What's your role at Knox?

I'm the Head of Academic Operations and Learning Analytics. This position holds responsibility for all academic operations on the senior campus, including all aspects of timetabling, reporting and coordination of assessment planning. This role also includes the effective use of evidence-informed practices to close the teaching cycle through the implementation of learning analytics.

How long have you been with the School?

Seven years (four years as Director of Professional Learning STEM initially).

What does a typical day look like for you at Knox?

This role requires many meetings with key stakeholders to ensure that school continues to operate smoothly.

What three things do you love most about working at Knox?

• Working with teachers to build equitable and transparent systems, and work conditions which facilitate them to do their work in an efficient and effective manner.
• Facilitating professional learning to empower teacher collaboration and growth in classroom practice.
• Teaching students, this feeds my soul.

What or who inspired you to pursue a career in education?

This is a story I share with each of my classes at the beginning of each year:

If somebody had told me I would teach Mathematics when I was in Year 10, my immediate response would have been, “That will never happen!”

As a capable student, I was not terrible at Mathematics, but a series of traditional Mathematics teachers had left me feeling insecure about asking for help when I was unsure. They provided few “world relevant examples” and no opportunity for students to discuss their mathematical thinking.

My life changed in Year 11, with the allocation of Ms Vicki Willis as my Mathematics teacher. The oppressive air in the classroom lifted: it was ok to not know, and I was able to seek clarification without fear of shame, there were many opportunities to discuss and share alternative ways of thinking.

To my absolute delight, I received the nickname among my peers of 'Miss Bun' throughout Year 11 and Year 12, because I loved to lead mathematical discussions (arguments), ensuring that there was a clear understanding that there were multiple ways to solve a mathematical conundrum.

On the completion of my BSc DipEd, I was honoured with the offer to job share with Ms Willis at my old school. It was such a delight to close the circle. To feedback to an amazingly gifted educator, a glimpse of the passion she had unleashed in an impressionable 16-year-old. Her gift to education lives on through me and I am hoping that I am able to pay just homage in paying that gift forward to the young men and women I have had the pleasure of walking beside in their mathematical development.

The moral of the story: never say never, our connection and impact on the people we journey with in life is profound and enduring. There is joy in mathematics even for the most reluctant student, be open and give it a try. You never know you may end up teaching Mathematics.

What part of your role at Knox do you gain the most joy?

The delight on the face of a student when they have wrestled with and conquered a mathematical concept. Their face lights up, they sit up a little straighter and own their space within the classroom and cannot help but to share the good news verbally with those around them. This is the community of learning that exists in the Knox classroom, and it is an honour to be part of.

Why did you join Knox?

I joined Knox to share my love of classroom practice with as many teachers as possible through leading professional learning opportunities. When I joined, I was under the impression that I would be the one imparting pearls of wisdom. What I now know is that the practice of teaching is collaborative, I have both shared and gained wisdom. We all grow through community, and it has been an honour to grow with the teachers at Knox Grammar School.

What is the secret to good teaching and inspiring our young people?

Taking the time to connect with each learner and establish each person’s responsibility in the learning journey. Providing clear and visible expectations of behaviour that are modelled and articulated frequently and then caring deeply and challenging directly if those expectations are not being met.

What achievement are you most proud of from your time at Knox so far?

There are many Clarkeisms' used in my classroom to facilitate the teaching and 'sticking' of mathematical knowledge. The first Year 12 class at Knox quickly engaged with these 'Clarkeism' and unbeknown to me kept a running diary as the 'Clarkeisms' occurred including the date and time. The students were often able to recite quotes verbatim. When these quotes were mathematically related, I glowed with pride at my ability to make mathematics both 'sticky' and visible.

At the conclusion of the academic year, I was presented with a linen cushion, on it the quote “No Laughter, No Joy, Only Pain” T.Clarke 27 September 2017. From your class of 2017. When questioned where this came from… one student pulled out the diary of quotes. This quote had been made by myself, during a 'Fun Friday' activity, as together we had grappled with a particularly difficult trigonometry question from the 2015 HSC paper. What could I say, I had to believe them!

What’s your leadership style and why have you found this to be successful?

My leadership style is grounded in the Servant Leadership work of Robert Greenleaf (1970). This leadership style resonates with my core values of equity, community and belonging. It allows me to activate leadership through example and employ adaptive and distributed leadership within the servant leadership context.

What impact do you hope to leave on your students?

A belief in their own ability and capacity to achieve with hard work and dedication.

What is the biggest challenge facing the education sector at the moment? What would you like to see in the future or how do you intend to help fix the problem?

The biggest challenge for education currently is the teacher shortage. Without adequate teacher numbers, other problems such as the use of AI in education and the development of future work ready education programs are a mute discussion. While both AI and industry connections may solve the teacher shortage in part in the future, we need teachers in the system now to codevelop these educational futures.

As a well-resourced educational institution, the Knox learning community has a larger role to play in establishing local and global learning networks to share teaching resources and facilitate a broader learning community, to encourage and develop teachers into education.

Who are you outside of Knox?

Reading, gardening and walking my dogs.

Share one fun fact that people might not know about you.

I have worked with my husband to restore a 1963 VW Beetle.

What advice would you give to anyone joining Knox?

Congratulations on your decision to join a wonderful learning community. Starting teaching or even starting in a new school is always challenging. Knox is a very busy place, full of people who are happy to help… so don’t be shy in asking if you are not sure, require clarification or need assistance.