As teachers who have a high interest in the subjects we teach, our Professional Development (PD) often happens whilst we participate in events that we enjoy outside of college hours. Recently I attended The Sydney Writers Festival for a whole weekend in Sydney. Given that I love listening to writers speak about their craft, their inspiration and their ideas, I obviously had a fabulous time! However, attending events such as this often provides opportunities to further develop my teaching practice.
This year at The Writers Festival I was able to meet and talk to many authors – including those who write YA (Young Adult Fiction). There were a diverse range of topics including gender issues, the rise of dystopian fiction and indigenous perspectives. I attended a session on Slam Poetry, revisiting the Australian classic ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ and ‘Lion: A Long Way Home.’
One of the highlights was meeting well known academic and writer Anita Heiss. I was privileged to be able to discuss with her, suitable texts which have an indigenous perspective for our students to study in the future.
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