Sherry
PhD Candidate School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Queensland University of Technology
Sherry is a final-year PhD candidate with the School of Teacher Education and Leadership (STEL) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). She holds a Masters of Secondary Teaching from Western Sydney University (WSU) and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Macquarie University. Sherry has been employed as a Research Assistant since 2017 on various projects at WSU, QUT, and the University of Technology, Sydney. She has worked independently and collaboratively on local and national research projects for government and industry bodies across education, health, technology, and business disciplines. Driven by her research interests revolving around digital technologies and inclusive education, her doctoral research focuses on exploring the digital inclusion of young people from a refugee and asylum seeker background upon migration and re-settlement in Australia.
Becoming future-ready: Digital inclusion of young people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds in Australia
This workshop will explore the findings of the research on digital inclusion of young refugees and asylum seekers (R/AS) in Australia, including key issues, barriers, available support, and factors impacting their inclusion both within and beyond the school environment. The thematic analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews and descriptive analysis of 47 survey responses, from teachers across Australia, revealed the need for consistent, targeted, and ongoing support across various systems influencing the digital inclusion of R/AS youth. Varying skill levels, access issues, and migration hardships were identified as major factors impacting their integration into the digital economy. The findings highlight the need for targeted support, trauma-aware teacher training, and recognition of the specialized roles of Intensive English Centers and English as an Additional Language/Dialect teachers. This interactive workshop will also give you the opportunity to work with like-minded professionals to visualise a digital inclusion support system for R/AS youth that addresses the unprecedented challenges posed by the rapidly evolving education landscape.