Workshop 5 Overview
Tracks
Track 5
| Monday, July 6, 2026 |
| 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM |
| Stephen Riady Centre (SRC) Seminar Room 7 Level 2 |
Details
Aim
This workshop aims to build the knowledge, skills, and commitment of higher education staff and leaders to practice culturally responsive leadership, teaching and learning. It draws on co-designed models developed through the First Nations Training and Teacher Education Hub at Charles Darwin University to demonstrate how leadership is the lever for systemic change in embedding Indigenous knowledges, creating culturally safe learning environments, and transforming educational practice.
Focus
The workshop will focus on:
Leadership for Transformation – how leaders model, embed, and measure cultural responsiveness.
Authenticity vs. Tokenism – addressing blind spots and organisational cultures that maintain inequities.
Co-Design Principles – embedding Indigenous knowledges in curriculum, pedagogy, and policy.
Systemic Pillars of Change – exploring leadership’s role across curriculum, staff capability, partnerships, and student success.
Action and Commitment – developing culturally responsive leadership strategies for practice.
This 180-minute interactive workshop explores culturally responsive leadership as a catalyst for transformation in higher education. It is designed for higher education staff, academics, school leaders, and system leaders seeking to strengthen cultural responsiveness and drive systemic change. Drawing on the work of the First Nations Training and Teacher Education Hub, participants will examine how leadership can shift institutions from performative inclusion to authentic transformation.
The workshop is underpinned by Theory U (Scharmer, 2009), Transformative Leadership (Shields, 2010), Whiteness Studies (Moreton-Robinson, 2004), Critical Race Theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995), the Cultural Interface (Nakata, 2007), Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (Gay, 2018), Aboriginal Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing (Martin, 2003), and Indigenist research principles (Rigney, 1999). These frameworks highlight truth-telling, cultural humility, and systemic accountability. By the end, participants will be able to recognise leadership blind spots, understand tokenism to authentic engagement, explore cultural responsiveness at all system levels and develop a practical leadership commitment.
Workshop plan
Welcome and Framing (15 mins): Finding Your Why.
Foundations (30 mins): Knowing–Being–Doing; See, Hear, Feel.
Authentic Engagement (35 mins): From Tokenism to Transformation.
Case Studies (40 mins): Imagining the Future Impacts.
Strategic Pillars (30 mins): Identifying Blind Spots.
Action Planning (30 mins): Three-Sentence Commitment.
Conclusion (15 mins): Call to Action Circle.
Speaker
Miss Larissa Pickalla
Charles Darwin University
Leadership for Cultural Responsiveness: Transforming Higher Education Practice
Biography
Larissa Pickalla is a Djiringanj Yuin woman and Director of the First Nations Training and Teacher Education Hub at Charles Darwin University. A qualified teacher and youth worker, she leads initiatives in culturally responsive leadership, intercultural education, and First Nations Teacher workforce development across the Northern Territory. Larissa has been a part of programs such as the Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education initiative, On-Country in Schools, and co-designed short course in cultural responsiveness. Currently completing a PhD on sustainable First Nations teacher education partnership models, Larissa is committed to privileging Indigenous voices and growing the next generation of Aboriginal educators and leaders.
Miss Laura Fairbrother
Associate Director Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Development
Charles Darwin University
Co-presenter
Biography
Laura Fairbrother is the Associate Director, Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Development at CDU and has nearly 20 years’ experience leading collaborative teaching, training, and professional learning across diverse international contexts. Her work focuses on building capability to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in higher education, and she is a strong advocate for ongoing practice-based professional learning.
