STEM Educator Job Kit

with STEM™ CAREERS

JOB KIT

STEM EDUCATOR

Insights, information and tips on becoming a STEM-qualified teacher

Start a rewarding career in education.

By 2030, it’s predicted Australian workers will spend 77 per cent more time using science and mathematics skills.

This means we need plenty of great science, maths and tech teachers who can nurture, teach and support the next generation of trailblazers. With outstanding career prospects for qualified STEM teachers in Australia, there is no better time to start a rewarding career in education.

‘Jobs are changing and right now I am teaching STEM to students who will be working in careers that aren’t even created yet. As a teacher my goal is to educate and inspire more children to pursue STEM fields in university and beyond and foster a career that can change the world.’

Jessica Galpin Bachelor of Education (Secondary)

Multiply your impact

If you want a STEM career that will make a difference and change lives, then education should be on your radar

When I finished high school in Fiji, I didn’t really know yet what I wanted to do for a career – but there was a shortage of science and mathematics teachers at the time, so I took advantage of scholarships available to fill the gap. I studied a Bachelor of Science majoring in mathematics and chemistry, followed by postgraduate qualifications in both education and science. I may not have seen teaching as a calling or a dream job – but looking back, I feel lucky I chose this path. You too might not have teaching at the top of your list of career goals right now. During the 20 years I later spent working as a science and mathematics teacher in Queensland secondary schools, I noticed very few of my top STEM students had teaching on their list of career aspirations. There are lots of reasons for that, but one of them is that sadly we undervalue how important teachers are, and how meaningful and impactful this career can be.

over the course of your career, you could inspire and nurture hundreds of people”

A secure career that can drive change

If you’re considering a STEM career because you want to make a difference, then using your skills to teach and nurture the next generation will guarantee you have an impact. And with the dire shortage of STEM-qualified teachers in Australian schools, you’ll also be in high demand, and guaranteed a secure job for life.

With challenges like climate change, pandemics and a growing and ageing population, our society needs STEM professionals more than ever before. But not enough young people are sticking with STEM subjects or choosing STEM career paths. If we want to change that, we’ll need to change how we teach STEM in schools. It will take passionate and skilled people with a love and understanding of STEM to drive that change. Could that be you?

While as a STEM educator you might not be using your skills and qualifications to personally come up with a cure for disease, or to invent the next big thing in tech, over the course of your career, you could inspire and nurture hundreds of people, equipping them with crucial problem- solving and critical thinking skills that will ultimately make our world a better place. You don’t need to be a mathematician to understand how exponential your impact could be by building solid foundations for the next generation of STEM professionals.

After 20 years as a secondary school teacher, I decided to complete my doctorate in education and I now work in academia at QUT in Brisbane, in STEM education outreach projects in the developing world, and also teaching, nurturing and hopefully inspiring the next generation of STEM educators.

If you love STEM and want to make a difference with your career, then I hope to meet you one day on your journey!

Vinesh Chandra Associate Professor, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, QUT

Vinesh Chandra Associate Professor, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, QUT

Shape the next gen

Want a rewarding, secure STEM career that will make a big impact? Become a teacher!

Being a STEM educator means you’ll get to inspire and guide future scientists, engineers and tech leaders. Remember that feeling when you finally ‘got’ a tricky maths problem, or your curiosity was sparked by a cool science project? Imagine the buzz seeing one of your students’ faces light up when the same thing happens to them! Not only will you be making a difference in your students’ lives, you’ll also be making the world a better place. Keep reading for more insights on becoming someone’s favourite STEM teacher. –

Stats class*

STEM is the future. Don’t believe us? We’ll let the stats* do the talking…

1.9 million Predicted number of people working in STEM by 2024

2nd STEM Education and Training is the second highest employer of uni STEM-qualified workers

21% Of Australia’s uni STEMqualified workforce are under the age of 30

82% Of Aussie employers confirm STEM qualifications are valuable

What does it all mean? There will be a bunch of job opportunities in STEM education to teach, guide and inform future generations. Winning!

Self-reflection time

Pippa Duffy

*Sources: STEM Careers List for Australia: Future Jobs ; Australia’s STEM Workforce Report July 2020 ; Deloitte Australia’s STEM Workforce: A Survey of Employers

9 ways to teach STEM like a boss

Based on some serious changes by the Education Council of Aus and on the back of The National STEM School Education Strategy (see below), the Australian Government has landed on these nine principles on how to teach STEM effectively. The guide sets out ways to engage students in the classroom so kids keep learning and stay keen.

1Inquiry-based learning: helps build active learners.

2Solve real-world problems: shows the relevance of STEM in the RW and motivates interest.

3Integrated STEM learning: shows how different STEM disciplines work together.

4Equip and empower teachers: makes sure teachers are supported to engage students. (Yay future you!)

5Create partnerships between schools, industry and community: helps students to see what they learn in the classroom at work, IRL.

6Engage parents and families: gets adults excited about what students are learning so they’ll stick with it.

7Use tech as an enabler: helps students learn more efficiently.

8Differentiate for different levels: adapts the curriculum so anyone can learn it.

9Link STEM education to 21st century learning: values the skills students need to take into daily work life.

The National STEM School Education Strategy is the government’s plan for science, technology, engineering and maths. Education ministers from every state and territory agreed to it back in 2015, but the program is committed to run through to 2026 which means PLENTY of jobs ahead.

Take your teaching pulse and see how many of these essential attributes you have covered…

 Patient  Resourceful

 Organised  Creative  Passionate  Determined

 Curious  Good communicator

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Nelson Mandela

Starting salaries

In

NT $77,047 WA $78,397 SA $74,769

School’s in

Public education has the highest enrolments of students across Australian schools* –which means more classrooms to teach in – but there are other options for education grads to consider. Check our comparison snapshot here…

Public

• 65.1% enrolments

• Government-run and funded

• Specific state or territory guidelines for teachers

• Curriculum is set by the education departments per state or territory

• Little to no fees involved for students

Private (Catholic/ Religious)

• 19.5% enrolments

• Governed by the specific religious denomination that funds the school

• Curriculum usually involves teaching a religious-based subject

• Fees related for students to attend

Private (Independent)

• 15.4% enrolments

• Independently run and operated

• Curriculum needs to meet education standards but can offer different subjects or in some cases the International Baccalaureate

• Fees related for students to attend

QLD $75,471 NSW $73,737

ACT $72,511

$73,499 TAS $64,699

career paths

Completed your degree? Here’s where a STEM education qualification could take you…

✔ Classroom teacher

✔ Head teacher TAS (Technological and Applied Studies)

✔ STEM tutor

✔ STEM research instructor

✔ Government policy officer in STEM education

✔ EduTech educator

Australia, our education departments are run by each state and territory, so while the classrooms are mostly same-same, what you earn could be different once you graduate, depending on where you live.*

STEM SISTERS

Growing up in Far North Queensland, Sandra and Kylie always dreamed of pursuing careers in education. They both also loved STEM subjects, so it made sense they’d continue with them at uni.

Sandra has already completed her Bachelor of Education (Secondary) at QUT and is now teaching at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Kylie is entering her third year of the same course.

“QUT has provided me with numerous STEM-related opportunities thus far,” says Kylie, whose connection to the uni dates back to when she was selected to attend the QUT Vice Chancellor’s STEM Camp during Year 11. “I was fortunate enough to meet students from across Queensland, and engaged in solving some of the major challenges facing our society and planet today,” she says.

Kylie is a big fan of QUT’s student-centred approach to teaching, which she can easily apply in the classroom. Kylie also rates how her degree has taught her the importance of collaboration, and how to adapt her teaching style to meet the needs of diverse students.

“I recommend QUT to anyone considering a career as an educator,” she says.

Reaping rewards

Sandra has also had a wealth of opportunities at QUT, including working as a sessional academic and helping students online. But it was during the final placement of her degree that Sandra’s eyes were opened to the rewards of teaching young women, in particular, about STEM.

“With guidance from my supervising teacher at Lourdes Hill College, I developed a variety of teaching strategies that I now implement every day in my role at Brisbane Girls Grammar School,” she says.

Although the Vecchio sisters are in different stages of their STEM education careers, they’ve had the opportunity to combine their skills and work together outside the classroom. Kylie has helped out as a field event assistant, while Sandra has coached her school’s middle-distance athletics team at meets against other Queensland Girls Schools.

Sandra and Kylie Vecchio not only share a surname, they also share a passion for STEM and teaching the next gen what it’s all about

Sandra Vecchio science teacher

kylie Vecchio undergrad student

I recommend QUT to anyone considering a career as an educator”

Kylie Vecchio

NPLW Football Player, Souths United Football Club

Customer Service Officer, The Y (YMCA) Student Success Guide, QUT

These sisters are doing it for themselves in their path to educating future stem students

A day in the life of a… STEM EDUCATOR

Zoe Land wanted to be a wildlife scientist before the pull of sharing her passion led her down the education path

Zoe’s siblings originally inspired her passion to share her love of STEM. “I wanted them to be as passionate about science as I was and I found I really enjoyed helping them,” she says. But Zoe might not have got the chance to take that passion further had it not been for QUT and its flexible learning environment.

“I needed to continue work while studying, and QUT made studying online very easy,” says Zoe of her Masters of Teaching, majoring in Maths and Science (Biology) at QUT.

Now Zoe teaches all high school grades, from 7 to 12, and is currently teaching both maths and science. And no one was more surprised than Zoe when maths turned out to be her fave subject to teach!

“I loved science when I was in high school and I loved completing a science degree, so probably the biggest shock to my adult self is how much I enjoy teaching math,” she says.

Here’s what her day in the classroom looks like…

6.30am

Up for breakfast and coffee at home.

8.00am

I try to arrive at school just before 8am to check emails, attend to admin tasks for the day and mark any student work.

8.40am

First bell of the day rings! And it’s classes all day. First up, our daily homeroom care lesson.

Master of Teaching, Secondary Education and Teaching, QUT

8.50am

The first of my four 70-minute lessons kicks off. These are always math or science.

10.05am

The first lunch break of the day for the students. Some days I’m scheduled to complete a playground supervision shift.

10.35am

Classes resume.

12.55pm

Second lunch break session. Depending on the day of the week I will also run a study group for students during one of these breaks.

1.35pm

Classes resume for the afternoon.

3.00pm

After school breaks up for the day I have meetings and volleyball training, (I have been a volleyball coach for two years), or I volunteer at the homework club one of my colleagues runs in the school library.

4.30-5.45pm

Depending on the week of term, I’ll head home around now to spend time with my family and do some sewing and reading.

After

hours

On weekends I enjoy camping – it’s always a good escape – and there is always a lot of wildlife to spot!

Bachelor of Applied Science, University of Queensland

Retail store manager, Riot Art & Craft

Teacher, Queensland Department of Education

I loved science when I was in high school”

Get the job!

Study corner

Want to be a teacher? Tick these boxes for your subject selections…

High school

 Biology

 Business Studies

 Chemistry

 Earth & Enviro Science

 Multimedia

 iSTEM

 Maths

 Legal Studies

 Physics

 Economics

 Design & Technology

Beyond the classroom

Educators don’t just stand at a whiteboard pointing at stuff. Here are some of the best STEM informers, educators and sharers of info to follow…

Eddie Woo, Maths Master misterwootube.com

@misterwootube

Mister Wootube

Shasta Henry, Bug Girl

@hybopterashasta

Bug Girl @HybopteraShasta

Taxonomy TedTalk

Kantis Simmons, STEM superhero for studies OS if you’re looking to exchange Kantissimmons.com

@kantissimmons

Dr Jordan Nguyen, Engineering expert

@docjordy

A Human’s Guide to the Future

@DocJordy

Careers with STEM, Resource legends

@careers.with.stem

@careerswithstem

Tune

STEM experts who helped the NASA program Project Mercury succeed back in 1961. One of the women, Mary Jackson, had been a teacher before her NASA post. V cool.

 Robotics

Uni

 Bachelor of Education

(Secondary), QUT

 Bachelor of Science / Master of Teaching (Secondary), QUT

 Bachelor of Mathematics / Master of Teaching (Secondary), QUT

Course corrector...

Sign up to these courses, camps and webinars now to get a headstart on your future career!

Your education interest is: Science

Sign up for: QUT STEM Camp. For Year 11 students, this camp brings together STEM-loving students to learn under the guidance of top tutors.

Your education interest is: Technology

Sign up for: Code Academy’s free online syllabus options. There are heaps of courses with info, articles and quizzes to help you decide on career pathways, or even get a certificate!

Your education interest is: Engineering

Sign up for: Outschool, Engineering Fundamentals. See real-life examples of STEM to find out if it’s something you’d wanna do one day.

Your education interest is: Maths

Sign up for: Maths Enrichment comp. Run by the Australian Maths Trust, this comp is perfect if numbers are your thing. Bonus: you get to see how the pros prepare study notes and teach the course.