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1. What is your occupation?

I am the Correctional Centre Liaison Officer for the Open Training and Education Network (OTEN), the TAFE NSW distance education provider. My job involves coordinating the hundreds of enrolments OTEN has each year from students in NSW Correctional Centres. I have also worked as a Literacy and Numeracy Teacher for the Department of Corrective Services.

2. What student achievements helped you win the award?

I think the practical aspects of the course were most helpful to me in developing as a student and as a teacher. The focus of the award was on Literacy and Numeracy teaching and the course offered many opportunities to have practical experience in both, as well as support and advice from experienced practitioners. The skills I developed in lesson planning and understanding of the Teaching - Learning Cycle where most useful in winning this award

3. How have you used the content of the BEd in your occupation?

What I learned while studying at UTS helps me to continually reflect on my own teaching practice, attempting to make education meaningful and relevant to my students. It helps me to approach lessons as learning exchanges, respecting and valuing the skills and experience students have to offer and harnessing that knowledge. The course helped me to develop a solid foundation as an educator, taught me how to organise information, how to sequence and scaffold lesson delivery, and how to contingency plan. These are skills I use every day in my current position. Many teaching styles were modelled by the lecturers at UTS and this meant that I could try a number of styles until I felt comfortable with my own.

4. Where do you see your career & lifelong learning going?

I will continue to work in education, learning new skills and techniques as I go, applying and adapting what I have learned so far. I plan to continue studying, possibly in the area of Criminology, and then on to a doctorate, publishing, who knows? You're never to old to learn.