Dr Kate Berniz

I co-developed the first English Language Support Program at Flinders in the Student Learning Centre (SLC now SLSS) in 2015. I have taught in multiple fields in Education and Humanities in international tertiary education sites, and in Migrant Education in Australia. Over the past 17+ years, I have undertaken leadership, teaching, coordination, university liaison, and widening participation project officer roles in higher education. I have taught EAL (English as an Additional Language), EFL (English as a Foreign Language), Spanish, Multiliteracies, Language(s) Methodologies (TESOL & Intercultural Literacy), and within Indigenous Education. As an Academic Advisor in the SLC, I provided English and Literacy support to students of CALD backgrounds in the Learning Lounge drop-in service. Today, I coordinate Developing Literacies through Intercultural Languages Learning (postgraduate students) and I teach in Academic and Professional Communication. I have had the privilege of leading a Languages Department and teaching students in Mexico, China, the UK, and Australia, in remote, country, and metropolitan contexts. I completed my award-winning Ph.D. in Languages Education at Flinders in 2018. My thesis explored Dialogical pedagogy, research, and learning in Spanish languages education. As I come from a migrant working-class background and English is my second language, I’m personally committed to being of meaningful service to students who struggle with the challenges of learning a 'language' and/or may experience difficulty with the multi-literacies required to navigate the university space (on paper, in person or online).

I am excited about working with you in my roles dedicated to students and staff (NTEU) at Flinders. I am passionate about education and equity: it is the ongoing struggle in/for dialogical learning, teaching, research, and activism that enables students/ourselves to transgress and act towards 'our' empowerment. So, we should!

Book:

Berniz, K. (2002).Critical Reading for Critical Writing: Where do we start? Just In Time Press, Mexico.