3 minute read
LEADING FUTURE EDUCATORS
VCE Chemistry teacher, Angie Atal Carreon, is leading the next group of pre-service teachers at Monash University as a Teacher's Associate.
Having taught for nearly 13 years, Angie Atal Carreon is a powerhouse of VCE Chemistry knowledge, and since 2017 has been leading and mentoring preservice teachers studying at Monash University as a Teacher's Associate.
With most of her students studying their Masters in Education, Angie shifts pre-service teachers' thinking of teaching from theory to practice. She guides them through the VCE Curriculum (Study Design), gives them student work to assess, discusses the practical aspects of her role as a VCE Chemistry teacher and aspects of being a teacher they should consider such as moderation and modification, and how to personalise their teaching to foster high performance in their students.
"There's a real component to teaching," Angie says. "It's not just about what you learn in your lectures and read in the theories. Imagine being a fresh teacher and having to mark your very first experimental report or practical report; it's daunting. Sometimes I share [anonymous] student work and get the pre-service teachers to practice their assessing [skills]. Having experienced and having done that while you're at university is really important."
Angie comes from a family of educators and was drawn to Science at a young age. "My mother is a Nurse and I inherited my love for the sciences from her," Angie said. "My maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather were both educators and at school, my love for science drew me to studying the [core] subjects such as Biology and Chemistry," she says. "I was drawn to the practical components and the ability to connect things [as it speaks to] who I'm like as a person."
Being a teacher means being a lifelong learner and contributing to pre-service teachers' learning at Monash University as they prepare for the next stage of their career has impacted the way Angie views her teaching practice and keeps her open to re-evaluating and refining the way she approaches her students learning.
"As teachers, we have to be life-long learners," Angie says. "Being a Teacher's Associate means I get to reflect on what I'm doing [in my teaching practice] and why I'm doing it. Having to then justify why I do it to pre-service teachers often makes me re-evaluate. So even though [my sessions] are for pre-service teachers to gain an understanding of what I do day to day, it is really valuable for me because after each session I walk out and think, Hang on, I could be doing this differently and I could do this better. So, for me, it's a real learning experience as well."
Angie's leadership extends beyond Monash University's lecture theatres and tutorial rooms; she has also had the privilege to make further contributions in the lives of some of the pre-service teachers she has taught on campus.
"I've helped three or four teachers through their Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) registration. In that position, you are more of a listener as you try to mentor teachers in their own path, which I've enjoyed doing."
Guiding her students with choosing their own pathway is incredibly important to Angie and is at the cornerstone of her teaching practice here at Southern Cross Grammar as she prepares her Secondary students for VCE success and bright futures beyond our campus. This was encapsulated early in Term 1 when she held a Commitment Ceremony for students. During the Ceremony she encouraged students to think about, and write down, two things —one academic, and the other nonacademic— that they wanted to commit themselves to achieving during the year.
"Getting students to understand that they're on their own pathway is incredibly important and [at the Commitment Ceremony] I told students, "It's a commitment to yourself and [what you want to achieve]." Part of that was also getting them to understand that it's okay if you commit to something and it doesn't work out. All you want to see is progression and improvement, and it doesn't matter how it appears in comparison to everyone else; it's your [pathway] that matters."
Inside Monash University's Learning and Teaching Building (Image courtesy of John Wardle Architects)
