About Difference Differently

This resource has been developed by the Together for Humanity Foundation with funding from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

About the Writers and Creators

The following people's insight, dedication and expertise have been invaluable to the project.

Jennet Cole-Adams

Jennet Cole-Adams is an educator and author with extensive experience in curriculum development.  She has published over thirty titles for students and teachers and worked on various online curriculum projects for federal government agencies, cultural institutions and other clients.  Currently working as a consultant, she has previously worked at the Parliamentary Education Office, the National Museum of Australia, and as Director of Curriculum at the Australian Curriculum Studies Association.

Dr Eeqbal Hassim

Dr Eeqbal Hassim is an intercultural educator and author with consulting expertise in curriculum development and professional learning.  He is currently Senior Manager, Australian Curriculum Strategy, at the Asia Education Foundation.  He has previously held academic teaching and/or research roles at the University of Melbourne (Asia Institute and Asian Law Centre) and the Australian Catholic University (School of Education), and has also worked in project management at Deakin University (Alfred Deakin Research Institute).  Eeqbal has a BA with First-Class Honours in Arabic and Indonesian and a PhD in Islamic education, both from the University of Melbourne.  He is a well-published author and has presented at numerous seminars/conferences mostly on intercultural education and Islamic education.

Judy Gauld

Judy Gauld is an education consultant with extensive experience in developing educational materials for teachers and students in primary and secondary schools.  Judy's early experience was as a teacher, school principal and university lecturer in teacher education courses.  More recently she has co-authored over 20 books for teachers and students, and completed educational projects for agencies such as the National Museum of Australia, the Australian Curriculum Studies Association, Aboriginal Studies Press, National Archives of Australia and Oxfam.

Donna Jacobs Sife

Donna Jacobs Sife is the School Programs Director for Together for Humanity.  In addition to being a religious educator in the school system for over thirty years, she is also a renowned storyteller, who has travelled Australia and the world teaching, speaking and telling stories to communities in conflict, or organisations dealing with the challenges of difference and intercultural understanding.

Zalman Kastel

Rabbi Zalman Kastel is National Director of the Together for Humanity Foundation, a charity working to teach children to replace prejudice with respect.  He was raised in the "ultra orthodox" Chasidic tradition in the racially divided Crown Heights area of Brooklyn New York.  He saw the world through the lens of his absolute tradition and the narrative of his community.  This changed in 2001, when encounters with Christians and Muslims transformed him.

He has had a lot of laughter surprises and dilemmas on his journey, fostering interfaith cooperation and bringing positive experiences of diversity to 60,000 young Australians through the Together for Humanity Foundation.  He is still a Hasidic Rabbi and teaches Bar Mitzvah students and adults at the Chabad House North Shore in Sydney.  He was ordained as a Rabbi after study in the UK, Australia and the US and completed a Graduate Diploma in Education with the University of New England at Armidale.  He is married to a Sydney accountant and is the father of 5 boys.

Advisory Group

Together for Humanity thanks the advisors who helped us in producing this resource:

  • Di Barnes, Primary school principal
  • Louise Bye, NSW Department of Education and Communities
  • Di Giblin, Australian Council of State School Organisations
  • Dr. Deborah Henderson, Queensland University of Technology
  • John McGrath, Catholic Education Office, NSW
  • Declan O'Connell, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
  • Deborah Palmer, Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
  • Rose Timmins, High school teacher

Our Volunteers

Together for Humanity thanks the many volunteers who helped us in producing this resource, including:

  • Paul Bennett
  • ItisArt Greece

The Technical Team

Together for Humanity thanks the following people and technical teams for the production of this resource:

Jessica Timmins
Jessica was instrumental in the early project management and development of this resource.

Gary Hoggard
Gary is a Data Architect and Systems Engineer.  He has been the technical advisor to Together for Humanity since 2007.  He was responsible for the timely construction and launch of this web site and collaborated with the content providers and MaxCo.

Brendan Higgins
Brendan is an Operations Executive with a deep understanding of change management, human resources, systems and processes, and IT and communications.  He has a special leaning toward social media, and legal and compliance issues.  He is responsible for the Project Management of the resource.

MaxCo
MaxCo were contracted to assist with the graphical design and layout.

Pukunui Technology
Techical assistance with Moodle content management.