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Pauline Findlay should be recognised for her outstanding contribution to the growth, mental health and wellbeing of young deaf and/or hard of hearing people throughout Australia. These people have found the pandemic particularly isolating and challenging, as mask wearing makes lip reading impossible. For four years, Pauline, a filmmaker and educator, has run photography and filmmaking workshops for hearing impaired teenagers, for registered Australian charity, Hear For You. Before the COVID-19 pandemic these workshops were run in person, but social distancing requirements and lockdowns across Australia made this impossible, forcing Pauline to make a rapid pivot to deliver the courses virtually. Thanks to Pauline’s dedication and skills, during a period of isolation and restricted movement, Hear For You was able to offer creative, engaging education in a safe learning environment.
In just two weeks, Pauline created a six lesson online program for her photography and filmmaking courses. Forty short, captioned video clips that students could watch in the safety of their homes were ‘blended’ with six weekly Zoom classes for the students to connect in person and discuss content with Pauline in a safe, mask-free environment, which assisted in their ability to lip read and participate. Pauline also created a virtual ‘Information Wall’ through Padlet to enable students to share information between sessions and feel more connected despite their isolation. Shifting the workshops online had unexpected benefits: the theme ‘Life in Iso’ gave students an important creative outlet to express how they were feeling living in isolation; the blended learning approach helped students learn at their own pace, with the ability to re-watch lessons as required; Hear For You was able to offer the courses to students nationwide, not just those who could attend in person; and the usual cinema screening of the students’ films was replaced with a Watch Party hosted on YouTube, reaching friends and family globally.
Pauline’s amazing work to create totally online workshops for deaf teenagers demonstrates incredible tenacity to innovate and overcome barriers. Her work has maintained positive mental health and wellbeing at a very isolating and challenging period in these young people’s lives.
Nomination Title: Pauline Findlay
