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2005 Winner – The Phillips Prize

This prize is awarded to the graduand with the most outstanding academic and professional record in the vocational education field of practice, in the Bachelor of Education in Adult Education

1. What is your occupation?

I am employed as a full-time teacher with TAFE NSW. I work in the Film and Television section at the Northern Sydney Institute, St Leonards.

2. What student achievements helped you win the Award?

Having worked in the film and television industry for thirty years, I found the challenge of undertaking a degree a refreshing intellectual stimulus. The Faculty of Education lecturers were a source of great motivation & encouragement and provided exemplary teaching models. The B.Ed study in such a supportive environment helped eased my career transition from having been a film editor to that of teacher.

The faculty lecturers encouraged me to engage fully in my study and they provided all of the necessary guidance to negotiate a very unfamiliar terrain. Previously, I had been totally unaware of this branch of the Education field, and was consequently impressed that UTS Education faculty staff are held in such high regard world-wide. It was this association with outstanding teachers that helped me to win this award.

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

The insight into teaching that my UTS study provided, has helped the development of my teaching practice tremendously. The B.Ed has equipped me with the necessary methods and   understanding to help me on the way to becoming an effective teacher. The course has also given me valuable insights into the theoretical and political aspects of training. These insights have provided me with the confidence and certitude to further explore ways of making training a rewarding experience for my students, and to help them appreciate the benefits of continuing their studies, as an adjunct of lifelong learning.

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

I am presently enrolled in the MEd in Adult Education at UTS. I find that continuing to study, while simultaneously working as a teacher has many benefits. I have the ongoing opportunity of being able to practically explore the educational theory that my study reveals to me. This has the effect of removing the theory from an abstract realm and transforms it into both something I can test and something that I can more readily understand and appreciate. Just as importantly, being a student while teaching students keeps me in touch with all of the issues that are peculiar to students. The everyday stresses and strains that only a student understands, and that a lot of teachers regard as petty and of no consequence, are things I can completely relate to.

Surprisingly for me, this education experience has revealed to me the benefits of being actively involved in lifelong learning. Prior to undertaking this course, I had been somewhat sceptical of studying. After all, I had managed to have a relatively successful career without doing much more than basic trade courses. I feel that the B.Ed has made an invaluable contribution to my personal development and has revealed to me the true worth of an ongoing engagement with learning.