Centacare’s Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) Kadadjiny Bidi students have been working together this term to publishing a book that tells “a little bit about me”. The program has been running for 10 weeks at Kwinana’s Youth Zone space and teaches language and literacy skills through project based, culturally embedded learning. In their books, the girls spoke openly and honestly, tackling topics that young Indigenous women hold closest – family, friendship, fear and their hopes for the future.

While the course prepares the girls for their future endeavors, one student, Nicolee Nannup touched on the anxieties young people can face surrounding achievement and underachievement.

“The one (fear) that I consider to be my biggest is not achieving whatever I want to accomplish in life… I want to accomplish getting several certificates and get a diploma of Business at University.
For me, the fear of failure, and not living up to expectations is what I consider my biggest fear in life. It is something that has come to frame my thought process, my actions and my drive over time. I am thankful for it in many ways and believe that I may not have done all that I have over the last several years without this sense of fear. But now that I know, maybe it is time to develop a method of controlling it, and reining it in. Too much of something is never a good thing, right?”

Pressures, internally and externally, can have a huge effect on our youth today as they work through school, qualifications and finding a job. So much so that 23% of teenage students in Australia said that they felt anxiety about their future. Bidi girls are reducing these anxieties through learning lifelong skills that they can use in future work, study or their community.

The project based learning program embeds indigenous culture into its activities to ensure learning is relatable and familiar for students. The program, which includes traditional art, cooking and collaboration with elders’ works to increase empowerment and self-identity in the girls. With completion, ‘Bidi aims to reduce barriers for young indigenous students in their transition to further study or employment. Within their first term, 9 students have achieved 15 units of competence in the program, and some are now working towards nationally recognized training certificates.

The program is run at the Kwinana Youth Zone Space and is open to Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander girls 14 and over. The program runs three times per week and is flexible to accommodate for students at all levels. Kadadjiny Bidi (learning path) is free for anyone referred via the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program.

For more information on the program go to https://www.centacarewa.com.au/skills-for-education-and-employment/kadadjiny-bidi/. ESS Activity ID: 234 8842.