By BRIDGET COOK
CRANBOURNE North’s William Nicholson is passionate about educating people about Indigenous culture and history.
Now the Wurundjeri elder has been given the opportunity to take his studies abroad and bring back what he learns to improve the way Australians are educated about an important part of our nation’s fabric.
Mr Nicholson, 41, is one of the 22 Victorians to have been chosen for a Churchill Fellowship as part of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.
To perpetuate the memory of Sir Winston Churchill, the trust provides fellowships each year for Australian citizens to travel overseas to enhance their knowledge in a particular field and to then bring their knowledge back to benefit the Australian community.
Recipients, chosen from a highly competitive field of applicants, receive fellowships in recognition of innovation, extra endeavour and notable striving for excellence.
Mr Nicholson will receive a fellowship for his project in ascertaining the most effective ways of teaching and practising Indigenous culture in the modern world.
The trust will fund him to travel to New Zealand, USA and Canada where he plans to further his knowledge on the best ways to educate the community.
Mr Nicholson said receiving the fellowship was extremely important to him, both personally and culturally.
“It gives me an opportunity to learn from Indigenous education leaders and elders from some of the leading nations in Indigenous culture,” he said.
“I will be visiting Indigenous communities, educational institutes and cultural tourism places.
“I hope to build on my skills as a Wurundjeri educator.
“Due to the major effects of colonisation here in Victoria, my main focus is to learn how strong Indigenous communities in an urban environment keep and teach their culture to their future generations and the wider community.
“I believe the skills and knowledge I learn will increase my skills to deliver to the community of Australia an effective, passionate and knowledgeable education programs.”
Mr Nicholson said he was one of the lucky ones to learn about his people’s culture and history and he wanted to share that with others.
“As I learned more, it started to become very personal for me concerning the treatment of Wurundjeri people, their culture and our land,” he said.
“I am driven to teach the wider community this as, in general, Australians did not have an opportunity due to the failure of the education systems in this country.”
Mr Nicholson will be awarded his fellowship at a special ceremony at Government House on Friday 1 August, along with the 105 other Australian recipients.
The fellowships are valued at more than $2.32 million and cover a broad range of topics.
Churchill Trust chief executive Paul Tys said each individual selected to receive a fellowship had demonstrated a commitment to benefiting the broader Australian community through building their knowledge and skills.
“The talented recipients do not need formal qualifications, instead they require drive, passion, talent and the willingness to share the results of their fellowship with the community upon their return to Australia,” he said.
