Happy Sami day (6 February) and Camilla's report about her visit to CSU

Camilla Porsanger was a visiting PhD scholar at the Children's Voices Centre in 2025. Here is her report published by Nord University that has been published for Sami day 2026:

https://www.uv.uio.no/spedaims/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2026/urfolk-sprak-og-rettigheter.html

It begins: 

"– I år føles Samefolkets dag ekstra spesiell
Et forskningsopphold på den andre siden av kloden har gitt stipendiat Camilla Porsanger et tydeligere blikk på språk, identitet og rettigheter. – Å være på steder med så dyp kulturell og åndelig betydning for aboriginske urfolk gjorde sterkt inntrykk."

Translation

"– This year, Sami Day feels extra special
A research stay on the other side of the globe has given fellow Camilla Porsanger a clearer look at language, identity and rights. – Being in places with such deep cultural and spiritual significance for Aboriginal indigenous peoples made a strong impression."

Here are some photos from Camilla on Sami Day above the Arctic Circle in Norway

Farewell Camilla Porsanger and family

We have loved having Camilla Porsanger and family visiting CSU from Nord University. We have learned so much, shared ideas, and had lots of fun. Farewell - and we hope that our collaboration continues. 

Farewell Camilla and family

We have loved having Camilla Porsanger and family visiting the Children's Voices Centre over the past few months. Camilla is undertaking her PhD through Nord University in Norway focusing on Sami children's language learning. We have learned so much from Camilla and her family and will miss them. We look forward to ongoing collaborations.

 

 

Welcome to The Treehouse Camilla

Today we welcomed Camilla Porsanger to The Treehouse. She is studying her PhD at Nord University and has a scholarship to visit Australia. She is a visitor of the School of Indigenous Australian Studies and the Children's Voices Centre.

Camilla and Prof Lynn Williams both were welcomed at CVC today

 Camilla's family brought a Sami flag for the CVC and we discussed Wiradjuri land.

Camilla's children wearing Sami dress (photos shared with permission)

Nord University - Children's Voices Group

This afternoon Dr Belinda Downey presented a paper during our Nord University and Charles Sturt University collaboration for the Children's Voices Group. Her presentation was titled "Children's voices and the Sustainable Development Goals". The second presentation was titled "Sami Education Language Assessment Guide" by Prof Karianne Berg. There were 5 people from Nord University and 3 from CSU in attendance. What an interesting session.

CVC collaborations with the School of Indigenous Australian Studies (SIAS)

This morning I met with Dr Nick Ruddell to discuss the many areas of collaboration between CVC and the School of Indigenous Australian Studies (SIAS). One of the areas of collaboration are that we are co-hosting the visit of Camilla Porsanger from Nord University later this year.

14th May - Nick and I met with Camilla to organise her visit. We are looking forward to welcoming her.

 

Nord University presentation - Children Draw Talking

This afternoon I presented a paper to Nord University colleagues about our Children Draw Talking Global Online Gallery. Here are the resources I shared: • Early Childhood Voices Global Online Gallery: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2022/children-draw-talking-gallery-1-the-world/ • Sound Effects Study Drawing Protocol (McCormack et al., 2022). Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 53(3), 713-731. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00140 • Children’s voices communication rights advocacy with the United Nations https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/youth/hr75/submissions/subm-views-youth-led-cso-early-childhood-interdisciplinary-resear.pdf Books • Mahony, L., McLeod, S., Salamon, A., & Dwyer, J. (Eds.). (2024). Early childhood voices: Children, families, professionals. Springer. • Roulstone, S., & McLeod, S. (Eds.). (2011). Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. J&R Press.

CSU/ Nord early childhood collaboration

This evening we had another meeting regarding the CSU/ Nord EC collaboration. The great news is that the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the two universities.
We have three streams of interest relating to early childhood and discussed collapsing the final two groups:

• Children voices - Coordinator - Elisabeth Bjørnestad (Nord)
• Online learning for ECE ITE and MEd - Coordinators-Leanne Gibbs (CSU) and Martin Per Samuelsson (Nord)
• Quality assurance, regulation and qualifications - Coordinator-Kelly Tribolet (CSU)

The breakout group for the Children's Voices group were invited to share the work they are doing. Professor Karl Victor Magne Johansson described their children's voices research undertaken with five different early childhood centres listening to stories children are telling in different settings in order to create drafts for picture books. The picture books are translated into the Sami language. The images for the picture books have been drawn or photographed by the children or have used the children's words to create AI images. What a fascinating project.

Visiting PhD student: Ida Wiik Sætherskar

It has been a pleasure to host Ida Wiik Sætherskar, a PhD student from Nord University, Norway during this week at the Children's Voices Centre.  Ida has met many staff and students at CSU, observed children at the Bathurst Early Childhood Intervention Service (BECIS) and presented a talk attended by 30 people (online and in person). 

Ida's presentation was titled "Early Childhood Education Teachers' Judgments of Children's Language Skills". Here is her presentation abstract:

Ida Wiik Sætherskar is a speech and language therapist and a PhD research fellow at the Faculty of Education and Arts, Nord University. Ida´s project is a part of the research project SpedAims Kohort, Centre for Research on Special Needs Education and Inclusive Practice (SpedAims). In her doctoral project, Ida focuses her research on early childhood education (ECE) teachers’ judgments of children’s language skills. Successful early language development is vital to children´s later literacy development, education and well-being outcomes, highlighting the importance of early identification and early intervention for children with language delay or language disorders. ECE teachers are in a prime position to identify and support these children, further emphasizing the need for accuracy in judgments of children’s language skills as a part of their competence in supporting children’s language development. Ida will discuss current knowledge about the efficacy of ECE teachers' judgments of and ability to assess children's language and implications of her findings for further study as well as for practice.

 

Discussing research with colleagues in northern Norway

 A/Prof Kate Crowe and I have been discussing future research collaborations with colleagues from Nord University for some time on the topic of "Sámi Education Language Assessment Guidelines". We met again for further productive discussions.

Possibility of mobility visit for PhD student from Nord University

Tonight I had a wonderful conversation with Camilla and her two PhD supervisors from Nord University about the possibility of her visiting CSU for 6 months next year. Camilla has Sami heritage and is studying language maintenance of Sami children in Norway. I hope we are able to welcome her to CSU next year - there are so many areas of overlap between our work.

Nord/ CSU Early Childhood Education Group

Tonight we had a meeting with the Nord/Charles Sturt University Early Childhood Education Group working towards a memorandum of understanding between the universities. 

There are three sub-groups:

• Children's Voices (Leads: Elisabeth Bjornestad)
  
• Online Learning for Early Childhood Education/ITE and Med (Lead: Leanne Gibbs/Martin Per Samuelsson)
• Quality Assurance, Regulation and Qualifications (Leads: Kelly Tribolet/Belinda Downey)

The Children's Voices group shared the following projects and would like to have a seminar where people share their work

• Nord University is working with Malta on a project about children's voices + a philosophical approach regarding children's hut building in Sweden/Norway and New Zealand.
  
• CSU is running the Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024) next week and are working with the World Health Organization on a project about children's voices. 

Children's Voices Group

 

Nord University and CSU collaboration

Today was the Nord University and CSU collaboration meeting with CSU coordinators led by Susanne Francisco. The MOU is in its final stages

"The MOU has been developed based on a shared philosophy that building a sustainable and productive working collaboration takes time. It relies on development of interpersonal relationships leading to trusting and sustainable collaborations."

Here are the six groups as part of the MOU:

1. Indigenous Studies - Holly Randall-Moon
   
2. Professional Learning - Susanne Francisco
3. Rural Education - James Deehan
   
4. Early Childhood Education - Leanne Gibbs
   
5. Creativity in Education
6. Children’s Voices: Researching children’s speech, communication and culture - Sharynne McLeod
   

Here is an update on our group "Children’s Voices: Researching children’s speech, communication and culture"

• Leaders - Kathrin Olsen and Karianne Berg/ Sharynne McLeod and Kate Crowe
  
• Meetings during 2024 – 13 March, 10 May, 8 October, 30 October

We are planning a range of initiatives including 

1. Collaborating with the Nord team in their research supporting children who speak the Sami language (Nord University: Language of the Heart project with the Sámi community 
2. Visits from Nord PhD students to CSU in 2025 
3. Collaborative conferences and seminars including: Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024)

Nord University: Language of the Heart project with the Sámi community

This evening Kate Crowe and I met with Nord University researchers (Kathrin Olsen and Karianne Berg) to discuss their Language of the Heart research project with children within the Sámi community of Norway. What wonderful opportunities for collaboration. We have begun a plan.

Here is a description of the project from their website (https://www.uv.uio.no/spedaims/english/SpedAims-Language-of-the-Heart/):

In the research project SpedAims Language of the Heart, we want to find out more about how we can support Sami-speaking children's linguistic, academic and social learning and development opportunities in Norway. The study includes children from both Northern Sami, Lule Sami and Southern Sami language environments and language regions. It consists of both qualitative and quantitative studies, and we will follow a large number of children from all over the country through the last few years in kindergarten and further up to school.

Meeting with Nord University

This evening I had another meeting with Katrin Olsen and members of Nord University to advance conversations about a work plan and the Memorandum of Understanding with CSU. We are planning a range of initiatives including collaborating with the Nord team in their research supporting children who speak the Sami language, visits from Nord PhD students to CSU in 2025, and collaborative seminars. Our many synergies continue to grow: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/search/label/Nord%20University

Online meeting with Nord University

This morning I met with colleagues at Nord University in Norway to meet one another virtually and discuss future collaborations. Katrin Olsen visited Charles Sturt University in Bathurst a few months ago, so it was great to meet her colleagues, including Kristian Kristofferson who I have collaborated with for many years. The Nord University team are undertaking a study with children and families in Sami communities in Norway.

Nord University - Visit to CSU and conversations about the future

We have been honoured to have visitors from Nord University (https://www.nord.no/en) at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst over the past three weeks. Susanne Francisco has coordinated the visit of 

• Professor Wenche Rønning and 
• Associate Professor Kathrin Olsen 

from Fakultet for lærerutdanning og kunst- og kulturfag [Faculty of Teacher Education and Arts and Culture]. We look forward to working on a Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities.

Dr Susanne Francisco, Prof Wenche Rønning, A/Prof Kathrin Olsen,
Dr Kate Smithers, Prof Sharynne McLeod and Dr Leanne Gibbs

Kathrin and Sharynne saw 9 kangaroos near CSU.