Amale Scally
Faculty of Business and Economics
Educating future changemakers for positive social and environmental impact
Amale prepares students to lead with passion, curiosity and social responsibility.
What are you doing differently in your field that you believe is driving real change?
Decolonising the curriculum. Including Indigenous content in finance to foster discussions about financial exclusion and highlight innovative financial institutions and solutions that are available to pave the way for Indigenous economic prosperity and self-determination. These solutions are more widely applicable beyond the Indigenous finance context. I use cases to engage students in analyses and discussions of important issues they need to be aware of and address in their current or future careers. particular issues around sustainability in Finance, environmental, social and governance issues in Finance (ESG) and corporate social responsibility and its relation to financial markets and institutions. Providing different perspectives and a global context is paramount, as is the inclusion of the above-mentioned context of financing First Nations business and entrepreneurship.
How do you help students build confidence, not just knowledge?
Each week, after setting context for the given topic (setting the scene), I form students into groups and allocate a key question for them to work on as a team. They then input their co-created answer in a Google slide. I then get all groups and all team members to come up and present their answers from the Google slide show. Rather than setting one group presentation per semester, instead I provide micro-opportunities weekly for students to hone their communication and presentation skills (facing an audience, making eye contact, moving around the room, conveying key points succinctly in their own words, moving away from reading word-for-word from phones or screen, and not relying on word-for-word transcripts of AI generated answers). I then share their co-created answers in pdf format along with suggested tutorial solutions after class.
I am particularly proud to work at an Institution that has made a commitment to Australia's First Peoples through inclusion in education and research. ”
What’s something about Monash that would surprise people
Awareness about pressing needs that will have impact on current and future generations and a strategic plan that aims to advance education and research to address these pressing needs. I am particularly proud to work at an Institution that has made a commitment to Australia's First Peoples through inclusion in education and research.
What does being a teacher allow you to do that nothing else can?
I see my role as an educator to also identify opportunities for students that go beyond the learning that occurs in class. For example nominating them for awards or scholarships, connecting them with industry, assisting them as they enter the job market by providing references. These are some of the little ways I aim to assist students beyond the classroom environment. Sometimes, students have become colleagues. Being a mentor to them has been extremely rewarding.