VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
MEMBER STORIES
Something has gone wrong on the ship of higher education I teach creative writing at RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing (PWE). The Associate Degree is that rare breed of higher education program that operates within the vocational education space with its 16 weeks of tuition, lower wages, and staff required to have (and for VE teachers to prove) currency in their field – in our case, the publishing industry. When Helena Spyrou from the NTEU invited me to write this piece, she sent through articles from other teachers and universities. I could absolutely relate to the lament of steadfast teachers doing their very best in difficult circumstances beset by unnecessary woes inflicted by institutions of higher learning who have at the highest levels lost their way; seduced, it seems, by corporate self-interest, and helpless to resist the corrosion of anti-intellectual hatred from a neoliberal government of the lowest order. I felt the pain of being overworked and underappreciated; of bearing the load of caring about the student experience indeed rather than in clever mission statements; of dealing with the epidemic of anxiety disorder and life-unreadiness afflicting our talented, courageous young people (and for VE colleagues, add subjection to anti-educational skulduggery from the bloated voracious ASQA).
Clare Strahan RMIT University
All the while teaching from home with our cats and dogs, children and partners, elderly parents and grandchildren, tradespeople and neighbours – inviting students into our homes and peering back into theirs.
To tell your COVID-19 story to the NTEU member community, please contact Helena Spyrou
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Sentry
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FEBRUARY 2021
