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Week 2 - Why I have chosen teaching and what I have to offer the profession


I was fortunate enough to acquire a two year Government Cadetship through Iwi Transition with the Ministry of Education’s Career Development and Transition Education Service.  Over the last 20 years I have worked in a variety of roles predominantly in the Social Services and Training, Education & Employment sectors with my most recent role held being the Community Development Facilitator with Centacare’s My Future: My Life Initiative.  This involved working with educators throughout Queensland supporting senior students in secondary schools with disability to plan and prepare for their transition towards a meaningful life post school.

My interest in teaching came about from obtaining my adult teaching certificate level 5 through Te Wananga O Aotearoa in 2008 and working with young adults in private training establishments.  While living in Australia, I had an opportunity of working in a Community College for students who had experienced social isolation due to significant social issues in their lives and had difficulty learning in mainstream school.  As someone who also struggled with mainstream schooling I found I developed a great rapport with students due to having an understanding of similar experiences and being able to build on that common ground.

I also have a strong interest in working with young early teen mums and with my adult teaching certificate and a bachelor of primary school teaching I hope to be fully equipped to enable me to eventually work in these areas.

What I believe I can offer the profession is the fact that I come with a diverse range of work skills with strengths in community development and engagement, working with students with disability, experience in working with students from low socio economic groups, experiencing high deprivation and poverty, homelessness, violence and sexual assault and social isolation.  I also have experience in being employed with a decile 1 school through to working in private schools.

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