Dr Sarah Tartakover

Sarah currently teaches in the Master of Teaching (Secondary) at VU. Prior to joining VU, Sarah spent many years working in a range of educational settings, most extensively in the adult community education sector where she taught English as an Additional Language (EAL) to recently arrived migrants. During this time she was involved in making several short films and creating a range of online resources for low literacy learners. She also presented a Latin American radio program on PBS-FM and coordinated a national radio training program which delivered training to ethnic broadcasters.

These experiences, coupled with her work in teacher education at VU, led Sarah to undertake an arts-based PhD which examined a range of issues around pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding of cultural identity, racism, diversity and the implications of these understandings on their teaching practice. Watch the video on Vimeo: Inclusion, Diversity & Creativity Day 2016 (organised by Sarah Tartakover & Peta Oates).

She created a film Classroom Conversations around Culture, and an accompanying exegesis – Cultural Perspectives in School Communities: An Exploration and Representation of Cultural Identity in Pre-Service Teachers.

The narratives of the pre-service teacher participants involved in this research offer important voices to consider when reflecting on ways to strengthen teacher education programs which promote inclusion and social justice.