Doing New Work is a new resource to support work around sexual diversity and with GLBTi young people and that provides potentially powerful teaching tools. These materials will generate a great deal of dialogue in a variety of teaching situations. Doing New Work has been compiled by Michael Crowhurst and Mic Emslie particularly for pre-service teacher and youth work students and for those who work with such students. Each of these sections has an introduction that suggests how that section might be used or includes questions that readers might consider and discuss.
The resource begins with 'Voices Through Voices: Transcript Extracts': extracts of interviews with young people (from research projects undertaken separately in the late 1990s), that highlight some of the reasons why work is needed to support gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (GLBTi) young people.
The second section of the resource: 'That's it!... I want another worker' - Queer Teachers and Youth Workers on Work, is a collection of teacher and youth worker narratives that focus on issues of sexuality, gender identity and professional practice. What emerges through these narratives are some useful ideas about how practitioners might support themselves and GLBTi young people.
The final section of the resource consists of papers from the 'New Work New Work' Community Conference. These document some examples of the types of work that have been undertaken in response to the experiences of GLBTi young people.
Many of the narratives contained here were initially read as part of theatre pieces. It is suggested that where the transcripts are used with groups, they might be read aloud like a play script and then discussed. There is something very powerful about reading and speaking a story aloud. The listener often becomes connected to the story, in ways that they may not have if they had silently read the story. The same sort of thing happens when a person reads aloud the story of another. There is a connection made that is greater than that which would have been if the story were silently read. When the words on the page are accompanied by sounds, their effect is amplified.
Michael and Mic write in one introduction: "Work that aims to address the concerns of GLBTi young people is still often positioned as controversial and some sectors of the community might be discouraged from such work for this reason. It's important to talk this type of work up. This brief collection of articles has largely come about for such reasons. They might provide practitioners with new ideas and generate discussion."
Doing New Work: Materials for Queer Teachers and Youth Workers, compiled by Michael Crowhurst and Mic Emslie, December 2003; ISBN 7340 2980 2; 64 pages. Available from the Australian Youth Research Centre for $16.50 ($11 for AYRC members) For a copy, contact the AYRC on 03 8344 9633 or yrc@edfac.unimelb.edu.au.
