Education Week 2021 - Celebrating Lifelong Learners

When Adam Taylor left school, he never imagined he would complete another nine qualifications and hold seven jobs.

Adam completed his Certificate III in Painting & Decorating, Certificate IV Plumbing, Draining & Gasfitting, Work, Health & Safety, Building & Construction, and various other qualifications as well as a Diploma in Project Management.

It seems as though Adam can’t get enough.

“I’m currently undertaking the Australian Major Project Leadership Academy and NSW Public Sector Leadership Academy which have been fantastic courses for Major Project and Public Sector Leadership.”

Since his early days as an apprentice, no one could stop Anthony from learning and picking up as many qualifications as he could. Lucky for him, every one of them has served him well.

“I completed my HSC in Singleton and commenced my career as an Apprentice Carpenter and Joiner with Civil and Civic – now known as Lend Lease.”

In his second year of his apprenticeship, Anthony commenced his Bachelor of Construction Management (Building) at Newcastle University via correspondence. He completed this six years later.

“My degree helped my career progression with Lend Lease and I undertook various roles including site engineer and Foreman.”

“I continued my education and completed a Graduate Diploma in Education Secondary - Technological and Applied Studies (TAS) through the Australian Catholic University at Strathfield. Securing a role as a TAS Teacher at Karabar High School in Queanbeyan through the Departments targeted recruitment program."

Anthony then moved to Newcastle to take up a role with NSW Public Works as a Project Manager before moving across to the Department’s Asset Management Unit taking up the role of Group Leader.

“I am privileged to lead SINSW’s Hunter Central Coast Asset Management Team in the role of Director. The team is high achieving and we aim to provide the highest level of support and service to our schools. I believe in developing staff, providing opportunities for learning and growth. I wouldn’t be where I am today unless I took the learning opportunities that were available to me.”

According to Caitlin Porter, you learn because you’re interested, not because it’s a career decision. With this mentality, the opportunities could be endless.

“I don’t necessarily believe that studying needs to have a concrete goal or should only be to attain career-specific qualifications; it’s enough to be encouraged to have an inquiring mind, to be curious about things, and learn really important research and planning skills that can be applied to any field or discipline.”

Caitlin’s open-minded approach meant she had lots of different ideas when she left school. They included “being a writer, an English teacher, working with animals, or even being an interpreter for the United Nations.”

“I started off doing a dual degree in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Journalism at University of Queensland as soon as I left school, but took a 3-year hiatus to work in my first real job in media and advertising. I started at a media agency as a Media Executive, which sounds fancy but really was at the absolute rock-bottom, data-entry level. I progressed as a Trader, which essentially means I bought media and advertising space on behalf of my clients.”

Caitlin decided to go back to her studies once again on a part-time basis. However, she switched to a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Journalism and English Literature.

After completing her degree, Caitlin turned her hand to professional writing.

“I have been doing occasional freelance copywriting for about six years now. It took at least six months to find a job opportunity in writing – it’s a very competitive space! I finally got an internship at an online lifestyle publication, which promptly went into receivership and closed within a month of my working there.”

Needing to pay the bills, Caitlin jumped into an Office Manager role and then a hybrid role as Executive Assistant/Media Assistant at a recruitment firm running their blog and LinkedIn page.

"Then I started at SINSW as Executive Assistant to the COO, and have been lucky enough to act in a few positions across the division before starting in my current role as Project Manager a couple of weeks ago."

Caitlin's thirst for learning is seeing her complete a Masters of International Relations at Macquarie University, studying online while working full-time.

“I plan on adding a Grad Dip in Languages at some point (either French or Arabic), as I think it would complement my Masters.”

Caitlin plans to work out a decent sleeping schedule when next semester starts and is very excited about her new role.

The average person will have as many as 17 jobs in their lifetime, but Claire Beattie is no average person. With a whopping 30 jobs and several careers under her belt, Claire is the epitome of lifelong learning. She's proof that you can do anything you set your mind and heart to if you believe in yourself and your values.

“I love that I serve 1.9 million families every day and ensure that our kids and community have access to our wonderful assets.”

Like most students, Claire had several options in high school, so she experimented until she got the result that worked.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do. I left school in Term 2 of Year 10. I returned to school and did year 11 and 12 in six months through TAFE (Pathways) after completing a Certificate III in Retail and working. I did this so that I could go to university as I realised that I wanted more options.”

During her time at university, Claire wanted to make a difference.

“I worked in a youth refuge as a House Parent and in a disability agency supporting young people in their homes and workplaces. During this time I also completed certificates in social work, disability work and frontline management.”

Since then, Claire has lectured at Charles Sturt University, been a strategic advisor to Sydney Taronga Zoo, GSC and Treasury, written hospitality courses, delivered significant transport infrastructure projects and supported critical incident responses from the Transport Operations Room as a Transport Commander. She also worked as a media spokesperson for Transport for NSW.

Claire’s academic achievements are just as impressive with Diplomas in Project Management, Frontline Management, Traffic Engineering, Nutrition and Science, and Personal Training and backed up by a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology, Communications, Law), a Bachelor of Education and a Masters in Psycho-Educational Assessment and Education Malpractice.

For now Claire is dedicated to her current role and is completing a Diploma in Coaching.

"I will see where spirit provides that I go for next but for now I want to deliver on my new role as Executive Director Asset Activations. I want NSW to thrive and hence I want my public service to support this."

Darren Chien’s interest in health and science opened different academic and career pathways for him, and he’s enjoyed them all.

“I was a professional swimmer and was planning to move into the health and physio side of professional swimming when I retired.”

Darren worked as a water polo coach and private tutor while completing a degree in health sciences, majoring in physiotherapy, when he decided to change his trajectory.

“I also worked in the University Law Library, and that’s where my passion for education grew.”

“I began my Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education (Secondary) degree and started working at Epping Boys High School as a casual. Eventually I started taking blocks of teaching in science, special education and PDHPE."

Darren’s transition to School Infrastructure NSW was a ‘perfect fit’ since the “culture is so focused on accessibility of education.” However, the science enthusiast says he’d “like to work more directly in solving some of the problems that Principals face.”

Media manager Kate Minogue likes a good yarn and it’s not surprising when you see her impressive career climb that has taken her from Copy Girl News Ltd to news reporter at The Daily Telegraph and Deputy Editor of Good Health magazine.

When Kate left school she knew she wanted to be a journalist. Her decisiveness helped her complete a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English literature and forge a successful path in media and communications.

Today, Kate uses her resolute attitude to complete her Masters of Teaching, Secondary Education to become a high school English teacher.

“I wanted a new challenge, something where I could contribute in a really meaningful way. My daughter was finishing high school and being taught by fantastic teachers who got her really excited about learning. I started to realise I could do that too! I’m really looking forward to working with young people, engaging them in learning and encouraging them to reach their potential.”

Kate hopes to do her ‘best at uni’ and judging from her history, we think she will.

Kirsten Woodland started teaching as a Targeted Graduate in 1996 at Cronulla High School.

After 16 years of teaching Japanese and French to high school and primary school students in various settings, Kirsten changed direction to use her skills in stakeholder engagement.

While also running her own business in accounting consultancy, she combined her love for communication with her business acumen and used it to build her Stakeholder Engagement career. She continued learning, completing a Certificate IV in Frontline Management and IAP2 Certificate in Engagement.

“After working as a Stakeholder Engagement specialist in not-for-profits and in the private sector, I came back to the Department of Education via Early Childhood Education as Assistant Manager, Engagement.”

Now, Kristen is developing her expertise in school security.

“I started in the School Security Unit as Project Leader in 2019 and am now Manager, Security Services."

“My immediate goal is to keep learning as much as possible about the maintenance and monitoring of the security systems we have in our schools and to embrace emerging technology into our work. This role requires both strategic thinking and operational delivery and I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that schools are safer places because of the work we do.”

Learning isn’t always bound to the academic realm, and switching careers doesn’t always mean you need to study for it first.

From as early as 17, Leila Dale was working in the Four Points by Sheraton at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

“It was daunting starting a full-time job in a hotel, however I learnt a lot of life skills and was put through many training courses over three years which helped me in my next career change.”

Leila moved into event management with Veritas Events, starting out setting up name tags and airport duty for a conference on her first day, to managing events ranging from 10 to 6,500+ delegates, travelling nationally and internationally for conferences and high end incentive trips. Leila spent the next 13 years honing her professional skills and was invited by the events company to become a shareholder.

Not resting on her laurels and with a young family of three children under three years of age, Leila decided to transfer her skills into a Project Officer role with School Infrastructure NSW.

Now Program Director, Leila is learning program management theory after years of on-the-job experience. It's another addition to her learning portfolio, including a Diploma in Frontline Management and certification in Managing Successful Programs.

After years of creating career success, Leila continues to thrive in a fast-paced environment. She is “keen to enrol in a few more short courses soon.”

In high school, Martin Roohan dreamed of working in a record store. After a brief stint fulfilling that dream, he ended up tutoring at a homework centre for Indigenous students and teaching primary school students in London, Botswana, Moree and Dubbo, until eventually ending up in NSW Government planning roles.

“I get to analyse really interesting data to develop solutions to problems that can help the people of NSW and ensure we spend their tax dollars wisely.”

But what did Martin study to help him make the leap from sales assistant to teaching to planning?

“I completed my Bachelor of Education (Primary) when I was 24 years old. Five years later I undertook a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning but left it halfway to focus on teaching and completed the remaining subjects eight years later.”

Although Martin’s studying days are behind him, he still has an itch for learning.

“I’m done with formal study, but now I’m learning about investing.”

For Pat Hannan, lifelong learning is about passing on his knowledge to his grandchildren.

After completing his HSC at Springwood High School, Pat kept his hands busy in a builders job in Katoomba and then in a winery at the Barossa Valley. He even had a job as an extra in a Rambo movie while travelling overseas.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do, so decided to try whatever was available.”

Pat returned to Sydney to start a Bachelor of Arts at Macquarie University which eventually led to graduating with a Bachelor of Education from University of Western Sydney.

“While at uni I worked for Polygram Records in Alexandria and played in bands in Sydney. Then I took a position as Maths/IT Teacher at Bidwill High School in 1989.”

Pat’s teaching career saw him move into different Head Teacher positions at the school, and relieve as Deputy Principal. More than 20 years later, Pat was offered a position in the School Safety and Response Unit giving incident management support to Principals.

As Manager, Program Delivery in the School Security Unit, Pat has been able to do something different in the education dimension and now looks forward to sharing his knowledge.

“Working with the committed and experienced team at the SSU has allowed me to continue to support learning, by assisting schools to resolve security issues and by providing input into the security designs for major capital works projects. SINSW is building innovative and exciting learning spaces. It has been rewarding to work with the Asset Management Units, Project Directors and Principals - some of whom I began teaching with - to deliver facilities that meet both learning and security requirements.”

“My family and I have all benefited from a strong public education system. I will probably continue to contribute to the department, possibly in a part time or voluntary role. But at the moment I’m revisiting Primary School maths with the grandkids!”

Being curious is what it’s all about for Robert Caggegi. His learning pursuits have taken him up to London to teach and back to Sydney to create exciting teaching and learning spaces across NSW. 

“I studied Town Planning because I’m fascinated with all things to do with cities, construction and architecture. It started with natural curiosity and grew from there.”

But this isn’t how Robert started. 

“I thought I’d go into hospitality, so I took a course in front desk administration at Ryde TAFE to be a concierge, but that didn’t last long because I quickly realised I liked normal working hours and my weekends.

“In 2002 I studied a Bachelor of Art Education at the University of NSW to become a high school art teacher and then moved to London. I wasn’t sure if high school teaching was for me when I returned to Sydney. I then began working at Padstow Heights Primary School and loved it.” 

Robert’s artistic side moved away from classroom teaching to classroom building when he completed his Masters Of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney.  

“My job is constantly evolving, and I love to see how my team’s work supports a wider group to deliver amazing learning spaces.”

Robert affirms that his lifelong learning path isn’t paved with ‘qualifications’ because learning is more than just academic achievements. 

“It is definitely an attitude and isn’t necessarily tied to a degree or formal qualification. Being open to new ideas and possibilities, coupled with action helps us to not only use our minds in more constructive ways, but hopefully inspire young people to do the same.”

After graduating high school last year, Sapphira is getting her first taste of Project Management and work.

“I didn’t really have a particular passion that I wanted to follow at university and always assumed that I would proceed into psychology at the University of NSW.”

So Sapphira took an interest in developing her skills early.

“I’m currently studying project management because I love the fulfilment in contributing towards a project’s life span to produce a unique objective. I also enjoy that project management allows you to develop transferable skills, such as time management, forward-planning and communication.”

As a School Infrastructure NSW Project Management Trainee, Sapphira can apply her learning on the job and get invaluable experience.

“My favourite thing about my current position is collaborating with a range of different consultants and watching as a variety of perspectives from different disciplines – whether that be the analytical outlook from an engineer or the contemporary vision of an architect – join together to work towards an end result – a new school.”

Although Sapphira isn’t sure what she wants to do at the end of her traineeship, she says she’ll “definitely have a clearer view than when I did at the end of high school.”