Teach the Future – Jo-Anne’s story

Jo-Anne Weinman, teacher:

I feel like this is where I’m meant to be.

I’d thought about it for years, but I could never find the right path until now.

My name is Jo Weinman. I’m studying a Master’s of Teaching. It’s an employment-based teaching degree, so I get to teach while still studying.

Right now, I teach Year 11 Literacy, Legal Studies, and English.

My background is in academia, so it’s been quite a shift.

I was a researcher and I also taught human rights law in relation to indigenous peoples.

Having my own kids helped me see how even at that young age, they’re really engaged with the world and keen to know more.

Before studying, I got involved in a lot of the activities at my children’s primary school.

We started a robotics club with a few parents who are also studying employment-based teaching degrees now.

The work we did and how excited the kids were to learn and be involved just lit the spark in me, and it helped me make my decision to take the leap.

The Master’s course dovetails really nicely with the way our teaching blocks work.

We get to develop the skills for each subject in a real environment.

It is a lot to juggle being a parent, a full-time student, and teaching all at once.

But the school is really supportive of new teachers and graduates, and it’s a very collaborative team.

All the preconceptions melt away when you just get to see how the kids learn, and that every classroom is unique in its own way.

Getting here has been the perfect alignment of timing, support, and finding a fast-tracked way forward.

I’m excited that I get to spend the next couple of decades in the classroom.

[End of transcript]

Updated 7 March 2025

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