Nenagh Brosnan | Youth Work Teacher
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)

Culturally Revitalizing and Sustaining Education

As a youth worker and youth work teacher Nenagh Brosnan believes it is vital to advocate for social justice principles; and challenge the systems we work in to set the highest standards of practice, so that the strengths and value young people bring, and learners bring to our society are reflected at all levels across education and social care spaces.
Nenagh uses trauma informed practice models, culturally sustaining and revitalising education and motivational interviewing when working with young people and learners, this has assisted her in building authentic and safe relationships and supported students in engaging in lifelong learning.
As part of a Fellowship with International Specialised Skills Institute; Nenagh spent time in 2022 and 2023 Sealaska Heritage Institute, INQLI, and New York University’s Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools engaging in a global community of practice that is committed to healing centred teaching.
Nenagh’s fellowship provided the opportunity and privilege to
•    Engage in reciprocal learning with First Nations teachers, Scholars and educational communities of Alaska, British Columbia and New York.
•    Research work that enhances the level of cultural safety, connectedness and belonging felt by Indigenous students and by students from ethnic minority backgrounds  
This transformational and immersive experience has allowed Nenagh to reflect on best practice in Culturally Revitalizing and Sustaining Education and will contribute to the basis of her ISSI report which will be published in 2023.   
Through presentations and workshops Nenagh is disseminating elements of her research and sharing on high impact classroom strategies that align with culturally revitalising and sustaining pedagogy and protect students from ongoing educational trauma caused by a Eurocentric and colonial education systems.    
We know through data and experience that equity and discrimination are important social issues, there is a huge amount of work needed to address this in society and in the classroom. 
For students to develop and strengthen self-efficacy it is vital that educators and educational spaces operate in ways that value and uphold individuals for their unique knowledge and histories, as well as work to reduce ongoing educational trauma.
Through workshops and presentations Nenagh is working to address gaps in teaching and education pedagogy that contribute to unsafe practices, talking on the importance of engaging in critical reflection regarding issues of race and racism as well as identifying ways to foster belonging and connection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
For more information on Nenagh’s Fellowship please see her Linktree/NenaghB