June 2023

Making the most of disruptions Mrs Madeleine Nielsen, English Teacher

My career in education thus far has been anything but linear. From family emergencies disrupting my university courses and resulting in drastic changes to my career goals, to being a part of the first implementation of the new syllabus, and working as a graduate amid a global pandemic, my teaching experiences have been largely characterised by disruption. While I could harp on about the magnitude of each disruption and lament the emotional, psychological, professional, and social challenges of each situation, instead I want to highlight the invaluable opportunities these situations have afforded me as a recent graduate teacher. To begin with, changing my university degree from a Bachelor of Arts to a Bachelor of Secondary Education allowed me to explore my areas of interest while learning how to educate others about the interests I’m passionate about. As an Arts student, I took full advantage of being able to study a broad array of interests: Drama; Pop Culture; English; Sports; and Health. But, after a family health emergency left me wondering about my imprint on the world, I realised I wanted to use my knowledge to make a difference and help others feel passionate about their own interests. So, in honour of my mother and father and all their care and compassion for the community, I took a chance, changed degrees, and felt immensely satisfied by this new combination of my interests and aspirations. Another invaluable opportunity arose for me when the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority moved to the new ATAR system. As a student who graduated secondary school in the OP system, this systemic shift represented an opportunity to explore new approaches to teaching, learning, and assessing students. In addition, the fact that most of my

pre-service placements were completed within the OP system challenged, and ultimately developed further, my flexibility and adaptability. From this exposure, I developed an early understanding of how to integrate the ATAR syllabus into schools and was able to capitalise on this knowledge in my graduate teaching position. Although turbulent, the next disruption—the COVID-19 pandemic—was strangely unifying as teachers transitioned to online learning and shared the newness of the pandemic experience. All at once, teachers and students alike were challenged with curriculum changes, the integration of new technologies into their teaching and learning, along with the physical, social, and emotional health concerns that arose throughout 2020 to 2022. However, for me, it instilled further the immeasurable value of pastoral care, streamlining assessments to focus on core skills, and encouraging all of us to pursue areas of personal interest during the pandemic. Fortunately, I have retained and reinforced these values in my post-pandemic classrooms. The inevitability of change and the increasing frequency of disruptions is something every teacher has had to come to terms with in our modern world. As an early career teacher, I have learned to see not only the silver lining, but the opportunities that only exist because of the disruptions—from technological advancements like Zoom that are shifting work-life balance, or the seemingly scary ChatGPT, which is even now showing us new ways of enabling learning and assessing learning. I acknowledge that I will need to continue to manage disruptions throughout my teaching career, but I truly look forward to the new opportunities that each disruption may bring.

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Brisbane Girls Grammar School