April 29, 2024 • 17 mins
In this episode we talk to Krushnadevsinh Ravalji (Kano). Kano is the Youth Commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission. We ask him about how educators can ensure that Relationships and Sexuality Education is inclusive and respectful for the multicultural communities that we work with.
Resources:
See more about Kano at the Third Culture. Find Kano on LinkedIn. See Centre for Culture, Ethnicity & Health for information and many translated health resources.
For more information about SHV @ shvic.org.au.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This podcast was created on Wurundjeri.
It contains discussion about adult topics.
Welcome to Doing'It'.
This is a podcast made by Sexual Health Victoria.
We run a whole lot of education programs for communities and medical professionals across Victoria.
We also run sexual health clinics in the city and Box Hill in Melbourne.
(00:21):
My name is Anne.
I'm part of the sexual health Victoria Schools and community team.
We run classes for all year levels on bodies growing up,
puberty,
sex,
reproduction,
consent,
relationships.
This podcast is for parents and carers of school age Children.
So we can share what goes on in a relationships and sexuality education class and help support these sorts of conversations at home.
(00:44):
This episode features an interview conducted by Sam.
It's with Krushnadevsign Ravalji.
We can use Kano for short.
Kano is the youth commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
He's also been recently awarded the young citizen of the year award at the Wyndham City Council and is the founder of the award winning social enterprise,
(01:08):
Third Culture.
Kano works with young people and multicultural communities to promote inclusion,
equity and leadership.
He's able to provide a bridge between the voice of community and government decision makers,
Kano talks about the importance of listening to young people.
Good morning Kano.
(01:28):
Thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me today.
So,
first question,
can you provide an overview of your work as the Victorian Youth Commissioner?
And what led you to this work?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me,
Sam.
And it's interesting how it led me to this role.
Um So I'm the Youth Commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
Um And our main duties are pretty much to celebrate diversity and advocate for diversity.
(01:52):
So the way we celebrate is we host the Gala,
the premier Gala Multicultural Gala where about 1000 people from the community come,
the premier,
there,
many other stakeholders are there and we celebrate culture and the diversity in Victoria.
And the big piece of work that we do is the advocacy piece.
Um And so we're,
if you can almost imagine with a conduit between government and communities.
(02:12):
And so if the government wants to sort of,
we did a big work in COVID time to pass on that knowledge uh when we took the community issues concerns and we raise it up to policy makers,
the minister and the department.
And the way we do that is we have regional advisory broad spread all across the state,
all across Victoria.
And that's where my job comes in.
My portfolio is the youth.
And so I've got about 20 incredible young people in my multicultural youth network,
(02:36):
very well established strong advocates.
And so my job is be guided by them,
listen to sort of what they want,
what are their uh issues and then put that into an answer report and use the advocacy um skills that I have and the expertise and the connection.
So take it up to government,
to policy makers to,
to departments.
Yeah.
Amazing.
And what led you into this type of work?
(02:59):
Yeah,
it's interesting.
Um I'm a migrant myself and so growing up here um always was caught between the two different cultures not fitting in.
And so I've always been an advocate for inclusion for diversity and,
you know,
people being proud of themselves,
they're part of their identity.
And so that's took the role of me doing my own advocacy,
my own public speaking.
(03:19):
And eventually I saw this role open up um where I was like,
oh,
maybe I can take my advocacy to another level where this is where the,
you know,
I wanted to be in those key decision making arenas where big decisions are made.
So I applied for it and somehow I got it.
Um So very,
very fortunate to be in that position to in my term,
to have,
have potential impact.
And can you tell us a bit about third culture and the work you're doing?
(03:42):
Yeah.
Third culture is interesting.
Well,
I'll tell you where the name comes from.
So me being a migrant,
um me being here for almost almost 17 years now.
If I go to India where my h my country of origin,
they'll say I'm not Indian because I'm too,
you know,
too western.
If I say I'm Australian here,
traditionally,
I'm not Australian.
(04:02):
So I'm,
I'm a mix between the two cultures.
Um And so that's where the word third culture comes from where I'm not this culture,
I'm not this culture.
I'm in this weird bubble with a lot of other shows in Victorian.
So that's where third culture comes in.
And a lot of my work is based with young people with different communities on how to better work with multicultural young people.
How can we make services?
(04:22):
How can we make organizations businesses more accessible,
more accepting where every single person that walks in feel like they belong?
What does culturally safe practice look like when working with young people?
Yeah,
that's a great question and a big question.
Um And a lot of my work is based.
So I would like to work with individuals.
And so my biggest tip is what is the outcome we were after?
(04:46):
Because I think in Victoria,
we're so diverse that as a,
as a parent or as a,
as an educator,
we're not going to be on top of every single culture,
we're not going to be on top of every single barrier.
Um It's just too hard and so I would like to say,
what's the outcome we want?
So we want every,
we want every young person to feel like they're heard to feel like they're accepted,
to feel like they can feel safe to explore or be at,
(05:08):
to learn these new topics.
And that I think that starts by making sure us as educators or us as parents are aware of the issues that are going on in young people's lives.
They've been listening to them finding out what their,
what their issues are and challenging our own biases.
I think sometimes we have our own biases on what young people want or you know,
what they,
what they can achieve.
(05:29):
So challenging those stereotypes,
those biases that,
that we,
that we have already and then working towards a system to,
to address those,
whether that's um looking at our resources in our organization,
whether that's the,
the way we've been taught,
maybe that's not the,
oh,
that's a no,
that's not the best way to work with multicultural young people.
So we might have to learn new ways and adapt to every single young person.
(05:51):
Can you tell us uh what is your advice about how educators can work with multicultural young people to ensure the information and education they're getting about relationships,
sexuality and sexual health is culturally appropriate and meets their needs.
The biggest um the biggest thing that we,
we get taught is or as I share a little bit in my experience of coming in here,
(06:15):
there's a lot of confronting things that you see,
whereas in my culture,
the Indian culture of the family that I grew up in,
it's not normal to,
to be in a love relationship.
It's not normal to have a boyfriend,
girlfriend or,
or another partner.
Um,
it's not normal to hold hands in public.
That's a very taboo thing and to come to this country and see that it can be a bit confronting from me as a young person,
(06:36):
you know,
that gets used to it,
going to school and that,
but from the parents' perspective,
that's very hard to see as well.
And as a young person being a migrant or refugee or maybe a different culture,
there's so many different things at play because you might go to home and you have,
there's a set of expectations,
you go outside,
there's a different set of expectations.
Um So there's the faith plays a big factor.
(06:57):
Culture plays a big factor and it's different to maybe how we've been taught as educators of.
Here's the principles that we need to teach to young people.
They might not apply to multicultural um people in particular.
And I think we need to make sure that when we work with these young people,
we don't ex impose our values on them or impose what we feel like is the right way to go about it.
(07:18):
Because at the end of the day,
young people,
they're probably going through a tough times internally,
you know,
growing up identity is playing a big factor.
Finnegan is being a big factor and we don't want to add more stress onto it.
So I think our,
our job as educators should be to be,
be there to listen to them,
listen to the concerns,
support them and figure out how is the best way I can support this young people.
(07:40):
How,
what's the best way I can support this young people or young person?
Because at the end of the day,
everyone wants to be heard and recognized.
And I think we need to create that space for young people to be heard.
And then how can we,
how can we make an address them?
And I wonder if you could from your perspective,
just talk to us a little bit about.
Imagine there is a,
an educator in a classroom uh teaching relationships and sexuality education.
(08:05):
Um and they become aware that a multicultural young person in their classroom is appearing uncomfortable with this type of content.
What would your advice be?
What I would do?
Firstly,
Sam is,
if I,
if I as a teacher,
I might know that my students might find some of these students might find this topic a bit uncomfortable giving them a sort of the warning beforehand or the,
(08:26):
you know,
uh heads up that,
hey,
when,
while you're having this conversation,
um If you don't,
if you don't wish to participate for,
you know,
for whatever reason,
give them the choice.
Um,
we should,
I feel like we shouldn't force them to sit in that uncomfortable position if they,
if they don't feel,
if they don't feel like it.
So I think giving them the option.
Um,
and also I would love to,
uh,
before we even get jump into that,
open up the conversation and challenge a little bit of those ideas.
(08:49):
So,
you know,
I would love to see a teacher maybe open up the space and be like,
what does a relationship look like for you?
You know,
is it a because I think every culture will have a different form of relationship,
you know,
the romantic or the love type.
What does that look like?
What does it even marriage look like?
And I think just making sure that everyone feels like they're on a common ground.
Um I know sometimes I've been in spaces where I feel like the way that's some things are taught to me that's,
(09:13):
I've never been seen that from that angle or that's not something part of my culture.
So I think young people want to feel accepted and belong.
So I think if the classroom or the group,
there's a consensus reached on,
you know,
relationship doesn't just mean one type,
there's different forms or a,
you know,
a sexual relationship would look like different forms.
I think that adds a little bit of comfort.
(09:34):
Um And so I think establishing that common ground would be,
would be key.
So I think sometimes as a multicultural young person,
my,
I would love for the other people in the room to know some of the barriers that I'm facing just because it makes me feel a little bit more calmer.
So I think having that opening discussion in school,
it's hard to do,
I must admit,
but I think it would be really good.
(09:54):
Um And the other part,
if you see a student uncomfortable,
I would,
I would love for the teacher to take the student out potentially or a group of students out just so you're not having that uncomfortable conversation in front of other other students um in the classroom because,
you know,
that's how the school environment can be a little bit,
you know,
you see a student talking to the teacher,
all the students are listening in.
So I think taking them out and again,
(10:16):
not imposing anything,
let's have an open conversation.
What,
you know,
is there something about this that you find uncomfortable?
What is it sort of unpacking that a little bit rather than exposing the exposing um or imposing the value,
sorry?
Or the other thing that I see is making assumptions of the teacher,
of this multicultural young person is uncomfortable because of this reason because of this reason or because of the cultural faith.
(10:39):
And I think not making those assumptions rather talking to the young person,
what's making you uncomfortable?
What is it about it,
finding that out and seeing,
how can I,
how can I change?
How can I change the way I teach or how can I address it?
So,
at the end of the day,
the key information about,
you know,
uh general well being of sexual health or relationship is covered off rather than uh we might know better the 100% but meeting them where they are and giving the required information that we need to give them.
(11:07):
Yeah,
that's so great.
And how can we amplify the voices of multicultural young people to ensure that relationships,
sexuality education is meeting their needs.
Yeah,
great question.
I think it's,
we need to amplify by listening to them and be,
be led by them.
We all,
we hear this word of cosign,
we hear,
hear this word of youth l being thrown out.
(11:27):
But I think it's creating that space for y for young people,
for us to hear it from them and see what we need to do better or we need to change um fro from our services.
And I think eventually the goal should be that we have tools,
we have the mindset that no matter what m what young person comes in,
whether it's a multicultural young person or whether it's another sense of diversity,
(11:48):
we know the tools that we can work with them to address the needs or give them um give them the education that they,
that they need at their level.
So it's,
I think it's about meeting them where they are rather than exposing,
here's the expectation you need to hit.
Let's talk,
let's talk to the young people.
Let's see where they are,
what level they are and how can,
how can we work with them.
And also I love to see,
(12:10):
you know,
you do a program.
There might be,
or,
you know,
there might be two or three young people who are excelling.
Um So you might even be after the program,
maybe one or two years down the track touching base with them.
And if you're like,
hey,
you know,
you do this program,
what do you think of it?
What can we improve on it?
Um We,
you know,
we're trying to work with more young people,
what could we do better?
So I think it's about listening to them and also implementing some of the actions that they,
(12:31):
that they tell us.
Yeah.
So following up and really thinking about that feedback later on.
So important,
Kano you talked a bit about co design,
what does authentic co design look like with multicultural young people?
Yeah.
Great question.
I think authentic co design looks like the,
(12:52):
the,
when we're doing the C and there's a bit of attention to it.
I think sometimes we,
we throw out the word because we need to tick that box off or we need to make sure we hear the young people.
I think authentic creator.
And I've been,
luckily I am a bit young and I've done a lot of uh being a participant where Codesign has happened.
Um,
and I think the best practices are where young people are consulted,
(13:13):
which I feel like happens a lot.
They're informed,
um whether that's post or during.
But I think the most key part is what they feel like they're saying there's an impact to it or whatever.
I,
my ideas are,
there's something that's happened to it or if it's not possible that's communicated to me of,
hey,
you know,
we,
you had this good idea,
but unfortunately,
we,
we can't do that um for,
(13:34):
for,
you know,
for whatever reason.
So I think authentic looks like we're hearing,
we're genuinely going to the young people because we don't know something.
Um We're making assumptions.
So we're like,
oh,
we're not too sure.
So let's go to them,
talk to them and see,
see what they actually want.
Um Do they want to learn it this way or do they,
is there a different way they want to be approached?
So I think once we get that,
(13:54):
using that to,
to better inform us rather than doing it just because it's another thing that we should do.
Um That intention is key and thinking about parents and carers.
What support do parents,
carers and families of multicultural young people need when the young people in their lives are receiving this type of education?
(14:14):
I think the biggest thing that parents and guardians may need is the reassurance that the education is not going to change their,
their child or their young person.
It's not going to drastically take them away from their values.
I think that reassurance is,
is very key.
Um because I know from,
from my culture,
sex education or relationship education is not,
(14:36):
it's not a topic that's really talked about in,
in,
in other parts of the world,
especially where I come from.
And,
you know,
it's looked at almost at a taboo topic.
It's looked at as a,
almost a negative topic and to,
to realize,
you know,
as a parent that,
oh,
maybe my,
my kids are being taught this at school.
It can be a bit scary.
So I think there needs to be equal support for the parents to let them know if you have any questions.
(14:58):
Here's,
here's what we're teaching in school.
Um,
we're not cha cha the challenging their views or we're not,
you know,
changing what they,
what they,
what they view.
It's just where we just want them to teach them about how the importance of sexual health,
just like physical health,
just like mental health.
It's another aspect of health that we need to.
It's very important.
We need,
we need to,
um,
look after and I think the other thing is I would love to see,
(15:22):
could we get the parents on board and be,
be those champions in their own families,
right?
Sometimes we always add,
wanting to address the the young people and support them.
But could we potentially empower the parents to take that change?
Could we empower?
I know it's a tough task to ask,
I must admit,
but I think there are certain parents in communities that we can really work with to champion that because as parents,
(15:45):
I know my parents would look to the religious leaders,
they look to the community leaders to see is this ok for,
you know,
my community or my or my child to learn.
And if those leaders and those organizations agree and you know,
they accept it.
I I think you would see a big change in how the parents react to it and then that would trickle down to the kids as well.
(16:06):
Thank you,
Caro so much for your time.
Thank you for having me.
Thanks so much Kano for that interview.
Some really key things which stood out in this discussion for me:
Uh Kano invites us to challenge our own biases when working with multicultural individuals consider cosign as an option to meet the needs of the community,
(16:31):
invite parents and carers into conversations about the education that young people might be experiencing and reassure that this doesn't conflict with their own family values.
You can find Kano in lots of places on the internet.
I will link to a couple in the show notes.
One is the third culture uh which is his social enterprise and I'll also link to his LinkedIn bio.
(16:57):
For more information about Sexual Health Victoria,
you can go to shvic.org.au.
Follow us on LinkedIn Instagram,
Facebook,
tiktok,
contact us directly at doingit@shvic.org.au subscribe if you like the podcast.
Leave a review if you can.
Thank you so much for listening.
This podcast was created on Wurundjeri.
It contains discussion about adult topics.
Welcome to Doing'It'.
This is a podcast made by Sexual Health Victoria.
We run a whole lot of education programs for communities and medical professionals across Victoria.
We also run sexual health clinics in the city and Box Hill in Melbourne.
(00:21):
My name is Anne.
I'm part of the sexual health Victoria Schools and community team.
We run classes for all year levels on bodies growing up,
puberty,
sex,
reproduction,
consent,
relationships.
This podcast is for parents and carers of school age Children.
So we can share what goes on in a relationships and sexuality education class and help support these sorts of conversations at home.
(00:44):
This episode features an interview conducted by Sam.
It's with Krushnadevsign Ravalji.
We can use Kano for short.
Kano is the youth commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
He's also been recently awarded the young citizen of the year award at the Wyndham City Council and is the founder of the award winning social enterprise,
(01:08):
Third Culture.
Kano works with young people and multicultural communities to promote inclusion,
equity and leadership.
He's able to provide a bridge between the voice of community and government decision makers,
Kano talks about the importance of listening to young people.
Good morning Kano.
(01:28):
Thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me today.
So,
first question,
can you provide an overview of your work as the Victorian Youth Commissioner?
And what led you to this work?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for having me,
Sam.
And it's interesting how it led me to this role.
Um So I'm the Youth Commissioner at the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
Um And our main duties are pretty much to celebrate diversity and advocate for diversity.
(01:52):
So the way we celebrate is we host the Gala,
the premier Gala Multicultural Gala where about 1000 people from the community come,
the premier,
there,
many other stakeholders are there and we celebrate culture and the diversity in Victoria.
And the big piece of work that we do is the advocacy piece.
Um And so we're,
if you can almost imagine with a conduit between government and communities.
(02:12):
And so if the government wants to sort of,
we did a big work in COVID time to pass on that knowledge uh when we took the community issues concerns and we raise it up to policy makers,
the minister and the department.
And the way we do that is we have regional advisory broad spread all across the state,
all across Victoria.
And that's where my job comes in.
My portfolio is the youth.
And so I've got about 20 incredible young people in my multicultural youth network,
(02:36):
very well established strong advocates.
And so my job is be guided by them,
listen to sort of what they want,
what are their uh issues and then put that into an answer report and use the advocacy um skills that I have and the expertise and the connection.
So take it up to government,
to policy makers to,
to departments.
Yeah.
Amazing.
And what led you into this type of work?
(02:59):
Yeah,
it's interesting.
Um I'm a migrant myself and so growing up here um always was caught between the two different cultures not fitting in.
And so I've always been an advocate for inclusion for diversity and,
you know,
people being proud of themselves,
they're part of their identity.
And so that's took the role of me doing my own advocacy,
my own public speaking.
(03:19):
And eventually I saw this role open up um where I was like,
oh,
maybe I can take my advocacy to another level where this is where the,
you know,
I wanted to be in those key decision making arenas where big decisions are made.
So I applied for it and somehow I got it.
Um So very,
very fortunate to be in that position to in my term,
to have,
have potential impact.
And can you tell us a bit about third culture and the work you're doing?
(03:42):
Yeah.
Third culture is interesting.
Well,
I'll tell you where the name comes from.
So me being a migrant,
um me being here for almost almost 17 years now.
If I go to India where my h my country of origin,
they'll say I'm not Indian because I'm too,
you know,
too western.
If I say I'm Australian here,
traditionally,
I'm not Australian.
(04:02):
So I'm,
I'm a mix between the two cultures.
Um And so that's where the word third culture comes from where I'm not this culture,
I'm not this culture.
I'm in this weird bubble with a lot of other shows in Victorian.
So that's where third culture comes in.
And a lot of my work is based with young people with different communities on how to better work with multicultural young people.
How can we make services?
(04:22):
How can we make organizations businesses more accessible,
more accepting where every single person that walks in feel like they belong?
What does culturally safe practice look like when working with young people?
Yeah,
that's a great question and a big question.
Um And a lot of my work is based.
So I would like to work with individuals.
And so my biggest tip is what is the outcome we were after?
(04:46):
Because I think in Victoria,
we're so diverse that as a,
as a parent or as a,
as an educator,
we're not going to be on top of every single culture,
we're not going to be on top of every single barrier.
Um It's just too hard and so I would like to say,
what's the outcome we want?
So we want every,
we want every young person to feel like they're heard to feel like they're accepted,
to feel like they can feel safe to explore or be at,
(05:08):
to learn these new topics.
And that I think that starts by making sure us as educators or us as parents are aware of the issues that are going on in young people's lives.
They've been listening to them finding out what their,
what their issues are and challenging our own biases.
I think sometimes we have our own biases on what young people want or you know,
what they,
what they can achieve.
(05:29):
So challenging those stereotypes,
those biases that,
that we,
that we have already and then working towards a system to,
to address those,
whether that's um looking at our resources in our organization,
whether that's the,
the way we've been taught,
maybe that's not the,
oh,
that's a no,
that's not the best way to work with multicultural young people.
So we might have to learn new ways and adapt to every single young person.
(05:51):
Can you tell us uh what is your advice about how educators can work with multicultural young people to ensure the information and education they're getting about relationships,
sexuality and sexual health is culturally appropriate and meets their needs.
The biggest um the biggest thing that we,
we get taught is or as I share a little bit in my experience of coming in here,
(06:15):
there's a lot of confronting things that you see,
whereas in my culture,
the Indian culture of the family that I grew up in,
it's not normal to,
to be in a love relationship.
It's not normal to have a boyfriend,
girlfriend or,
or another partner.
Um,
it's not normal to hold hands in public.
That's a very taboo thing and to come to this country and see that it can be a bit confronting from me as a young person,
(06:36):
you know,
that gets used to it,
going to school and that,
but from the parents' perspective,
that's very hard to see as well.
And as a young person being a migrant or refugee or maybe a different culture,
there's so many different things at play because you might go to home and you have,
there's a set of expectations,
you go outside,
there's a different set of expectations.
Um So there's the faith plays a big factor.
(06:57):
Culture plays a big factor and it's different to maybe how we've been taught as educators of.
Here's the principles that we need to teach to young people.
They might not apply to multicultural um people in particular.
And I think we need to make sure that when we work with these young people,
we don't ex impose our values on them or impose what we feel like is the right way to go about it.
(07:18):
Because at the end of the day,
young people,
they're probably going through a tough times internally,
you know,
growing up identity is playing a big factor.
Finnegan is being a big factor and we don't want to add more stress onto it.
So I think our,
our job as educators should be to be,
be there to listen to them,
listen to the concerns,
support them and figure out how is the best way I can support this young people.
(07:40):
How,
what's the best way I can support this young people or young person?
Because at the end of the day,
everyone wants to be heard and recognized.
And I think we need to create that space for young people to be heard.
And then how can we,
how can we make an address them?
And I wonder if you could from your perspective,
just talk to us a little bit about.
Imagine there is a,
an educator in a classroom uh teaching relationships and sexuality education.
(08:05):
Um and they become aware that a multicultural young person in their classroom is appearing uncomfortable with this type of content.
What would your advice be?
What I would do?
Firstly,
Sam is,
if I,
if I as a teacher,
I might know that my students might find some of these students might find this topic a bit uncomfortable giving them a sort of the warning beforehand or the,
(08:26):
you know,
uh heads up that,
hey,
when,
while you're having this conversation,
um If you don't,
if you don't wish to participate for,
you know,
for whatever reason,
give them the choice.
Um,
we should,
I feel like we shouldn't force them to sit in that uncomfortable position if they,
if they don't feel,
if they don't feel like it.
So I think giving them the option.
Um,
and also I would love to,
uh,
before we even get jump into that,
open up the conversation and challenge a little bit of those ideas.
(08:49):
So,
you know,
I would love to see a teacher maybe open up the space and be like,
what does a relationship look like for you?
You know,
is it a because I think every culture will have a different form of relationship,
you know,
the romantic or the love type.
What does that look like?
What does it even marriage look like?
And I think just making sure that everyone feels like they're on a common ground.
Um I know sometimes I've been in spaces where I feel like the way that's some things are taught to me that's,
(09:13):
I've never been seen that from that angle or that's not something part of my culture.
So I think young people want to feel accepted and belong.
So I think if the classroom or the group,
there's a consensus reached on,
you know,
relationship doesn't just mean one type,
there's different forms or a,
you know,
a sexual relationship would look like different forms.
I think that adds a little bit of comfort.
(09:34):
Um And so I think establishing that common ground would be,
would be key.
So I think sometimes as a multicultural young person,
my,
I would love for the other people in the room to know some of the barriers that I'm facing just because it makes me feel a little bit more calmer.
So I think having that opening discussion in school,
it's hard to do,
I must admit,
but I think it would be really good.
(09:54):
Um And the other part,
if you see a student uncomfortable,
I would,
I would love for the teacher to take the student out potentially or a group of students out just so you're not having that uncomfortable conversation in front of other other students um in the classroom because,
you know,
that's how the school environment can be a little bit,
you know,
you see a student talking to the teacher,
all the students are listening in.
So I think taking them out and again,
(10:16):
not imposing anything,
let's have an open conversation.
What,
you know,
is there something about this that you find uncomfortable?
What is it sort of unpacking that a little bit rather than exposing the exposing um or imposing the value,
sorry?
Or the other thing that I see is making assumptions of the teacher,
of this multicultural young person is uncomfortable because of this reason because of this reason or because of the cultural faith.
(10:39):
And I think not making those assumptions rather talking to the young person,
what's making you uncomfortable?
What is it about it,
finding that out and seeing,
how can I,
how can I change?
How can I change the way I teach or how can I address it?
So,
at the end of the day,
the key information about,
you know,
uh general well being of sexual health or relationship is covered off rather than uh we might know better the 100% but meeting them where they are and giving the required information that we need to give them.
(11:07):
Yeah,
that's so great.
And how can we amplify the voices of multicultural young people to ensure that relationships,
sexuality education is meeting their needs.
Yeah,
great question.
I think it's,
we need to amplify by listening to them and be,
be led by them.
We all,
we hear this word of cosign,
we hear,
hear this word of youth l being thrown out.
(11:27):
But I think it's creating that space for y for young people,
for us to hear it from them and see what we need to do better or we need to change um fro from our services.
And I think eventually the goal should be that we have tools,
we have the mindset that no matter what m what young person comes in,
whether it's a multicultural young person or whether it's another sense of diversity,
(11:48):
we know the tools that we can work with them to address the needs or give them um give them the education that they,
that they need at their level.
So it's,
I think it's about meeting them where they are rather than exposing,
here's the expectation you need to hit.
Let's talk,
let's talk to the young people.
Let's see where they are,
what level they are and how can,
how can we work with them.
And also I love to see,
(12:10):
you know,
you do a program.
There might be,
or,
you know,
there might be two or three young people who are excelling.
Um So you might even be after the program,
maybe one or two years down the track touching base with them.
And if you're like,
hey,
you know,
you do this program,
what do you think of it?
What can we improve on it?
Um We,
you know,
we're trying to work with more young people,
what could we do better?
So I think it's about listening to them and also implementing some of the actions that they,
(12:31):
that they tell us.
Yeah.
So following up and really thinking about that feedback later on.
So important,
Kano you talked a bit about co design,
what does authentic co design look like with multicultural young people?
Yeah.
Great question.
I think authentic co design looks like the,
(12:52):
the,
when we're doing the C and there's a bit of attention to it.
I think sometimes we,
we throw out the word because we need to tick that box off or we need to make sure we hear the young people.
I think authentic creator.
And I've been,
luckily I am a bit young and I've done a lot of uh being a participant where Codesign has happened.
Um,
and I think the best practices are where young people are consulted,
(13:13):
which I feel like happens a lot.
They're informed,
um whether that's post or during.
But I think the most key part is what they feel like they're saying there's an impact to it or whatever.
I,
my ideas are,
there's something that's happened to it or if it's not possible that's communicated to me of,
hey,
you know,
we,
you had this good idea,
but unfortunately,
we,
we can't do that um for,
(13:34):
for,
you know,
for whatever reason.
So I think authentic looks like we're hearing,
we're genuinely going to the young people because we don't know something.
Um We're making assumptions.
So we're like,
oh,
we're not too sure.
So let's go to them,
talk to them and see,
see what they actually want.
Um Do they want to learn it this way or do they,
is there a different way they want to be approached?
So I think once we get that,
(13:54):
using that to,
to better inform us rather than doing it just because it's another thing that we should do.
Um That intention is key and thinking about parents and carers.
What support do parents,
carers and families of multicultural young people need when the young people in their lives are receiving this type of education?
(14:14):
I think the biggest thing that parents and guardians may need is the reassurance that the education is not going to change their,
their child or their young person.
It's not going to drastically take them away from their values.
I think that reassurance is,
is very key.
Um because I know from,
from my culture,
sex education or relationship education is not,
(14:36):
it's not a topic that's really talked about in,
in,
in other parts of the world,
especially where I come from.
And,
you know,
it's looked at almost at a taboo topic.
It's looked at as a,
almost a negative topic and to,
to realize,
you know,
as a parent that,
oh,
maybe my,
my kids are being taught this at school.
It can be a bit scary.
So I think there needs to be equal support for the parents to let them know if you have any questions.
(14:58):
Here's,
here's what we're teaching in school.
Um,
we're not cha cha the challenging their views or we're not,
you know,
changing what they,
what they,
what they view.
It's just where we just want them to teach them about how the importance of sexual health,
just like physical health,
just like mental health.
It's another aspect of health that we need to.
It's very important.
We need,
we need to,
um,
look after and I think the other thing is I would love to see,
(15:22):
could we get the parents on board and be,
be those champions in their own families,
right?
Sometimes we always add,
wanting to address the the young people and support them.
But could we potentially empower the parents to take that change?
Could we empower?
I know it's a tough task to ask,
I must admit,
but I think there are certain parents in communities that we can really work with to champion that because as parents,
(15:45):
I know my parents would look to the religious leaders,
they look to the community leaders to see is this ok for,
you know,
my community or my or my child to learn.
And if those leaders and those organizations agree and you know,
they accept it.
I I think you would see a big change in how the parents react to it and then that would trickle down to the kids as well.
(16:06):
Thank you,
Caro so much for your time.
Thank you for having me.
Thanks so much Kano for that interview.
Some really key things which stood out in this discussion for me:
Uh Kano invites us to challenge our own biases when working with multicultural individuals consider cosign as an option to meet the needs of the community,
(16:31):
invite parents and carers into conversations about the education that young people might be experiencing and reassure that this doesn't conflict with their own family values.
You can find Kano in lots of places on the internet.
I will link to a couple in the show notes.
One is the third culture uh which is his social enterprise and I'll also link to his LinkedIn bio.
(16:57):
For more information about Sexual Health Victoria,
you can go to shvic.org.au.
Follow us on LinkedIn Instagram,
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tiktok,
contact us directly at doingit@shvic.org.au subscribe if you like the podcast.
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Thank you so much for listening.
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