IEU member Kerri-Anne Nolan, recently awarded the Brisbane Catholic Education (BCE) Excellence Award for Learning and Teaching in a Secondary School, believes collaboration and collegiality are key to survival in the teaching profession, writes Emily Campbell.
After working in the education sector for more than 26 years, Kerri-Anne, who is currently employed as a Specialist Teacher: Inclusive Education (STIE) at St Benedict’s College, Mango Hill north of Brisbane, remains steadfast in her belief that teaching is from the heart and is a vocation.
“I have been afforded many amazing opportunities to teach in a range of contexts, engaging in different roles from teaching prep students to teaching and mentoring students undertaking education degrees at university,” Kerri-Anne said.
“I fell into teaching rather than it being a conscious decision and I have been on a journey of discovery and learning ever since.
“My initial desire was to be a journalist, or to spend my days as a writer, but once I embarked on my first year of an education degree, I realised that my work as an English teacher could fulfil the creative outlet I was seeking and provided a sense of personal and professional fulfilment.”
Inclusive education
Kerri-Anne has over 25 years’ experience working in inclusive education and for the past 18 months, she has been employed as a STIE at St Benedict’s, working alongside families and external specialists in supporting and caring for students in the senior years.
STIEs are teachers who specialise in supporting inclusive education for students with diverse learning needs, and their role can be highly varied.
A key aspect of STIE’s work is to educate their colleagues around contemporary practices in inclusion, build capacity in students and teachers, to hold schools accountable and challenge inclusion practices.
“The role embraces the collaborative work with teachers in planning for student learning and ongoing consultation with a range of external specialists and agencies to ensure the students under my care are provided with the most appropriate adjustments and opportunities to access and engage with their learning, with a focus on progress as well as achievement,” Kerri-Anne said.
“The STIE role includes a teaching role and at my current workplace I have taught English, the QCAA Short Course-Numeracy and QCAA Short Course-Literacy programs.”
Collegial profession needs time
Kerri-Anne said collegiality and being part of a collaborative team have reaped benefits for her students through more effective and quality teaching and learning.
“My own rewards were a greater satisfaction and confidence regarding the positive impact of my teaching,” Kerri-Anne said.
“Equally, I value the ability to work autonomously and have trust placed in my capacity to carry through with a practical plan to enact the vision and deliver these ideas effectively with students,” she said.
“Often the answers to the big questions have already presented themselves and for me, the investment of time provided for teams to work collaboratively remains the golden ticket to successful outcomes.
“It takes time to engage, share, create, challenge, refine, moderate, and enact a vision.
“While many of these conversations occur in the daily professional conversations with my peers, being intentional in providing the time and the space for teachers and teams to engage fully remains the key to success.
“Sharing the vision and taking people with you in pursuing and driving forward with ideas demands that organisations are respectful of the need for teachers to have the time to do this.”
Mentoring critical for teachers
Kerri-Anne acknowledges that early career teachers need strong mentoring to thrive in the profession and counter significant attrition rates.
“Schools and the wider educational organisations have an inherent obligation to support new teachers over the first few years of their professional life, specifically in managing what is paramount for teachers, being the ‘emotional labour’ of teaching,” she said.
“Mentorship provides the humour, insight, and wisdom to allow early years teachers to navigate the often-complex workplace interactions and provide the support needed to pick up and keep going after a difficult day or a confronting conversation.
“The support of my own mentors in these areas has been central to longevity in my career.
“Without the intentional and strategic support of early years teachers in enacting the vision they have for themselves, in striving for professional growth, and in developing the toolkit of self-care and personal boundaries, I do not consider that the pattern of early years teachers leaving the professional will alter.
“We have reached a crossroads for the profession and capturing and retaining quality teachers demands flexibility and responsiveness to individual needs and to provide teachers with attractive avenues for professional growth and rewards.”
Challenging educational philosophy
Kerri-Anne maintains mentoring is not just for early years teachers though, and advocates for all teachers at every career stage to have a mentor.
“I would propose that all teachers need a mentor,” Kerri-Anne said.
“Mentoring is central to a teacher thriving and I continue to seek and access the guidance and advice of trusted colleagues.
“Even as an experienced teacher, I don’t possess all the answers or expertise, and forethought is required to approach different situations, often requiring a team approach.
“Initially, I was placed with mentor teachers with experience in the specific subject areas or year levels I taught.
“As I have matured professionally, I have actively sought my own mentors who fit into two categories – those who share a common educational philosophy and viewpoint, and the other category are those who do not shy away from the conversations that challenge my thinking about quality teaching and learning, not purely to give me the answers I might initially hope for.
“Professionally, these people have included my current and past principals, Heads of Department, fellow support teachers, as well as the support staff and teacher aides who enact the plans and ideas that I initiate for the benefit of students.”
Combating the teacher shortage
With Australia’s teacher shortage reaching critical points, Kerri-Ann believes employers must be responsive to individual needs if they are to attract and retain quality teaching staff.
“Managing workloads is particularly important in the current climate,” she said.
“Conversations around teacher shortage need to adopt practices and processes used in other sectors, including responsive approaches and flexibility to the workforce’s structure.
“Reducing the focus on administrative work and addressing individual’s needs must be common practice if schools are to secure and maintain a highly effective teaching workforce.”
IEU membership matters
As a long-term IEU member, Kerri-Anne said union membership is important as both an avenue to seek individual support and to serve as a collective voice.
“I am an honest and forthright communicator who seeks out individual conversations to voice my insights and feedback.
“However, I am also aware that job security and the conditions afforded to me are because of the collective work of union chapters, and those who have advocated for these.”
Kerri-Anne said her professional goals include a return to further post-graduate study, given her genuine love of learning and self-improvement.
“At the risk of appearing simplistic, I seek most to continue to improve what I do each day,” she said.
“This job remains a genuine challenge for me.
“It is more challenging than ever to juggle the multitude of demands that constitute the role effectively.”
Kerri-Anne appreciates the support of her St Benedict’s colleagues and feels fortunate to be working in an encouraging and vibrant community.
“I was overwhelmed and extremely humbled to be recognised with the BCE Excellence Award this way, particularly as I was nominated by people whom I hold in the highest regard.
“I am extremely grateful to have supportive colleagues and leadership who cultivate an environment where I am motivated to be better each day, where I am personally valued and where I can be human.”
Note: Kerri-Anne is now employed at another school and remains an active union member.