About this episode
Kahlia Saunders shares her journey from hairdresser's apprentice to a primary school teacher and her current role in language revitalisation.
From hairdresser’s apprentice, to primary school teacher of over 15 years, Kahlia Saunders is a Gunditjmara and Boandik woman who now leads in the language revitalisation space as a Language and Culture Officer across NSW. Relevant Links from this episode: Wollotuka: https://www.newcastle.edu.au/our-uni/... 8 Ways: https://www.8ways.online/about Nb: In this episode I (Amy) refer to the experiences of First in Family students being the minority of university students, which was true when Kahlia and I were studying our degrees and was true when I last dove into the student population data for my own thesis work (2020). However, it is interesting to note that over the past two decades, the Government has supported Universities in widening participation, and in recent years the impact of these measures has begun to impact the enrolment data in exciting and interesting ways. In 2021 the rate of First in Family students was approaching 50%. https://theconversation.com/odds-are-... In 2025, post recording of this episode, it was reported that the number of FIF students has risen to 2/3rds of the student population. Meaning that for the first time, FIF students are no longer the minority…
People in this episode
Guest: Kahlia Saunders
Topics covered
- language revitalisation
- education
- First in Family students
Keywords
- Gunditjmara
- Boandik
- Language and Culture Officer
- NSW
Mentioned in this episode
Products: Wollotuka, 8 Ways
Places: Gunditjmara, Boandik, NSW
More episodes of Blacademia
- S2 E6 with Adam Fletcher · January 21, 2026 · 1h 0m
- S2 E5 with Dr Gemma Sentance · January 21, 2026 · 34 min
- S2 E3 with Luke Pearson · January 21, 2026 · 40 min
- S2 E4 with Dr Lauren Tynan · January 21, 2026 · 26 min
- S2 E2 with Dr Leila Usher · December 8, 2025 · 52 min
- S1, E8 Dr Lorraine Muller · February 18, 2020 · 59 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Blacademia podcast page.