As an educator and teacher who has worked in the field for over 20 years, I believe it is important for all educational professionals regardless of their role to understand student mental health, wellbeing, and behaviour and the subsequential effects on a students’ learning abilities and relationship building skills.
I am currently Lecturer and Study Area Coordinator for the Master of Education (School Guidance and Counselling) at QUT. I have the great privilege of helping teachers become better informed about trauma awareness and how to create a supportive learning environment where staff and students can thrive.
Within my role, I am a part of QUT’s Trauma Aware Education team where we host the biannual Trauma Aware Schooling Conference. As a team we conduct research in trauma aware education and provide training to schools and organisations so that they can become trauma aware.
I began my career working in rural and remote areas where I had several positions including teacher, small school principal, regional complex case support officer, guidance officer, and senior guidance officer. These were amazing experiences, and I was provided with opportunities that I may not have been able to have if I was working elsewhere.
At the start of my teaching career, I worked with an amazing guidance officer who was a strong advocate for students and inspired me to explore this area further. I discovered I was able to advocate and lead processes to support the mental health and wellbeing of students and staff in my school community. I believe it is important that educators have the strategies to know what to do and how to support colleagues who are working with students to ensure a thriving learning environment.
As a result, I decided to undertake postgraduate studies to further my knowledge and skills in this area and inspire other educators to become better informed about trauma awareness. I chose to complete my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at QUT as it was the leading university for education and ensuring job ready graduates.
My PhD study explored ‘how do primary teachers in remote schools experience their work with children living with the effects of complex childhood trauma?’ I chose to complete my PhD at QUT, as my supervisors Professor Kerryann Walsh and Associate Professor Judith Howard are leading experts both nationally and internationally in child protection and trauma aware education.
I would strongly encourage any educators looking to further their knowledge and skills or change their career path to undertake postgraduate studies at QUT. QUT provides their students with practical learning activities and opportunities that prepare them for the real-world. The staff and researchers are experts in their field and have either worked or are currently working in their chosen area. When completing my PhD through online correspondence, I was working full-time (which also included travel) and raising my daughter. QUT provided a supportive environment where I was able to manage my time effectively and set clear time frames to ensure I successfully completed assessment tasks.
