student voice.  Much of the research and literature on the topic frames “school refusal” as either a misbehaviour or a psychopathology.  But what if distress about school attendance is considered a reasonable protective response to either chronic or severe stress, which leaves students feeling unsafe? 

Westphal’s Student Stress Investigation helps students communicate about the things at school that might be causing them distress.  Without tuning into student voice, those trying to support students, risk responding to them in ways that magnify their distress and worsen mental health.  When we know what is causing distress then we can collaborate to remove and address stressors and barriers, resulting in students that feel seen and supported. 

Westphal will share insights into some of the things that students frequently tell her cause them difficulties.  She will also share what the parents and carers of School Can’t Australia say the top school-based stressors impacting their children / teens are.

Tiffany Westphal

Tiffany Westphal is a social worker, a parent of a neurodivergent teen who has experienced “school can’t”, and a director of national parent/carer support group: School Can’t Australia which has 15,000+ members.  She is also the designer of a resource called Student Stress Investigation (SSI).  Westphal works with Universities and Education authorities to help improve understandings about school can’t and focus attention on student and parent/carer lived experience.