Local Association Board Case Studies
Contents
Dr Georgia Niolaki – Deputy Adult National Representative
Tell us a bit about yourself – whereabouts are you from, what kind of job do you do?
I was born in Australia; my parents were Greek immigrants. I lived in Australia until I was 6 years old, then we moved back to Greece. I had a very difficult start with education. When I was in Australia, I truly enjoyed it and I loved my nursery teacher. Then when I went to Greece, I didn’t know the language and the education system was really, really bad in the early 80’s. They didn’t acknowledge the needs of a bilingual child, but also a child like myself who had dyslexia. I didn’t like school, so I avoided it; I preferred to be in the fields, helping my parents with farming and things like that.
I was never diagnosed with dyslexia – I had a tutor when I was in Secondary School to support me with the Greek language. Eventually, after many attempts to get into University – because the system in Greece was really, really difficult - I managed to get into the Primary Education Uni, where I completed a BA (hons) in Education with a distinction. After that, I started teaching in schools and I was always saying “why do I teach in schools – I have so many literacy difficulties; how can I support you?”. I think this helped me understand better, especially the children who had literacy difficulties. I started working with bilingual children, so you can see my trajectory takes me towards bilingualism and dyslexia – two areas I struggled with when I was young.
I supported children who lived in the Greek Muslim communities in Thrace in Greece for three years. Then this programme ended; it was a European Union programme, and I was assigned from the educational led department in Greece as a Primary School Teacher. I was working with Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 children, although I was qualified for the whole spectrum of Primary. In 2006 with my husband, we are two crazy people – we like adventures; we decided to leave Greece and come to the UK for the first time. We worked in London, in Greek Community Schools for five years and during this period I did my Masters at UCL.
I finished with my Masters with an A in my Dissertation. When I finished, I gained a really good understanding of literacy and literacy difficulties. I thought I can’t finish this – I like it; I like doing research – I like this part of my life, more than my earlier part, which is Teaching, although I loved working with children and getting a better understanding, and supporting them, of course. I also loved working with my mentor and supervisor Professor Jackie Masterson! I didn’t want this great relationship and friendship to end! So, in 2010 I applied for my PhD. I didn’t have money, my parents were not from a very rich Greek affluent family – they were working class people. So, I applied for a scholarship and I was really, really lucky. It was a need as my scholarship was looking at bilingual learners, with typical and atypical spelling performance. Onassis Foundation, in Greece, said “yes, we love your proposal” so I received the scholarship and in that way, I was able to complete my PhD.
When I finished my PhD, I was in the situation that I couldn’t work anymore in Greece because my skills were very, very high and I felt that I was more suited to work here in the UK, because my higher degrees were in the UK. So, I started applying here for jobs in the UK moved from Primary Education to Higher Education. In 2014, after many interviews, with many Universities, and many ‘No’s’, I was offered the position of Lecturer in Coventry University lecturing in Educational/Developmental Psychology. In the meantime, my husband also got a scholarship to complete his PhD at Dundee University in Scotland, so I had to be in the UK as I needed the family to be together.
Then, in 2014, I did the PGCE to teach in Higher Education, and then did my AMBDA Accreditation and became a specialist Dyslexia Assessor and teacher. I continued publishing papers with interventions of monolingual and bilingual children; doing research in spelling was/is my big love.
What’s your personal connection to dyslexia?
I eventually learned to read when I was nine, and my love for reading started from the Greek Mythology. I remember the story of Perseus was the one that I read for the first time in my life, and I remember until now the accomplishment of being able to understand what these letters stand for, because they didn’t make sense. I also had difficulties with maths, so it was confusing; and still until now it’s confusing, especially when I had to write some letters. Not numbers anymore, but when I was younger I was confusing numbers, so I wasn’t very good, or I was feeling that I wasn’t very good. Eventually I learned how to read in Greek, because Greek is a very easy language to read. My spelling was awful – it’s still awful.
I think I realised I had dyslexia when I started studying in the UK. I remember when I did my first assignment at UCL - imagine now a person with dyslexia and learning the language - when I came in 2005 my English was not the same as it is now, especially the oral communication. For a person to develop these skills it takes four to five years to develop their communication and their academic language. But I had to write my first assignment, and UCL is really, really difficult as a University – I didn’t know how to write, because in Greece we had a different system, based on exams and learning off by heart lots of information, but here, I had to write in the ‘academic’ way. It was so tricky – I go a C – I thought I was going to fail. But after this first C, I learnt how to navigate through the academic language and understand what my tutors needed.
I am very happy because my husband and my children when I get stuck with spelling or writing, they support me. It’s really important for individuals with dyslexia to have a supportive network within their family – people who can understand them because it’s not only literacy and writing and reading – it is sometimes remembering stuff – remembering the information as it has been said. I find myself when I have to go for a doctor’s appointment, I will take my husband with me; not because of understanding the language – I don’t have any issues with the bilingualism, or working with the two anymore, but remembering the information.
How did you get involved with the Local Association Board?
Last year I started – I was a member of the BDA due to my accreditation – but Lesley Hill, sent me the invitation about the LAB. I had a telephone conversation with Lesley, and I thought “yeah, that’s nice – I want to do it – something else. I’m doing well in my job now; I have my career; but at the same time, I want to support individuals.”
I was supporting individuals – because, out of all of the assessments I might do per year, a few of them will be for free, for the local schools that I’m supporting. I won’t ask for money, or anything, from those parents because I know that people struggle a lot, so I thought “why not be able to support them and help more individuals”.
So I had the discussion with Lesley, and then I decided to be part of the LAB and there was a position for Deputy Adult Representative, and I applied for this position; people supported me the; and I’ve started in that way.
What does your work with the Local Association Board involve?
I am really proud to be part of the BDA – I see it as a family; and believe that the work that they do – everyone in the BDA – it is so important. I’m currently supporting the funding pot, so letting people know about the opportunity that we have there and how they can use the money, and then use them to help others in their little, local charities. I think it started from my own difficulties and my own desire to help others, because so many children, and adults in Higher Education as well, find it difficult with literacy. It is this need to help and support others, because I was in the position when I was young.
As well as my role in the LAB, I am now also a trustee. Being a trustee was quite a surprise because I was very young in the organisation - I didn’t expect that I was going to be elected; because there were other people who were many years in the organisation – and people know them better. But then I realised, again that I was not correctly judging myself on this level, because I didn’t expect it. If I was not a LAB member, I would not have been able to become a trustee which is even more critical for me, and being part of more meetings and being able to provide my thoughts and opinion about different issues in the world of dyslexia. That’s the most important thing – it is something I do as a volunteer and I like doing it.
I didn’t expect it when I was 20 years old that I would now be teaching in Higher Education or be a part of the BDA and trying to help others who have similar difficulties to me. It’s so nice to have the opportunity to live in different countries, absorbing all this cultural richness, and feel proud about the different aspects that you leave there. And the people - because that’s the most important thing. When I receive, for example, an email telling me “Oh Georgia, you know, I did that – thank you so much. You helped me with that” to know that I have helped someone at some point, with any means I had; that’s the important thing for me – helping others. And this is why I like psychology and the whole root of education – it’s so important; you can do magical things and help people – I think that’s the important thing about life – nothing else matters.
What’s your favourite thing about being part of the Local Association Board?
I love the funding pot, because I get this chance to support the smaller organisations. Especially recently we had an application from the Shropshire Association who used the money to buy four Samsung Galaxy Tablets which allowed learners to continue working remotely during Lockdown – they used the money for a project and were featured in Contact magazine. Which is amazing, as you can see how many people are benefiting at the end of the day. It’s not just the money – it’s how many people will be helped out of it.
Being in the LAB – the lovely meetings that we have –everyone brings their own experiences and their own thoughts. Even if we might not always reach a final decision, the fact that we discussed; we are there; we will chat about it; we will share out thoughts about topics. What I love most is the chatting – in the background. Someone will be speaking and then in the forum everyone is posting and putting up stuff and sharing. When I joined I was always shy about this, and then I realised that I don’t mind, because the other members don’t mind if you are making spelling errors. No one will judge you; because we are family – we are all there and no one will judge you.
For many years in my life I met people who would judge you or tell you about your traits and creating stigma. This is another problem that people with literacy difficulties or difficulties with maths, or any other difficulties often have. They face quite a lot of stigma and people that don’t believe in them. I think this lack of belief that I received from others was the worst part. This continuous effort to basically say, this is who I am, and I can do it. That I can accomplish it – and yet people continue to not believe in you; it was so frustrating throughout the years. I think at some point, everyone might be in a similar situation, but for someone with dyslexia it is even more difficult – his ability, or her ability – not to be acknowledged because they have this particular difficulty. They will say “but why are you saying that – you are thick – you are lazy. You can’t put 1 and 1 together”.
But here at the LAB we are a family. We will have our discussions. We will share our thoughts, and no one will judge you. Everyone will accept your thoughts. And at the end of the day, the whole idea is about the BDA and how we can support individuals and make their lives better. I always look forward to the meetings that we have.
Being part of the LAB and the BDA is empowering. I loved the latest survey that the BDA did, and the data presented. The findings were so important; and I consider it really important to have somewhere where you can voice your thoughts. Your own thoughts – and your voice will be heard by others – and that’s the important thing. And that’s why I say it is empowering, to be part of - being able to spread the knowledge and support others. So definitely, I would urge people to be part of the charity. We can make a difference as long as we are all together, working altogether – that’s the important thing. The more people we are, the better our voice is heard.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about your Local Association Board experience?
In my life I’m very busy, but I try to organise my life very well which helps me in being part of the LAB and the BDA; I have to-do lists, diaries – I put inside everything to make sure that I don’t miss any information or any meetings, because I might forget something or get confused or not correctly read the information. If I didn’t like it, then I would say “yeah, that’s enough for me” but volunteering is something that I like to do. I know that it is important – and money is not important always in life. You can get the money from other sources; the important thing is to be able to support others and help others. That’s the important thing. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing in life. I don’t see any other purpose to be honest; apart from loving your family; being with your loved ones. The important thing is how you can help and support others.
If I had someone when I was young to help me, then I wouldn’t have struggled so much through the education. And maybe I was lucky - I had some skills – although I never thought I had any skills. I was always thinking with envy towards others children who were able to read and then remember everything. If I had had someone to help me and support me then, maybe I would have better self-esteem as a young person. If I had more support as a young person, then I would have been more compassionate about myself and my skills.