Perspectives in Parryville Mark Parry

Today my guest is Daniel Bourke, a Creative Media Practitioner. In this episode, we find out about Daniel’s background and current professional practice in creative media production with a focus on animation and video. We explore how Daniel communicates to an audience with video. He guides us through some of the ‘how-to’ technical skills he uses, as well aspects that inform the ‘craft of storytelling’, especially with technology. Daniel outlines how he used video and other technology to create public health communication campaigns – mini documentaries – working with actual people from the community as they share their experiences. Daniel shares insights on how he uses a respectful, human-centred approach to negotiate and plan productions with actors and community members, and how he guides conversations during on-camera interviews. We chat about video production strategies, questioning techniques, building emotional rapport, and encouraging a comfortable conversation with on-camera speakers, as well as more complicated issues such as the ethics of documentary production. We explore how Daniel uses more technical, precise and mathematical approaches in motion graphics and animation to still communicate human-centred stories and ideas which evoke emotions from an audience. As you might have guessed, we talk about AI – artificial intelligence, and the role this technology might play in creative media production. Daniel emphasises how, fundamentally, humans connect with stories and how we might use video as a social communication tool in our technologically fluid world.
Links:
https://www.dbmedia.com.au/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielbourke92/
https://www.instagram.com/dbmedia.aus/

Today my guest is Monica Davidson, a Creative Practitioner and Business Educator. Monica believes that creativity gives our world a soul. In this episode, we find out about Monica’s early life and her love of creative culture and expression. Monica recounts her early studies in communication and post-graduate studies in screen arts, business, leadership, and finance. Monica offers insights into supporting other creative practitioners – writers, film makers, artists, designers, and others – through education, advocacy and mentoring. We explore the creative practices of writing and film making, and those additional insights related to business, finance and marketing. We learn how Monica helps creative practitioners to develop these essential business skills, within the context of creative practice, to support creative and financial success. We find out about social enterprises, that is, commercial organisations with the heart of a non-profit, leading to positive outcomes for the community and world. Monica shares insights into the various approaches to teaching. For example, applying mathematics to practical, real-world situations such as calculating money. Some of Monica’s more creative and sparkly pedagogy has involved teaching ideas around GST (Goods and Services Tax) through interpretive dance! Monica emphasises the simple, yet profound idea that creative people are businesspeople. Monica wants creatives to feel valued, and to encourage a broader culture that values creativity.

Links:
https://creativeplusbusiness.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicadavidson/
Freelancing for Australians For Dummies: https://www.wiley.com/en-au/Freelancing+for+Australian+For+Dummies-p-9780731407620

Today my guest is James Watt, a Palliative Care Nurse. In this episode, we find out about James’ early life and upbringing in New Zealand and his study and training as a nurse. James shares insights into topics that are hard to talk about, for example those universal experiences such as death, dying and grief.
James is particularly interested in how communication might be improved in health care, especially in palliative care, that is, supporting people who have a life-limiting illness. We chat about how James develops communication skills of his healthcare colleagues, and the micro skills in this area: naming an emotion, using the seemingly simple phrase ‘tell me more’, validating and listening as a way to acknowledge the patient, summarising and reflecting back. We also discuss the central role of empathy, a skill that can be developed, and the use of non-verbal communication and words that demonstrate that empathy and making it explicit. James reflects on his clinical and staff training experiences during COVID and his thoughts on trauma, anger, fear, anxiety, isolation and collective grief in a post-pandemic world. We explore how James uses learning design skills to further expand and enhance his training and development techniques within health care, helping staff recognise and understand the complexities of grief. James emphasises how all people can use these valuable communication skills in their everyday lives.

Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-watt-0669b7244/

Today my guest is Leanne Tobin, a Multidisciplinary Artist. In this episode, we find out about Leanne’s early life and upbringing in Sydney and her connections with Irish, English and Aboriginal (Dharug) heritage. Leanne shares insight into what she describes as ‘the hidden generation’ and profound ideas around secrets, suppression, and identity. We chat about Leanne’s ancestors, including Yarramundi (who met with Governor Phillip in the late 1700s) and Yarramundi’s daughter, Maria Lock, the first Aboriginal landowner in the Liverpool region. Leanne shares insights into her motivations to bring Dharug stories and history of places to the surface and how this has informed her current exhibition at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, ‘Memories of Water (Badu)’. We learn how Leanne’s artwork reveals glimpses of life from pre and post colonisation in the Liverpool/Casula region, where the Georges River flows. We explore how Leanne uses mixed media – oil pastels, acrylic paint, ochre, glass, audio and other media - to nurture respect for the stories of Country and of Dharug people, past and present. While listening, you might like to check out Leanne’s Facebook page ‘Tobin Art’ to see photos of her various artworks. The link is in the show notes. Here’s my conversation with Leanne Tobin.

Links:
Tobin Art (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063743792327
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre: https://www.casulapowerhouse.com/whats-on

Today my guest is Chris Curtis, a Cancer Advocate and founder of the UK-based Swallows Head & Neck Cancer support group and charity. In this episode, we find out about Chris’ early life and his love of sport, football, food, cooking, hospitality and marketing. Chris offers insights into his more recent life and his diagnosis and treatment of stage-four throat cancer. We chat about the mental, physical, and psychological impact on Chris’ everyday life and how, in the months following his treatment, he felt the need for comfort, support and hope from someone who had gone through a similar experience. We learn how Chris took a moment to reflect and engage with “his previous self” – someone who was skilled in management, advertising, sales, marketing and promotion – to turn his dream into a reality. Beginning with a marketing plan and laminated posters, Chris soon found support from willing and compassionate healthcare workers to expand and grow the Swallows group and to offer support and hope to other head and neck cancer patients. Chris reflects on the fundamental purpose of the group: a friendly and safe social space with open conversations between patients, caregivers, family and friends. We chat about running a successful group – both face-to-face and online, training of support group leaders and using community education strategies to address the various social inequalities which exist around public health and head and neck cancer. Chris brings an optimistic and positive voice in helping make a difference to thousands of cancer patients around the world.
Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-curtis-advocate/
https://twitter.com/swallowsgroup
https://theswallows.org.uk/

Today my guest is Jennifer D Klein, an Author, Speaker, Facilitator and Coach. In this episode, we ask ‘What does good education look like if we place the student at the centre of their learning?’ Jennifer outlines how she and co-author Kapono Ciotti approached the development of their recent book ‘The Landscape Model of Learning’ by collaborating remotely during the pandemic, engaging with established and emerging educational theories, and gaining further insights through dialogue and conversations with teachers, school leaders, parents, and other stakeholders. Jennifer shares her thoughts on teacher professional development and the power of story, that is, an individual’s authentic lived experience, and how this might shift how we think and feel about classroom practice. We explore the fundamentals of The Landscape Model of Learning, including the use of metaphors. There’s ‘the ecosystem’ – with an understanding of the context that each child brings to their learning, ‘the horizon’ – where teachers co-construct with students with the aim of understanding student goals, aspirations, passions and interests, and ‘the pathway’ – where teachers using pedagogies that allow students to work on slightly different pathways so what they’re doing feels personally relevant and appropriate to where they are in their learning journey. All going well, this encourages a student-centred classroom, ideally with students doing most of the thinking and talking in class. We also explore other metaphors sometimes used by educators, such as racetrack, a dominant yet limited representation that fosters competition but fails to acknowledge the diverse needs of the learners within a typical class. Jennifer shares some ideas and practicalities of ‘inclusive prosperity’ with every student prospering and thriving, and every voice being valued and honoured; learning to value all the voices. We also chat about Jennifer’s first book, ‘The Global Education Guidebook’ which seeks to humanise K-12 classrooms worldwide through equitable partnerships. Jennifer offers insights into the intersection of writing, improving education and encouraging students to increase their influence and positive impact on the world.
Links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdeborahklein/
https://www.principledlearning.org/
https://www.principledlearning.org/the-landscape-model-of-learning
https://www.principledlearning.org/the-global-education-guidebook