Stories FROM OUR COMMUNITY
A NEW GARDEN FLOURISHES IN TASMANIA
Students at New Norfolk High School are building a garden, harvesting crops and cooking seasonally with MADELEINE BRODIE (Cohort 2017) (pictured below) and KATERINA NEWFIELD (Cohort 2018) Last term’s passion projects in
BENJAMIN HEENAN’S (Cohort 2017) class
SUMMER 2018 JASON TOH’S (Cohort 2016) student BETHLEHEM MAZENGIA finds drive in Business Five years on, an Alumnus is reminded of his first year teaching NATALIE GARCIA DE HEER (Cohort 2010) on the importance of classroom experience in education policy Art education at the National Gallery of Australia with ANNA CARRIG (Cohort 2015)
And featuring more stories and interviews with Craig Comrie, Emily Cotterill, Rebecca Ferretti, Catherine Harris, Michele Turk and Stanley Wang
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CONTENTS Introduction 03 Message from Melodie
The business of possibility 05
Meet Bethlehem Mazengia Former student of Jason Toh (Cohort 2016) at Melton Secondary College, a Teach For Australia Partner School
First-hand understanding 06 Meet Natalie Garcia de Heer Cohort 2010, Leadership Development Program
Growing skills 07 Visit Madeleine Brodie and Katerina Newfield’s Kitchen Garden class Cohorts 2017 and 2018, Leadership Development Program
The art gallery as a classroom In conversation with Anna Carrig Cohort 2015, Leadership Development Program
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Emotional labour in teaching 12 By Emily Cotterill Cohort 2015, Leadership Development Program
Passion projects 14 Visit Benjamin Heenan’s Passion-Based Learning class Cohort 2017, Leadership Development Program
Five years 16 By a Teach For Australia Alumnus Leadership Development Program
Fly on the wall 18 By Rebecca Ferretti Cohort 2010, Leadership Development Program
Advocating for the voices of young people
20
Rocking it in Western Australia
22
In conversation with Craig Comrie Director of Government Relations and Development, Teach For Australia
In conversation with Catherine Harris Cohort 2016, Leadership Development Program
Landing at Teach For Taiwan 24 In conversation with Stanley Wang Cohort 2013, Leadership Development Program
Improving student writing and teacher confidence In conversation with Michele Turk Cohort 2017, Teach To Lead Program
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EMPOWERMENT THROUGH EDUCATION
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Message On his first day of school, my five-year old son’s parting words were, “Bye Mum, I’ve got this”. I managed to squeeze in a quick hug upon dropping Harry outside his classroom before I was hustled out the door. I (unsuccessfully) did my best to avoid turning into a blubbering mess outside, but luckily, I was able to reflect on this moment with other parents while we consoled each other in the schoolyard. In what arrived too quickly, my son was in school and I was a school-mum! Harry’s youthful enthusiasm for learning is inspirational to me, though it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. A few months ago, Harry went through a period battling with reading refusal due to his fear of mispronouncing words and lacking confidence. A combination of support from his teacher and us (his family) over a twomonth period saw a marked improvement in his confidence and effort. Harry even recently asked me to film him reading a book from my childhood, Frog and Toad Together. Afterwards, Harry told me he felt like crying but didn’t know why – I told him that sometimes joy is best expressed through tears. Then we hugged and cried together.
FROM MELODIE
The journey may not always be easy, but the way education can empower people to be courageous and take action on the issues they care about is a phenomenon that exceeds even telekinesis. The future that I hope Harry and all other children will experience is one of empowerment though education, which can only be possible where there is a collective will to fight inequity and oppression. Godspeed to us all as we do our part.
When Harry felt empowered in his own abilities and saw how effort is linked to growth, his joy was momentous. The way education can empower people is a central theme to this edition of Stories. In Tasmania, students at New Norfolk High School learn how to work as a team and overcome problems together as they participate in their school’s Kitchen Garden program. At Portland Secondary College, students combat disengagement and underachievement by participating in a Passion-Based Learning course at their school. One of the student’s “Passion Projects” focuses on raising awareness of diabetes at his school because he wanted to “make a difference for my five-year old sister Daisy.”
Melodie Potts Rosevear
Mara Wilson, the actress who played the title role in the 1996 film Matilda based on the Road Dahl book of the same name, wrote an article for Vanity Fair about who Matilda Wormwood would have grown up to become. In the piece, Wilson expresses her frustration that many people would ask her to perform telekinetic tricks after the release of the film: “I believe they’re missing the point: Matilda’s story is allegorical. Reading and education do give you powers, just not necessarily telepathic ones.”
Chief Executive Officer
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The business of
Possibility AN IMPULSIVE CLASS CHOICE CHANGES A STUDENT’S TRAJECTORY
“Actually, you’ve improved a lot as a teacher, sir,” Bethlehem told Mr. Toh. MEET BETHLEHEM MAZENGIA Former student at Melton Secondary College, a Teach For Australia Partner School Bethlehem Mazengia was a student in VCE Business Management in years 11 and 12, taught by Jason Toh. She received a study score of 49 in Business Management – the highest recorded score in her school. Bethlehem was the recipient of a scholarship to Monash Business School in her final year of high school. She has an eye for design and hopes to build an enterprise where she can combine her business skills with her flair for fashion.
AND JASON TOH Cohort 2016, Leadership Development Program Jason is in his third year at his placement school, Melton Secondary College. He teaches a variety of subjects including Humanities, History and Business Management, and he is the School Mentor to four current Associates. Jason keeps busy in his personal life with a wide range of interests such as Aikido and skiing, and can carve up the dance floor with his suave Latin dancing skills.
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In 2014, Bethlehem and her family moved from New Zealand to Australia for an exciting, though daunting, sea change. Bethlehem knew she would encounter many changes in this new country and, like any teenager, she wondered what her new school would be like. “There were so many more rules and more processes in place [at the new school],” Bethlehem says. “Back home it was a lot more relaxed.” But she gradually settled into a routine and made friends with a group of girls that she is still close to today. For Bethlehem’s parents, this wasn’t the first big move. “My parents immigrated to New Zealand from Ethiopia many years before I was born,” Bethlehem explains. “They wanted their children to have access to opportunities that wouldn’t have been available in their home country.” The value Bethlehem’s parents placed on education instilled in their daughter the importance of working hard for what you want to get out of life. But although Bethlehem knew that getting a good education would greatly benefit her later in life, when the time came for Bethlehem to select subjects to study in senior school, she remembers feeling uncertain: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life at 15.” Yet, even seemingly innocuous decisions – such as picking a class in high school – can impact our trajectories in meaningful ways.
On a whim, Bethlehem decided to study Business Management. “I kind of just fell into it,” she says. “I didn’t have much exposure to the subject before I started.” As for the teacher, Mr. Toh, “He was very strict. I remember I had certain teachers who were more relaxed and would let things slide – but Mr. Toh was not like that at all.” Mr. Toh literally meant business. But at the front of the classroom, Mr. Toh was actually somewhat nervous taking on the challenge of teaching a VCE (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment) class in his second year as a teacher. “There’s a lot more administrative work for a VCE class,” Mr. Toh explains. “Since it was my first year, I also wasn’t completely sure of the standard I should expect from my students.” Yet, something must have clicked, because Bethlehem stuck with Mr. Toh for both Years 11 and 12. From the get-go, Jason remembers that Bethlehem was committed and driven. Her work ethic and unwavering dedication to her studies were remarkable. “She was the perfect student in the sense that if Bethlehem wasn’t doing well, I’d know it was because I wasn’t teaching the subject well,” Mr. Toh says.
“I’M FINALLY SEEING THE PURPOSE,” JASON TOH SAYS. “I FEEL LIKE I’M MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF MY STUDENTS.”
Jason Toh is a School Mentor for four current Associates: (from left) Matt Williamson, Priyanca Menon, Scott Young and Rawnak Hamid.
Bethlehem set goals for herself – high ones: she wanted to get a minimum study score of 40 in all of her subjects. VCE study scores are calculated based on the results of other students taking the exam, with 50 being the top score. Less than ten per cent of all students achieve a 40 or above and roughly two per cent of all students in Victoria receive a study score of 45 or above in a given subject. Throughout the year leading up to the VCE exam, Mr. Toh was a harsh grader. Bethlehem acknowledges that “this meant that I kept trying to improve. Mr. Toh would always tell us that if you put in the work, the results will come. He would push us to do our best and he made it clear that we could all achieve high results regardless of our background or where we came from.” For Mr. Toh, working with Bethlehem was also an opportunity to improve his own abilities as a teacher. “I remember asking Bethlehem as she walked out of my class, ‘How’s your second year of Business Management going?’” Jason says. Bethlehem responded, “Pretty good sir,” and she turned to walk away. Then, hesitating, she glanced back at Mr. Toh. “Actually, you’ve improved a lot as a teacher, sir,” she told him with a smile.
All year, Mr. Toh worked to build a positive rapport with his students and eventually even felt able to joke around in his VCE class. On the final day of the Business Management class, Bethlehem and her fellow classmates congregated outside the classroom. “Our whole class made a group decision,” Bethlehem says. “We were all going to do our best [on the exam] and we were all going to elevate our school together.” Exams can induce nervous energy, and finishing one doesn’t mean the nervousness goes away. But Bethlehem had no choice but to wait patiently for the results. The day before the results were released, it was Mr. Toh who was called in by the Assistant Principal. Luckily, it was to share some good news: Bethlehem had gotten a VCE score of 49 for Business Management. Mr. Toh had to keep the secret for a day, but when Bethlehem learned the news, she was, of course, overjoyed. “Before I received my results, I assumed I had just made the minimum. I was shocked,” she says.
The pact that Bethlehem had made with her peers on the last day of Business Management class was one of Bethlehem’s proudest moments, and she attributes her score to that collective drive. “I know that if my classmates didn’t try as hard as they did, I wouldn’t have gotten the result I received.” For Mr. Toh’s part, there were tough times in the early days of teaching where he felt that he wasn’t making an impact - but the hard work paid off and was incredibly rewarding. “I’m finally seeing the purpose,” he says. “And I feel like I’m making a real difference in the lives of my students.” Bethlehem has nearly completed her first year at Monash University and one day hopes to combine her interests in business and fashion to create her own empire. She credits her family, friends and her teachers for “making me feel like anything is possible.”
Bethlehem ultimately received a scholarship to study at Monash Business School, her first choice of university. When she got the news that she had received a scholarship to attend Monash, Bethlehem says, “I think my mum cried and then started calling everyone she knew.”
The pact that Bethlehem had made with her peers on the last day of Business Management class was one of her proudest moments. Bethlehem attributes her score to that collective drive.
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First-hand understanding GROUNDING EDUCATION POLICY WITH CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE
“I was excited about doing something that would be immediate – making a difference in people’s lives then and there.”
MEET NATALIE GARCIA DE HEER Cohort 2010, Leadership Development Program Natalie was part of Teach For Australia’s first Cohort. Following the Leadership Development Program she joined the Boston Consulting Group where she has worked mostly with the public sector, and also spent two years completing a Masters of Public Administration at NYU. She has recently started a role with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, where she hopes to apply many of the skills she learned from consulting in the field of her passion - education. Natalie envisages a system in which education policy-making is participatory, and deeply grounded in and connected to the experiences of teachers and students.
As graduation approached, Natalie was weighing up her options between various grad programs across Australia in a highly considered fashion. She created an Excel spreadsheet to attempt to logically compare factors, such as commute time to work, salary and how many friends she had in the city she would move to. “Teach For Australia did worse on a lot of these indicators I had created for myself,” Natalie says, “but I ended up realising through that process what my gut was telling me. I was excited about doing something that would be immediate – making a difference in people’s lives then and there.” In the end, a sense of purpose outweighed all the other factors. Natalie Garcia de Heer was part of Teach For Australia’s first Cohort, and taught mostly Humanities at a school in Melbourne’s West. Towards the end of the Leadership Development Program she again found herself weighing up various options. “I don’t feel like I made a deliberate decision to necessarily leave the classroom,” she says. “I really enjoyed teaching – I loved the student interactions, preparing for classes and the things that happened inside the classroom.” Natalie describes pull factors rather than push factors which led her to join the Boston Consulting Group. She saw consulting as a way to enhance her skills and capacity to make a difference in education in the future. She also became interested in learning how effective organisations worked.
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Her school environment had been challenging, with low expectations and significant organisational change. “I had first-hand exposure in how not to run an organisation, and I really wanted learn what good practice looked like,” she says. At BCG, Natalie has focused largely on social policy, with a sprinkling of education projects, such as with a Melbourne-based think tank and a global charitable foundation in the Middle East. After her first two years at BCG, Natalie had the opportunity to move to New York for two years to earn a Masters in Public Administration at NYU. There, she specialised in education policy and worked on a variety of projects in the field, including with a new progressive charter school and the New York Department of Education. Natalie has recently started working with the Victorian Department of Education and Training in strategic policy, on a temporary leave of absence from BCG. Her time in the classroom regularly informs this work, though Natalie admits she feels two years may not have been enough in the policy context: “I believe that people who make choices in education policy should be grounded in a deep understanding of teaching, learning and the school context.” Natalie is still exploring how she can best contribute to the mission of educational equity and what role she should play, questioning, “Am I most effective outside the classroom in organisational strategy and policy settings, taking a macro perspective, or does the rubber really hit the road in the classroom?”
GROWING SKILLS Visit Kitchen Garden at New Norfolk High School
WITH MADELEINE BRODIE Cohort 2017, Leadership Development Program
AND KATERINA NEWFIELD Cohort 2018, Leadership Development Program
Madeleine teaches English, Geography and History at New Norfolk High School in Tasmania. Building on her passion for sustainability education and undergraduate degree in Environmental Science, she started a Kitchen Garden class offering hands-on learning opportunities for students. She is about to complete her Teach For Australia training and will stay on at New Norfolk High School. She loves living in Tasmania and spends her weekends exploring the state’s national parks and going to Hobart’s Farmers Market.
Katie teaches Cooking and Humanities at New Norfolk High School and is in her first year of the Leadership Development Program. As a new Tasmanian resident, Katie is excited to explore all that the state had to offer, and has transferred some of her passion for the great produce of Tasmania into her teaching through three cooking classes, and contributing to the ongoing transformation of the school’s canteen.
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“It’s about learning how to work as a team. I learned how to sort out issues and how to work with different people.”
t’s a Friday afternoon at New Norfolk High School and some students are working outside. The cold and wet drizzle of winter doesn’t perturb the young Tasmanians. They’re working on a garden shed, lining its walls with plywood to make it look tidier. Indoors, another batch of students are cooking with seasonal ingredients – a springtime pasta with homemade ricotta. There are fifty students taking “Kitchen Garden,” which is in its second year. Madeleine Brodie (Cohort 2017) established the program in her first year at the school, with plenty of hard work, dedication and collaborative planning alongside the support of the school and Principal Adam Potito. This year, the class has expanded to have three teachers, with the addition of Katerina Newfield (Cohort 2018) and Principal Adam Potito. Ms. Brodie and Mr. Potito run the outdoor Garden side of the class. Given the program is relatively new to the school, students have been involved from the ground up – which included building the infrastructure for the garden. Last year, they built raised garden beds in a disused area between school buildings, then planted winter crops and an herb garden.
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Ms. Brodie received one of five Teach For Australia Community Fund grants to expand the program in 2018. Kitchen Garden allows students to work on various projects and play to their strengths and interests through working groups, such as building, organisational, gardening and cooking teams. A rotating roster places students within each of the teams for five weeks, and then they can decide to either continue working in the same team for the remainder of the term, or try out a different project. “Year 9 students lead each of these teams,” Ms. Brodie says. “They take responsibility for running some activities and assisting younger students.” Victoria, Lane, Tyler and Josh are the Year 9 leaders for the two build teams, which this year were tasked with re-modelling the shed and building glasshouse boxes as well as a workbench. “I wanted to get started right away as soon as I heard the class was hands-on,” Josh says. “We had to build supports for a bench, and cut the timber for it. We learned how to measure, cut and place together all the pieces like a puzzle.”
Victoria was drawn to the program because it takes place outdoors – not a common locale for class. “My favourite project this year would have to be redoing the inside of our garden shed including paneling all the walls,” she says. Through the project, “I learnt how to overcome challenges, how to use some power tools and also how to build things from scratch.” Clearly, it’s a holistic class. Through Kitchen Garden, students develop an awareness of the environment, increase their physical activity, and improve their food comsumption and sustainability practices. They also gain insight into vocational and tertiary education pathways, and grow their self-esteem, independence, respect, collaboration and leadership skills. It’s always exciting to go to Kitchen Garden, according to Tyler, who otherwise likes to play Xbox and hang out with his brothers. While rebuilding the shed, he learned how to panel walls and build the structure “pretty much from scratch, and with recycled materials.” Learning to use the materials – with a focus on what you already have on hand – is an important skill, Tyler says.
HANNAH MORRIS NOTICED A COLLECTIVE LOW SELF-ESTEEM AMONGST HER STUDENTS: THEY HAD TROUBLE SEEING THEIR POTENTIAL. SHE STARTED A NOT-FOR-PROFIT TO CHANGE THAT.
Kitchen Garden Year 9 leaders Josh, Victoria and Lane
Lane admits that his “number one” class at school is Kitchen Garden: “The class is full of amazing people that all get along real well with each other.” While building the garden shed with his mates, he says he learned “how to adapt to and overcome problems.” “It’s about learning how to work as a team,” Victoria says. “I learned how to sort out issues and how to work with different people than usual.” Josh, who is looking forward to “getting a decent job and settling down” after he finishes high school, has found that “the most interesting thing I’ve learned this year is learning how to work as a team. We produced some great work.” “Victoria, Lane, Tyler and Josh are some of our most dedicated students,” Ms. Brodie says. “From the get-go, they jumped into working on their projects, often for much longer than class time, with passion, enthusiasm and drive. They work both independently and patiently assisting other students.” Each season brings a fresh batch of projects, and winter is no time for a break from the garden. Students spent the recent season planting and harvesting winter crops, building seven new garden beds, redesigning the shed, and making glasshouse boxes for raising seedlings.
Each season brings a fresh batch of projects, and winter is no time for a break from the garden.
The warmer months are coming, bringing with them the prospect of exciting harvests and creative meals.
The Kitchen side of the program, run by fellow Associate Katerina Newfield, is made up of a cooking team of about twenty students. They prepare meals with the crops their peers have grown outside. During winter, that means using lots of greens and brassicas. Students recently made a beef strip salad with sautéed winter greens. “Everything but the beef and the tomatoes came from our garden,” Ms. Newfield says. “We currently are waiting on a huge crop of snow peas and have planted everything from raspberry canes, to potatoes, to garlic. The most exciting thing we have planted recently is an orchard of twenty different varieties of Tasmanian heirloom apples which should fruit come Autumn next year.” “Winter has also been a great time to start collecting resources and making plans for our spring planting, and getting some of the longer growing crops like garlic in,” Ms. Brodie says. “You have to start surprisingly early to raise seeds for spring.”
In the kitchen, Ms. Newfield says, “we are hoping to do some invention challenges, where students are provided with a selection of ingredients and need to create their own dish from these. We would also like to do a ‘variety veg’ activity where we can show off some of the less-familiar vegetables such as lotus root, okra, winter melons and bitter melons, durian and jackfruit.” New Norfolk High School also hosts an International Food Fair in November, and the students have started to get ready for that by collecting jars: “We are hoping to receive some large, locally grown, excess stock of berries and tomatoes which we would like to preserve and sell,” Ms. Newfield says. In the garden, there will be lots of planting and harvesting. Once the current build projects are finished, the students will start putting composting and waste management systems in place, and perhaps build an herb spiral. There’s also much to do for the upcoming school fair, including preparing preserves, seedlings, beeswax wrap – and even a student-led food truck.
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The Art Gallery AS A CLASSROOM
IN CONVERSATION WITH ANNA CARRIG Cohort 2015, Leadership Development Program Anna taught English and Humanities at Hampton Park Secondary College in Victoria during the Leadership Development Program. As an Alumna, Anna saw an opportunity to combine her love of education with her passion for art, and relocated to the ACT to work as an Education Coordinator at the National Gallery of Australia. She is now comfortably settled in Canberra and spends her weekends refining her oil painting skills and making the most of hikes in Namadgi National Park.
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What led you to your current role at the National Gallery of Australia? As a child, I loved visual arts. My parents often took me to art galleries when I was young and one of my earliest childhood memories involved me crawling into a sculpture at my local art gallery. I’m excited by the possibility of reaching a local audience and also connecting with young people from all over the country through visual art. My current role also allows me to find the intersection between art and education. I am also very passionate about Indigenous Art and the National Gallery of Australia has the largest collection of Australian Indigenous Art in the world. I think that visual expressions of culture allows society to learn about and understand different perspectives.
How did you find the move interstate? After I finished the Leadership Development Program, I packed up my bags and moved from the suburbs of Melbourne to Canberra. For the first few months, I thought to myself, “Where is everyone?” It was a slight shock adjusting to the climate of Canberra and moving to a new city but once I made some new friends and built those connections it felt a lot more like my home.
What are some memorable projects that you’ve worked on? In my first week on the job I was lucky enough to be involved with the opening of the National Indigenous Art Triennial. The exhibition showcased the work of around thirty Indigenous artists marking the fifty year anniversary of the 1967 Referendum,
The pedagogy that we encourage when we take a group of students though the gallery is one of enquiry. Students are analysing the image, listening to each other and thinking about the issues that are represented in the work – all of which are such valuable skills for twenty-first century learners.
which granted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the right to be counted in the Census, allowing them to officially be counted as “Australians.”
The students were very engaged – and since then, we have produced educational resources on the topic that teachers can use in their classroom.
listening to each other and thinking about the issues that are represented in the work – all of which are such valuable skills for twenty-first century learners.
It was a great display of contemporary art but it also emphasises the importance of greater social change needed for Indigenous Australians. The artwork was powerful because it was politically loaded, but also personally significant for the artists – telling the story of the history of Australia written by Indigenous artists.
Another exciting project I’m working on is organising the National Visual Art Education Conference which will be at the NGA in January 2019. This conference will host art teachers and educators from around the country and offer them the opportunity to connect over three days of workshops.
How has the Leadership Development Program helped you get to where you are?
I was able to guide students through the exhibition and encourage them to think critically about what the artists were trying to say through their artwork, and what the students can do with the knowledge they obtained.
I think what I really valued about doing the program was the emphasis on best practice and the opportunity to connect with a group of like-minded people who wanted to be the best teachers they could be.
Why is art so important for the education of young people?
What are you looking forward to in future?
Visual art and human expression have always been present in most cultures, and being able to express yourself through visual form is almost like a language in itself. The pedagogy that we encourage when we take a group of students though the gallery is one of enquiry where students are analysing the image,
I respect that gallery education is very different to classroom education so I hope to upskill myself and work at continuing to improve the programs I run. I want to encourage young people to continue to interact with art in different and interesting ways.
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EMOTIONAL LABOUR IN TEACHING
The things we can measure most easily may not be the most valuable
How emotional labour helps students succeed, and why you’ve never heard of it Last week, I visited willrobotstakemyjob.com to work out if teaching will still be a thing in twenty years. Luckily, teaching is only one percent likely to be taken over by a computer! I breathed a sigh of relief.
BY EMILY COTTERILL Cohort 2015, Leadership Development Program Emily taught English and Humanities at Korumburra Secondary College in South Gippsland, Victoria during the Leadership Development Program. As an Alumna, Emily has taught in Melbourne and is currently working with the Recruitment Team at Teach for Australia. She is now looking forward to exploring more of the country and developing the ideas she was exposed to in the Leadership Development Program into a series of essays, as well as trying to catch up on lost reading time.
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But why? TED talks tell us that the key to productivity is to gamify our lives, departments are mandating ICT use in classrooms, and YouTube sensation Eddie Woo is teaching students complex equations from the comfort of their sofas. So why is there no predicted computer takeover of education? The answer, if you ask any teacher, student or parent, is likely to be relationships. Teachers often say that the job is all about relationships, and the research supports this. In his seminal meta-analysis of educational research, John Hattie found that studentteacher relationships have an effect size of .72 – far above the .4 he recommends as sufficient. This idea is also supported anecdotally. Ask any Uber driver, person who sits next to you on an aeroplane or distant relative on your table at a wedding, and they will quickly identify the two or three teachers who really connected with them and made a difference in their lives. They will remember this teacher forty years later with affection and admiration.
Emotional labour Teachers know the value of relationships, and leverage them to get results. But, as marriage counselors will tell you, relationships take work. In the context of the workplace, this is called emotional labour. And this is what teachers do when they deliberately, and caringly, take an interest in understanding, engaging and encouraging students. Arlie Horschild defined emotional labour as requiring employees to manage “feelings and expectations to fulfil the requirements of the job.” This includes both surface acting, where real frustrations and anger are concealed, and deep emotional labour where the labour is consistent with the employee’s values, and real feeling can be drawn upon to display the right emotions. While surface level emoting can be harmful, deep emotional labour increases work satisfaction. Emotional labour is performed by a wide variety of professions, including waitresses, police officers, doctors and CEOs. Waitresses must make customers feel comfortable and welcomed by smiling warmly. Police officers, on the other hand, must maintain authority and distance. And CEOs project a shared vision to everyone in the organisation, along with the confidence they will achieve it. While these roles might seem different, they have one thing in common – the way people use their expressions, words and actions is designed to produce feelings in others, and this is key to their ability to do their jobs well.
If schools and the education system cannot value, reward and promote quality emotional labour as much as quality instruction and planning, then they will be building an engine with no fuel to run it on.
Teachers do this all the time. You would not see a good teacher walk into class with shoulders hunched, speaking in a whisper, no matter how sad they felt inside. You would not notice an edge to the warm voice of an excellent teacher, even though they were reminding a student of classroom expectations for the fifteenth time that day. Emotional labour produces real results; the encouragement and excitement that a teacher conveys about a student’s achievements will directly affect how likely they are to try again next time. Good teachers bring the party. Often, in schools where many students have experienced trauma, the teacher is the party. The emotional energy that the teacher brings to the class is crucial to the success of the mission of educating all young people.
Recognition and reward However, teacher standards and role descriptions do not emphasise the crucial skill of emotional labour. Perhaps because it is hard to measure, it is often absent from policy documents or school data. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers mention teachers supporting the “physical, social and intellectual development” of students, but not their emotional development. Teachers should “manage student behaviour,” “support wellbeing” and “establish… positive interactions” – but the words emotion and feeling do not appear in the document.
Likewise, the role description for Victorian classroom teachers mentions only “effectively engaging” students and implementing “classroom management,” but not engaging in emotional labour. Emotional labour, a critical part of success for teachers, is hardly mentioned at all in key documents describing best practice. But why should it be? Some might argue that the skills involved in emotional labour are something that comes naturally with maturity. Some say that they are common sense and so “go without saying.” I argue that no, skills needed for emotional labour do not come naturally. Not for most people. Teachers work hard on their skills to consistently convey positive affect, even when annoyed. They speak about the importance of human rights in a credible and totally-notcringe-worthy way, not because they were born cool, but from hours of practice and reflection. They are sensitive not only because it is kind, but also because it works. And yes, that is work.
The emotional energy that the teacher brings to the class is crucial to the success of the mission of educating all young people.
Competing priorities But emotional labour has a PR problem. Traditionally valued in the realm of service industries and health care, emotional labour has been hard to measure and therefore, hard to compensate. There are lots of prizes for “Best Salesperson,” but none for “Best Listener.” And this is a problem because what gets measured, gets managed – and in teaching, the things that we can measure most easily may not be the most valuable. Interest in measuring and valuing student growth in literacy and numeracy scores – as measured by tests like NAPLAN – has exploded. We should commend this focus if it results in our students heading into the world more skilled and more confident. But if we only value the things we can measure, we run the risk of undermining our best efforts. If schools and the education system cannot value, reward and promote quality emotional labour as much as quality instruction and planning, then they will be building an engine with no fuel to run it on. Emotions get us up in the morning and keep us going through the tough times. The role of teachers in sparking joy and excitement, in providing encouragement and in modeling positive relationships should not be underestimated by the system, nor should it be ignored.
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Passion Projects WITH BENJAMIN HEENAN Cohort 2017, Leadership Development Program
Ben is in his second year of the Leadership Development Program at Portland Secondary College (PSC) where he is teaching Humanities. Moving from Sydney, Ben was excited to learn he would be teaching in South-West Victoria, primarily for its wonderful natural beauty and close proximity to Antarctica. In his spare time he enjoys surfing/icebreaking and managing year 9 students at PSC.
“Passion-Based Learning” was introduced at Portland Secondary College this year. “We are one of six schools that have partnered with the Australian Learning Lecture (ALL) Passion Index project in order to combat disengagement and underachievement by unlocking students’ passion within a learning environment,” Ben explains. Passion-Based Learning is already a core course at the school. “The class attempts to allow students to learn based around their passions,” Ben says. “We spend time exploring what students are passionate about, what their strengths are and how they like to learn. They then combine this information to design a project they will pursue. The project aims to teach students about how they can solve a problem faced by themselves, the school or their community.” Students implement their Passion Project throughout the semester, which culminates in a Passion Fair at the end of the year. Here are the reports prepared by Ben’s students about their projects.
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e has Colleg g ondary c e S earnin L d Based ortlan P t c r e e j r t o i emes ppy Pr at the This s ery ha elled ts, ed a v ts exc d n n e e d projec u t t l jus ar 9 s nderfu e o Y w s h 9 t t I Year ut wi class. came o ere. A sen s and ions w n s o s i a en cho s p e s b r pa t thei eg has a M h w f o . g t name tellin it wen r the d how a t unde ion an s s a leted studen p e comp f her h o s k d a n e ass a to sp nvas.” PBL cl n a Ca the 9F ture o a n N i “ is s d calle Meg wa e, “It roject ct nam p e j s o ” The u r . o p s fabul canva t her u a o b n a o ughs in the nature Meg la name, vases: n s a t c i o fitted w lly ures, p of t basica our fig made u f s e a r s that w e m t ases w g clai v e projec n M a c . s ll of the dresse ool, a -made er sch middle e h r u m t o a r rls f tty, n our gi in pre were f s e r u ed g the fi I want use, “ ar. a e c y e b r e e in h oject natur his pr ions, o do t y pass t m e h s t ppy o o a Meg ch with b very h thing g was e e m M o lready s . a s n to do she is explai d e n h a s out t,” . and ar turned ike it cher way it ects l e j h o t r p ng tea h i wit Learn o more d d e o s ent. t a l B l ng oject e exce planni the Pr ts wer c , e n j a o n r s e s’s p ss wa Mr. He e clas he cla s, hat th ster t assion t e m s e y s a e s h ir p he t t ff f o d o n end howing dren a At the air, s e chil f h t a l n l ed i gst a involv t amon big hi a s ee. a s it w me to hat ca t s t l adu
Nature
by Meg
Nature
Experiments with origami and the stages of drawing cartoons
Diabetes by Charlie
I’ve always had a small passion for make a differe wanting to nce for my fiv e year old si Daisy and he ster, r type 1 diab etes. I foun project was d this a great oppo rtunity to gi idea a try an ve my d put a smil e on my sist face. er’s At first I ha d to give a hard think as I should do to what to help rais e awareness, I about having thought a day where everyone dres blue, but th sed in en asked myse lf, “What wo learn from dr uld they essing up?” So then I came with the idea up of a survey. The idea was Year 9 to do to get the survey an d then go th series of ac rough a tivities abou t type 1 diab to help them etes, learn. I woul d then get th do the survey em to again and se e how much th progressed. ey have Unfortunatel y, not many Year 9s part in my survey icipated and hardly an y did it a se time like in cond structed, bu t I’m happy some classes th at at least went through with activities an the d hopefully learnt some things. new On the 19th of June, at Year 9 assemb a speech on ly, I did my project st ating what Ty pe 1 is: “Type 1 diab etes is an au to im mu ne disease, which means at some stag e my sister cold or flu an got a d her immune system trigge it should to red as kill off the virus. But in of stopping stead there it deci ded to turn pancreas and on her kill it as we ll. As we kn the pancreas ow is what prod uces the insu therefore ca lin using type 1 diabetes.”
Sea Turtles by Gabby
g ks I have been workin During the past 10 wee ch whi t jec Turtle pro on my Hawksbill Sea d sewn model of a sea han a ing mak included ebook page to raise turtle, making a Fac a research poster. awareness and making n project on this sio I chose to do my pas two of my passions: because it combined e ence. I am passionat Sci Sewing and Marine my h wit I like sewing about sewing because creative as you want. as be can Nan and you e I marine science becaus I’m passionate about er. old I’m n whe ist biolog want to be a marine on g kin wor m ter the of I spent the majority I a sea turtle. While of el mod n sew d han my new y turtle I had man was working on my sea t new sewing skills tha rn lea opportunities to and s che sti such as new I could benefit from tle took seven weeks tur The s.” new “cheat were a lot of ups and to complete and there fix which were easier to downs to it, some of of t par rd thi and ond than others. The sec easy which were just my project were pretty things on my Facebook remembering to post ormation to put on my page and getting inf ve project was a positi poster. Overall this ing eth som on k wor got to experience because I h wit k tal to got and I I’m passionate about ns. sio pas ir my friends about the
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FIVE YEARS This story was written by an Alumnus who wishes to remain anonymous. It’s been five years since I cried at work, and today I cried again. Teaching. It was my first term of my first year. Driving home, disappointed in myself, unsure of my abilities and achievements, I pulled over. Tears were running down my face. A well seemed to open on my chest. My breathing increased. “F***,” I screamed. “F***, f***, f***. What a d*** head!” I had yelled at my class. Not in a targeted way that some may argue is necessary in certain situations, but in response to being pushed a little too far. I had yelled in response to feeling that I wasn’t helping these kids. The yelling was indiscriminate. For some students it would have seemed personal. The strategies and constant reorienting of my thoughts about how I could teach better had only seemed to produce little blips of hope that learning was happening. Floundering and flailing. That was perhaps the best way to describe my time in term one. And it all became too much. I thought I had lost a class, but children are caring and forgiving. Many students were upset with me for weeks, months for some. In response, I worked hard to be respectful, to do my job the way that a professional should. I tried to think about helping them rather than about my own ego and what I wanted to achieve. I thought about leaving the profession some days. I walked and jogged, thought about my future, thought about whether I could handle it. The pain of disappointment hung with me, and the day-to-day in the classrooms was not a simple story of continual improvement. Class was tough sometimes – very tough. My ego was bruised with the knowledge that I didn’t have most of the answers, and the bruises didn’t seem to heal. I plodded on, sometimes quite excited, sometimes with angst. Yes, things improved on the whole, but not in the dream-like way in which one turns a class around. That was my first year of teaching.
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I thought about leaving the profession some days. I walked and jogged, thought about my future, thought about whether I could handle it.
Five years later, I work in a boarding school with several Aboriginal students from remote regions experiencing educational disadvantage. And five years later, I shed some tears for the first time since I dropped the ball in that first term. The tension on a student had been building for weeks. His shoulders were drooped, his eyes puffy and tired, his head increasingly lowered as he went about his business. I had raised so many positive things with him throughout the year, and these were easy to find: his academic progress was very strong, he carried himself with confidence, and he was popular with teachers and students. Yet, for all the positive chats and initiatives I worked on with him, there was an undeniable tension that he carried. And my positivity and focus on his bright future didn’t always resonate with him in the way I thought it would. In the boarding house one evening I had pushed him to talk with me after he was struggling to engage with other staff. “F*** off,” he yelled before throwing a chair at a wall and storming off to his room. I followed him to check that nothing more serious would occur and gave him time to cool off. I stood in the doorway to his room, after forcing the door open which was pushed shut with his mattress.
“F*** off,” he yelled. “It’s OK,” I responded. “Life will go on. I’m just here to check you’re OK. We’re here to help you.” “I don’t need anyone, I don’t need you to help me. There’s plenty of other kids you can help.” He was seated on his table, breathing deeply, almost gasping for breath. Tears were running down his face. ”Well, I f***ing care about you so I’m not leaving. Get f***ing used to it,” I yelled back. “And don’t tell me to f*** off either.”
I went home to enjoy my weekend. I was thinking about the issue. A friend of mine said that the student’s choice to look me in the eye was significant. A strong sign of respect. Tears started trickling down my face. I was touched, and yet there was so much to do and so much to learn. How could this student learn to manage his anger, to whom could this student turn to when facing issues, where would this genuinely bright student end up? I don’t know. And that’s OK. I’ll keep trying. Keep reflecting. Keep learning. That’s the best I can do. And I’ll come to terms with it. Five years on I’m not losing my bundle or dismayed. I feel that I’m doing my job. And on an emotional and resilience level, I feel happier and better equipped to help.
I left him alone and had staff monitor him. Staff said at the end of the night he’d tidied up his room, had a snack and gone to sleep. Did I do the right thing? I was thinking about it all evening. Swearing? I’d made a conscious choice to do it. Perhaps unnecessary? Perhaps a way to bond? It’s hard to tell. And I still don’t know the answer. The next day I caught up with the student outside of his locker. I asked him how he was feeling, and said I was sorry for swearing. Even though it was from the heart, it wasn’t necessary and as an adult I should know better. I stuck my hand out. He looked me in the eye and firmly shook my hand. “Sorry for swearing at you,” he said back.
Looking back over my five years, so short in the scheme of things, I’m so glad I’ve stuck with it. Maybe it’s just time and experience that’s needed to come to terms with things. Geez, this is a good job some days.
I’LL KEEP TRYING. KEEP REFLECTING. KEEP LEARNING.
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Fly on the wall During my planning periods at school I could barely manage to get any work done.
BY REBECCA FERRETTI Cohort 2010, Leadership Development Program Rebecca believes teachers are intelligent, dedicated and resilient people and she is proud to be one of them. She vividly remembers her excitement at being accepted into the Teach For Australia program and still frequently reflects on her time as an Associate. Rebecca has stepped out of her classroom this year and is currently working as a Teaching and Learning Adviser in Victoria. She misses discussing novels with her students, but she is grateful to have a year off from marking essays. Rebecca enjoys spending her days thinking and talking about teaching with current Associates.
Mostly, I blame Mr. Mankowski for this lack of work output. He was the Philosophy teacher whose room – which he had taught in for the best part of 15 years – bordered my office. He was a booming, politics-over-sport, toothy laughter sort. His teaching consisted of three ingredients: his whiteboard, an armful of esoteric non-fiction and an abundance of knowledge – borne of both books and experiences. In his first class of every year he would launch into a splattering, fast-paced diatribe about his name and how he preferred “Womankowski” and how everyone should find themselves a “damn good psychoanalyst” and how the education system “was as devoid of sustenance as a piece of white bread” and how if he met the “Dalai Lama he would kick him hard in the ankle.” Students would leave his classes dazed and inspired, and I would have wasted an hour doing nothing but listening to him whilst staring at a pile of marking. I wanted to be in his class – I wanted to watch how an experienced, eccentric and excellent teacher taught. I’ve often felt a pull towards the classrooms of other teachers. I am drawn equally to the experience of teaching itself, as I am to the voyeurism of observing other teachers. I would find sneaky excuses to visit my colleagues’ classrooms. I gravitated towards the teachers whose practice I respected and I used whatever tactic it took to get a glimpse inside their classroom.
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At the same time, I also wanted to observe what was occurring in classrooms known for their chaotic and, at times, dysfunctional nature. I wanted to sit myself at the back of every classroom in my school. Not coach, not advise and certainly not judge – just watch, closely and reflectively. Teaching is so frequently a cloistered experience. We hide ourselves behind the sliding doors of our classroom and share our best teaching with our students alone. Knowledge of our fellow teachers is predominantly founded upon the grapevine of student perspective, and a collated pastiche of fleeting observations: a moment where a teacher is being excellent with a disengaged student, an image of a calm and productive classroom snatched when walking down a corridor, a snippet of a conversation a colleague is having with a parent on the communal phone in the staffroom… this is how we come to know our fellow teachers and this is how they come to know us. We plan and prepare collaboratively, but for the most part, our actual practise of teaching is removed from the view of other teachers. I’ve come to wonder: How can we become exceptional teachers if we don’t observe teaching? And how can we deeply reflect on our own teaching if we don’t welcome the expertise of our colleagues into our classes? If I calculated the amount of hours I have spent in front of a class compared to the hours I have spent observing a class,
I WANTED TO SIT MYSELF AT THE BACK OF EVERY CLASSROOM IN MY SCHOOL. NOT COACH, NOT ADVISE AND CERTAINLY NOT JUDGE – JUST WATCH, CLOSELY AND REFLECTIVELY.
the difference is a clear indictment of a teaching load, and systematic structures that do not provide time for observation. Beyond time spent as a Teach For Australia Associate or preservice teacher, it is infrequent for teachers to be a fly on the wall in other teachers’ classrooms. Once a graduate teacher, this sharing of the classroom is swiftly discarded. The early stage teacher is sent off to the confines of their own classroom and are denied access to the best professional development available: consistent opportunity to watch teachers in the act of authentic teaching. I believe that teacher quality would increase, significantly, if teachers had more opportunities to both observe and be observed. Watching other teachers acts as a mirror off which we can reflect our own practise. And being watched provides another set of eyes through which we can evaluate our efficacy, demonstrate our successes and bounce our inner critic off of.
In hindsight I should have stopped wasting time sitting at my desk listening through the walls and cooking up excuses to visit the classrooms of my colleagues. Instead, I should have asked for permission to be that generous pair of eyes situated in an inconspicuous corner of the room. So, fellow teachers (and non-teachers!), when I am teaching again, I invite you to come to my class: my door is always open – you are welcome to be the fly on my wall.
So what does this require? It requires teachers who are willing to throw open the doors to their classrooms and not just welcome their colleagues, but actively seek out their perspective, thoughts, reflections and at times even criticism. And to the teachers extended this invitation, leave your judgements, criticism and “I wouldn’t do it that way” perspectives at the door. It’s a privilege to be permitted to watch your colleague teach: they are giving you the opportunity to improve your teaching – therefore, be generous in your observations. Most of all, a culture of shared practice requires teachers who authentically value the teaching and the perspectives of their fellow teachers.
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“Building networks is incredibly important in this space. If you can find a mentor who can provide you with guidance, that’s even better.”
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ADVOCATING FOR THE VOICES OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN CONVERSATION WITH CRAIG COMRIE Director of Government Relations and Development, Teach For Australia Craig joined the Teach For Australia team at the start of 2018. He has previously worked with the Foundation of Young Australians as their Head of Partnerships and later as the National Director of the Anti-bullying Initiative. At the start of his career, Craig worked for numerous local politicians in Western Australia, as well as a union and a number of not-for profits. At the age of 26, he was appointed the CEO of the Youth Affairs Council of WA. Craig is also a proud Western Australian and enjoys cooking in his spare time; his signature dish is a salted caramel baklava.
What led you to Teach For Australia? I have always wanted to work for organisations that have a social justice focus. I’ve predominately worked for notfor-profit, mission-driven organisations that specifically address challenges that face young people. I feel that the voice of young people is not always taken into consideration in relation to public policy discussions and I’m passionate about changing this. I was attracted to Teach For Australia in particular because it allowed me to continue working in a national missiondriven not-for-profit and I was offered the opportunity to focus on an issue that is important to me – education.
What was it like being a CEO of an organisation at 26 years old?
What does a day in the life of your role at Teach For Australia look like?
It was a learning curve. I don’t come from a management background so the experience was very much an exercise in trial and error. During my time with Youth Affairs Council, the organisation grew from three staff members to twenty-four staff members so one of the biggest challenges for me was learning how to lead the organisation through that period of growth. Being quite young at the time of my appointment, I had to learn how to interact and operate with people who had more experience than I did. I had to build a credible profile so I could work with stakeholders such as politicians and the senior teams of other not-for-profit organisations. At the end of the day, despite some of the challenges, it was a lot of fun and I gained so much during my time in that role.
At a high level, my role is responsible for setting the strategic direction for how Teach For Australia engages with the state and federal governments as well as with our private funders. Most of my time is allocated to our engagement strategy: who we want to engage with and why, to ensure we are progressing towards Teach For Australia’s goals. Aside from engagement, I also oversee the process of monitoring contract deliverables and negotiating agreements between Teach For Australia and our stakeholders. The actual work I do on a day-to-day basis varies quite a lot. For example, there are days where the majority of my time is spent with politicians and there are days like today where I’ve spent most of my time in internal meetings.
How did you build a credible profile being a young person in a position of high responsibility? Two things come to mind: knowing what I was talking about and having the evidence to support it. Being involved in an organisation that was focused on young people was also fantastic because I think the most successful public policy movements around issues facing young people happen when these young people are also involved in the process.
What advice do you have for any young people starting off in their career? Building networks is incredibly important in this space. If you can find a mentor who can provide you with guidance, that’s even better. Find someone you respect in the sector and approach them about mentoring possibilities. I was lucky to have multiple mentors take me under their wing at the beginning of my career and their support has been invaluable. It’s also important to step out of your comfort zone and participate in as many activities, conferences and talks that you can.
I feel that the voice of young people is not always taken into consideration in relation to public policy discussions and I’m passionate about changing this.
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Rocking it IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Can you tell us about your background? I am originally from New Zealand. I went to school in a low socio-economic area and then went to University in New Zealand back in the Stone Age where I studied Geology (no pun intended), before moving to Melbourne in 2012. After a year in Melbourne I moved across to Perth and now call Western Australia home.
MEET CATHERINE HARRIS Cohort 2016, Leadership Development Program Catherine taught Humanities at Ellenbrook Secondary College in Western Australia during the Leadership Development Program. As an Alumna, Catherine continued to teach Humanities at Hampton Senior High School, where she cultivated her passion for the environment as a leader in the Bush Ranger Cadet program. Her commitment to providing a quality education for all is taking her to Uganda in January 2019, where she will develop and facilitate a professional development program that mentors and up-skills classroom teachers. In her spare time in Perth, Catherine plays on the Teach For Australia social netball team “Homework Club”, and enjoys hiking in the Perth Hills.
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Before the Leadership Development Program, I was a contaminated land consultant for about ten years.
Did you ever see yourself as a teacher beforehand? I often toyed with the idea of becoming a teacher but Mum (who was a teacher) would often say how hard it was, so I never really put all of my energy into it. But in 2015, I was doing some freelance consulting and I thought, you know what, I really do want to be a teacher.
What was your motivation to apply for the Leadership Development Program? I wasn’t satisfied with environmental consulting. I was working for an oil company and it just became a bit too soulless. I always wanted to do something after I finished my time as an environmental consultant, especially as a teacher, and share my passion for science. So I explored my options and came across Teach For Australia and I fell in love with the idea.
I went to a school in New Zealand which was in a low socioeconomic area. When I heard of Teach For Australia, I really wanted to teach in the kind of schools like the one that I went to. Despite living in these areas, I had some fantastic teachers that I still remember now, who inspired me to do something with my life. I very nearly didn’t go to university – but I did go, and my passion for education hasn’t stopped since then.
What are some of your teaching achievements? At Ellenbrook, I developed a general Geography program – Geology wasn’t run there before. For Year 11 and 12 students, I created all the assessments and everything that went with that. When I moved to Hampton, they had an established Year 11 program, however they didn’t have a year 12 program, so I established that this year. Teachers will be able to use that in the future, which is really great.
What is one of your proudest moments? One of the proudest moments that I had during the program was watching the Year 12s graduate and develop. Teaching them in Year 11 and 12 then seeing these students succeed not only in school, but also out of school, gives me a great sense of pride.
I had some fantastic teachers that I still remember now, who inspired me to do something with my life.
SOME DAYS, I STILL FEEL LIKE I’M NOT DOING IT WELL. BUT THOSE ARE THE DAYS WHEN YOU HAVE TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND REFLECT ON THE LITTLE WINS.
And most challenging? The biggest challenge for me was finding that balance between classroom management and building relationships. There is a fine line between the two, and I feel like at the beginning I focused more of my time on classroom management rather than building relationships with the students. Over my two years in the Leadership Development Program I was able change the way that I went about managing the two, and now as I’m coming towards the end of my third year in a classroom I feel as though it has become one my greatest strengths. Some days, I still feel like I’m not doing it well. But those are the days when you have to take a step back and reflect on the little wins. I had a fight in one of my classes, but those students came back to my class [later] and they were getting on. It’s those kinds of things that make you realise that you are making a difference.
So you finished the Leadership Development Program at the end of last year, what are you doing now? I absolutely want to keep teaching. I would have loved to stay at my placement school, however with staffing and enrolments being sorted very late in the year, by the time they offered me a contract I had already accepted another role at Hampton Senior High School.
Though I absolutely love Ellenbrook and would go back in a heartbeat, I am so glad that I have been able to experience a new school and a new way of doing things. I feel like this has helped me grow a lot as a teacher.
What are you up to next? At this stage I’m not too sure what I’m doing next year – I would love to stay teaching however there are some more staffing issues that need to be resolved between now and the end of the year. I have been doing a bit of work for Teach For Australia, helping out at Initial Intensive and Mid-Year Intensive and helping some of the first and second year Associates through the program. This summer, I’m flying out to Uganda as part of the Limited Resource Teaching Training program. I will be learning how to develop and facilitate professional development for teachers in a remote school, working to identify their learning needs with their limited resources and creating professional development for them.
Where do you see yourself in five years? I’d love to still be teaching in five years, but I’d also like to create an organisation where I can develop a program that helps low socioeconomic schools source funding for excursions and ultimately offer the opportunity for other schools to get on board also.
I’m finding it really hard to get excursions up and running for low socioeconomic schools, the costs are quite high. Also, it can be difficult to come up with ideas for Politics and Economics subjects. The idea is still very much in the planning stages but I have spoken to a few people who think it is a great idea so now I have to put my thoughts into action. I am also very interested in teacher education and mentoring so I would love to be involved in these aspects. What the Leadership Development Program offers in terms of mentoring and support is something that university graduates just don’t get. Associates are spoilt for choice when it comes to the support networks that they have around them and I would like to see university graduates get the same level of support as graduate teachers.
If you could give one piece of advice to anyone thinking about applying for the Leadership Development Program, what would it be? My story is not remarkable. I haven’t created a new innovative product, I didn’t have a 99 ATAR. But I am there, every day for my students. My advice to anyone thinking of applying for the Leadership Development Program would be to just do it. It is something that needs to be thought of carefully but in saying that, it is one of the most courageous things that you can do in your life. Be brave and do it.
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LANDING AT
TEACH FOR TAIWAN
BY THE TIME I FINISHED THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, I FELT MUCH MORE CONFIDENT IN MY ABILITY TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT IN MY FIELD.
IN CONVERSATION WITH STANLEY WANG Cohort 2012, Leadership Development Program Stanley taught Humanities and Chinese at Charles La Trobe College for three years. He then took on the role of Head of Languages at Haileybury College where he managed a team of 80+ staff members across five campuses and twelve international sites. Stanley was recently appointed the Chief Strategy Officer at Teach For Taiwan (TFT). Stanley has a genuine passion for languages and speaks Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and French to varying degrees of proficiency. On a recent trip around Europe, the Middle East and Africa, he visited 28 countries, ten Teach For All network partners and undertook a short course learning Finnish.
What’s the context of education in Taiwan? In Taiwan, there is actually a surplus of teachers in the country: the declining birth rates, along with job security and a generous pension system available for public servants, have resulted in an oversupply of teachers in the primary sector. However, educational inequity is still a serious issue: educational outcomes are highly dependent on the students’ socio-economic status, and the inequity is among one of the most serious in the Asia-Pacific region. 24 | Stories From Our Community | SUMMER 2018
Furthermore, despite being a small island (with the same population as Australia but only one-third of Tasmania in size), many schools outside of the urban area still find it difficult to recruit teachers altogether. “Rural” here is not always the default antonym of “urban”: schools experiencing disadvantage here are often not “rural” enough to qualify for additional subsidies from the government, nor do they appeal to teachers who prefer to stay near metropolitan areas. In Mandarin, we often refer to these schools as 不山不市學校 (literally,“not-mountain-not-city schools”), a word play on the Chinese expression 不三不 四 to mean “improper or unfitting.”
What does your role as Chief Strategy Officer entail? I describe myself as serving three roles as CSO: planner, translator and designer. As a planner, I work with the Senior Leadership Team and external stakeholders to devise our strategic blueprint, from what we should be focusing on over the next twelve months, all the way to how we envisage ourselves in 2025 and beyond. As a translator, I interpret the strategic plan down to the level of each department, each team and each staff member, so that we are all headed in the same direction. As a designer, I draft and implement the professional development program for TFT staff and offer consultation on projects that are aimed at strengthening our organisational efficiency and effectiveness.
In which direction do you see TFT going? We refer to ourselves as the “aircraft carrier”: we are the stable, consistent home base for the “aircrafts” (our Alumni and Fellows) whom we equip to combat educational inequity. From my perspective, I see the future of Teach For Taiwan as reaching beyond just serving our Alumni and Fellows. From next year, we will start actively working towards becoming a “Solution Hub” for addressing educational equity issues in Taiwan.
We hope that down the track, when Taiwanese people as well as the global Mandarin-speaking community think about issues related to educational inequity, will come to us to take advantage of the network of connections we have locally and globally.
How did the Leadership Development Program help you get to where you are today? For me, it wasn’t so much the knowledge I gained throughout the program (though I did learn a lot in two years), it was the sense of empowerment I obtained and continue to strive for. I had always done well in high school and university, but it wasn’t until TFA that I felt that I could really make a systemic difference to the society. Throughout the two years, my amazing Teaching and Leadership Adviser (Maddy), Clinical Specialist (Kaylene) and InHouse Mentor (Judy) always provided me with tailored guidance, support and coaching at just the right time. By the end of the program, I felt much more competent as a leader and I haven’t stopped thinking about how to accelerate my impact in education since - whether it is in language education or addressing educational inequity. This mindset has really guided my career progression so far.
What are some highlights from your recent travels? On my last trip, I visited 28 countries over six months. The trip helped me realise how big the world really is. I loved the few months I spent in the Caucasus, Iran, Mauritius and the Balkans, but I also took two weeks to learn Finnish in Helsinki. Finland is of great interest to me as an educator, but more importantly, in my second year of TFA, I visited the Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi, and had a chance encounter with a retiree who was volunteering as the “Santa Claus” in the village. He was incredibly friendly and spoke twelve languages (including Mandarin). I was floored by his commitment, and I felt so inspired by his passion to entertain guests from all over the world. As a beneficiary of his “generosity,” I thought the least I could do was reciprocate a little by learning this very special (and difficult) language!
Improving student writing IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHELE TURK Cohort 2017, Teach To Lead Program Michele Turk is a senior teacher at Bradshaw Primary School in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. She started her career as a teacher before taking a ten year hiatus to work in marketing and communications. Eventually, Michele found her way back into the classroom with a renewed sense of purpose and was excited to share her passion for writing with her students. Michele has a total of twenty years experience as a teacher. In a surprising twist of fate, she accepted a teaching position at her own primary school. Michele was part of the first cohort to graduate from Bradshaw Primary School after it opened in 1974.
All Teach To Lead Fellows complete an Impact Initiative as part of the program. Can you tell us about yours? My impact initiative focuses on improving writing at Bradshaw Primary School. It was born out of a small group of teachers working together in a collaborative learning team. We looked at how we could use rubrics to assess the writing of our students and what teaching strategies we could use to improve the quality of writing produced by our students.
AND TEACHER CONFIDENCE
How did you implement that goal at your school?
How did you find out about Teach To Lead and why did you want to participate in this program?
The implementation of my Impact Initiative was in two parts. Last year, I started my impact initiative by evaluating the skills and knowledge of the teachers at my school. I reviewed their understanding of the rubric and asked how other teachers felt about assessing different aspects of writing. As a collaborative learning team, we strengthened our understanding and practices in using rubrics. In the second year of my Impact Initiative, I conducted a staff survey which revealed that many teachers lacked confidence when it came to assessing and making judgments about their students’ written work. I assembled a group of teachers and we set the parameters around what we could do to improve teacher confidence when teaching and assessing writing. From a common assessment task, colleagues brought samples of writing to share. We used the NAPLAN marking criteria, unpacking all the elements of each criteria. Together we evaluated student work samples.
My principal forwarded me some information about Teach to Lead. Initially, I was unsure about why he encouraged me to apply for this program, but he recognised the potential that I had. I ultimately trusted his judgment and submitted an application. I was both excited and nervous during this process, however, I enjoyed the diversity and rigour of the experience. I am delighted and grateful for this opportunity. I believe that being part of Teach To Lead has expedited the development of my leadership skills: I have learnt how to use my “soft skills” to build capacity in others. The session that really resonated with me in particular was on conversational capacity and the concept that we should be approaching conversations with both candor and curiosity. Teach to Lead has definitely impacted the way I work with my colleagues.
What results have you seen at your school since running these workshops? The workshops enabled teachers to understand that assessing writing is complex. Writing is made up of ten skills that need to be explicitly taught and assessed. Teachers were empowered with the knowledge to confidently apply the NAPLAN marking criteria enabling them to identify the individual needs of each student. Another initiative that we’ve implemented as part of the broader goal is our “Celebrations of Writing Wall.” Students and teachers are encouraged to share their writing achievements which are proudly displayed in a public space within the school. Recognition and acknowledgment has fostered an enthusiasm for writing at our school.
Why is growing teacher confidence in writing an important issue for you? As a teacher, I’ve always had a passion for writing. I love teaching it! I like helping people explore the possibilities around selfexpression through writing. I am motivated to help teachers find their passion and confidence when it comes to teaching writing skills. I enjoy being able to interrogate how we teach writing and what best practice is when we look at the process around teaching writing to our students.
What do you hope to achieve in future? I’ve never been the type of person who has a five-year plan or anything like that, but I’ve always wanted to make a positive difference regardless of the role I am in. I want to work in an area where I have a genuine contribution to make, so in the next few years I hope to remain faithful to my values and continue to support the staff and students I work with.
Stories From Our Community | SUMMER 2018 | 25
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