About me
I grew up in country Western Australia: Kondinin and Kalgoorlie, and I’ve lived for the past couple of decades in Perth with my family. I teach in the Community Development course here at Murdoch and I consider it a privilege to be spending time with students from around Australia and all over the world who are seeking to prepare themselves to be involved in thoughtful and creative and practical ways in the challenges they see around them. I’ve been working in universities, schools and community organisations for the past thirty years, including as a teacher in a remote school in the Western Desert, and as a community worker in schools in Perth. I’m also the Academic Chair for the Community Development postgraduate and undergraduate programs which means I’m one of the people students can come and see if they need guidance finding a way through their studies.
I teach a range of units which aim to prepare students to work in community-based settings, including in social policy and community action, and narratives of community-based practice across a range of contexts.
My primary research focus is on the life narratives of practitioners involved in international aid, disaster relief, and community activism, and what we have to learn when we dig more deeply into those stories. Previous research has focussed on the simple living movement, alternative education for disengaged young people, and the role of intergeneration work in community building. I’m also the co-chair of a community organisation called the Wyemando Bequest, which provides support and resources for community-based organisations seeking to preserve and re-invigorate Aboriginal languages across regional Western Australia.