Teaching is more than ‘chalk and talk’ for Southern Cross education graduate

Published: 22 October 2024

For alumna Jane Brennan, being an educator is not just about standing at the front of a classroom delivering the curriculum. It’s about developing individuals, focussing on their wellbeing and creating community.

“It's not just chalk and talk anymore. It’s about creating the whole person, and I have seen that shift in my 16 years in the classroom,” she said.

Jane chose to study a Bachelor of Visual Arts, Bachelor of Education (Secondary) at Southern Cross University where she was attracted by the local campus and close-knit community.

“Southern Cross being a smaller university appealed to me. Having that personalisation with my lecturers and tutors was a big draw card.

“I would definitely say that I felt seen at Southern Cross. I wasn't just my student number. I had relationships with all my lecturers. You got to know everybody in the visual arts and education degree, it was a small community and I still see a lot of those people,” she said.

Jane credits the practical placements as one of the most vital aspects of the education degree. One of her most memorable experiences while on placement was using art therapy as a way of supporting a struggling student.

“There was a situation in my third placement where there was a difficult student who obviously had a lot of stuff going on outside school. My supervisor saw beyond the acting out and pulled her in for some art therapy. That was a real success story; I worked with the student in the art therapy sessions and helped her get what she needed off her chest and just took the pressure off her,” Jane said.

“You can’t always change a tricky home situation but you can make sure they’ve got a positive school environment. That’s really what I learned from that situation,” she said.

The kids are the biggest thing for me that I love about being a teacher. I often say, particularly to my senior classes, like we're an art family, we're in this together. I think I decided I wanted to go into art teaching in about grade 10. My art teacher at Lindisfarne was a really big mentor and motivator for me.

Southern Cross being a smaller university appealed to me, having that personalisation with my lecturers and my tutor teachers and knowing everybody in your course was a big draw card for me. I enrolled in the straight visual arts degree, Bachelor of Visual Arts at SCU in Lismore and then in second year I tacked on the Bachelor of Secondary Education.

The practicum placements were the most valuable part of the whole degree. I did my first placement was at Kingscliff High School, second placement I actually went to Lindisfarne, and then the third placement I was at Banora Point High School. I was lucky enough to secure my first position at Calrossy Anglican School in Tamworth.

It was a 12 month contract first up and it was an amazing experience. I ended up spending 10 and a half years there. I was Head of Creative and Performing Arts down there, um, when I left. That's where I left my legacy, I, I built that department from, basically from the ground up. Then I started at Lindisfarne, and I actually moved into the Director of Visual Arts position quickly, and then at the start of 2024, I took on the role as Director of Creative Industries. I was on maternity leave, sitting in the chair, rocking my baby at 3am, and it just came over me that I should probably re enrol to university and do a master's degree. And I chose to do the Masters of Educational Leadership.

It was all very current knowledge, current study, um, what's happening in education and in terms of what leaders of schools tomorrow are going to look like. We've had a lot of amazing stories with kids who have gone through hardship and, um, had crazy turnarounds. And just produced amazing bodies of work for their HSC, um, because they love it.

The kids are the biggest thing for me that I love about being a teacher. They are the definite reason why I go to work every day.

After graduating from Southern Cross, a 12-month contract as an art teacher at Calrossy Anglican School in the country town of Tamworth turned into a ten-and-a-half-year legacy, where she moved into the role of Head of Department and instilled a love and appreciation for the arts in her colleagues and students.

Jane moved home to the Tweed Shire to start a family and returned to where her love of art and education began: Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School.

“My art teacher at Lindisfarne was a really big mentor and motivator for me. She is the one that really gave me the love of visual arts and drove my passion behind it. Painting and drawing has always been a passion, but tapping into the education side of it has allowed me to have the best of both worlds,” Jane said.

While studying, Jane had the opportunity to work with her high school visual arts teacher during her practical placement, which she describes as an invaluable experience.

“Our lecturers prepped us for what to expect inside the classroom, as well as our obligations as teachers in regard to planning, administration, programming and other duties, which is a really holistic view of what teaching is. The placements were really well supported by the uni.”

As the Director of Creative Industries at Lindisfarne, Jane now works with some of her former teachers.

“It's nice being able to work alongside them now, especially moving from a student to being their colleague. It's a full circle moment.”

Woman in bright striped shirt sitting at desk smiling, shelves of paint in background

During her time as an educator at Lindisfarne, Jane re-enrolled at Southern Cross University to study a Master of Education (Educational Leadership) online.

“It was all very current knowledge in terms of what’s happening in education and what leaders of tomorrow’s schools are going to look like. I found it really helpful and it opened my eyes to the impact educational leaders have and will continue to have in the future in a school setting,” Jane said.

“The job is only going to get better and bigger. Leaders are not only looking after all the staff that work at the school but also all the kids and the families, parents and extended families. It really is a community-based role. The role of the teacher is ever-changing and ever- growing.”

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