Debra Dank

I am Gudanji/Wakaja, and we are the people from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory. For almost 40 years I have worked in various roles in primary, secondary and tertiary education including class teacher (primary and secondary), special education teacher, senior teacher, regional consultant, regional manager, lecturer, senior lecturer and Head of School (tertiary). I have worked in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and the Northern Territory in urban and remote contexts. I am particularly interested in how narrative, in its broadest sense, is practiced in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and why semiotics is critical to understanding the breadth of communicative mechanisms and functions in this practice.