Inspiring Torres Strait Islanders with English as a second language is part of the toolkit for a new breed of teachers trained to work in Australia's most challenging and remote classrooms.
Brisbane-based pre-service teacher Jess Micallef wondered whether she had arrived on another planet, not an island paradise off Queensland, when she had to translate lessons from Kulkalgau Ya into English.
As she explored the nuances of the dialect spoken only on the central islands of the Torres Strait, she realised adaptation and empathy were imperative to connect with school children who had no equivalent word in their traditional language for his or her.
"The children only speak English at school so when they referred to me, they'd call me mister. Little things like that," the Australian Catholic University student recalled of the communication challenges she faced during her month-long professional experience teaching placement on Coconut Island.
"You've got to get the students to write things their way and then translate back to English."
It was there, in a classroom at Tagai State College's Poruma (Coconut Island) Campus, a journey of four flights from her home, that the penny truly dropped. As welcoming as the island's 210 local inhabitants were - the population can fluctuate due to island-hopping - they needed to know their teachers were invested.
Immersed teachers encourage engaged students and when that occurs, learning flourishes.
"On the first day the children didn't want to know me, didn't want to listen," Ms Micallef said.
"That afternoon I took them outside to play sport and they loved it. You see them in the afternoons. You swim with them, hunt with them, go fishing with them."
"Once they knew I cared there was a real connection."
