Carol Turner
Carol is an Arrernte teacher and linguist and a passionate advocate for FN education reform. She has worked in teaching all her life in mainstream schools and now at Ampe-kenhe Ahele Mparntwe (Children’s Ground- Central Australia) where she is a senior cultural educator and part of the CG Resource development team. She is passionate about preserving and strengthening language and passing on cultural knowledge to the next generation. She was both a collaborator and starred in the Documentary In My Blood it Runs, a powerful story, told through the eyes of her grandson and herself about growing up Aboriginal in Australia and the failures of mainstream education.
About Children’s Ground
Ampe-kenhe Ahelhe (Children’s Ground) is a First Nations (FN) owned Organisation that works in Central Australia and the Top End. We commenced in Central Australia in 2016. In Central Australia, Children’s Ground is known as Ampe-kenhe Ahelhe and works across five different locations and family groups. The Children’s Ground Approach includes place-based delivery of integrated services in communities across five areas: intergenerational learning, family health, employment, culture/creative arts and community development and wellbeing.
For the past six years First Nations writers, artists and educators at Ampe-kenhe Ahelhe have been creating vibrant children’s books in local languages: Anwerne Ingkerrekele Mpwareke: By Us, For Us. “Anwerne pipe intelheme ayeye anwernekenhe akerte, angkentye anwerne kenhe rlterrke atnyernetyeke anwernekenhe atweye mapeke”. We have been writing and illustrating our own stories, to keep our language and art strong for our families. We want our kids to grow up with books that reflect our cultural wealth and knowledge, handed down to us over many thousands of years by our ancestors. These books help them learn to respect, speak, read and write their First Language – something that was denied to many of us and our elders in the past.
Photo credit: Milyika Scales
Appearances