[Music]
you may have heard of this phrase those
who can’t do teach
I’m here to invert this outdated myth to
those who can do teach with a small
shift in mindset we would be encouraging
specialists to pursue their additional
passions as an amateur or professional
and schools to retain their expertise
Who am I I’m an English teacher at
Bangkok padna school with a commitment
for seeing the success of my students
I’m also a published author of 10 books
my latest a series on teaching creative
writing through art I’m a writer I
publish fiction poetry travel arts
catalogs arts reviews in magazines
globally I’m an artist
exhibiting in galleries I’m a curator
I’m a researcher into teacher artist
issues and the relationship between
visual art and writing I presented on
these topics since conferences in
schools as an academic and although I’ve
been featured in the Affordable
Melbourne Art Fair television commercial
I wouldn’t consider myself being
anywhere near an actress adding to my
ongoing identity or my past experiences
in the creative industry such as having
been a Micajah museum educator at the
National Gallery of Victoria and
conference manager of the Art
Association of Australia New Zealand
today I still utilize the skills and
knowledge that I’ve gained from these
experiences to enhance my students as
critical and creative thinking I’ve
lived all these roles whilst teaching
almost always full-time in schools
across Australia the UK and now in
Thailand amid my school commitments I’ve
managed to achieve recognition in the
media for my artistic endeavors in
now a question I often get asked is why
teach if you can do so many other things
or shouldn’t artists do and teachers
just teach underlying these two
questions are issues that we believe
teaching and doing are not mutually
supportive commitments and that career
paths must be linear
rather than organically experience such
as mine since I was in school I was
already publishing in major newspapers
and magazines not wanting to relinquish
one passion for the other I wanted to
pursue everything that I loved into a
career and did just that graduating with
a master of teaching a master of our
administration and a Bachelor of
creative arts in literature and visual
art upon graduating I realized that in
this interdisciplinary world called life
we can avoid clear-cut disciplinary
boundaries of identity and explanation
to this question Who am I which if you
were a third culture kid from an
international school it’s perplexing is
the question where are you from as I
articulate in my exhibition catalog the
sensations of art-making I do because
it’s non-negotiable to my well being I
thrive on the freedom of creativity I do
because I enjoy engaging in my interests
in and outside my subject disciplines
and developing my skills I do because I
experienced firsthand the value of
practicing what I preach has on my
students who benefit from my private
practice recently a year 11 student
shared with me a poem that she wrote in
response to a poem that I wrote and had
modeled to the class she was so inspired
by my writing that she mustered up the
self-esteem to independently experiment
share her work and then
ask for my feedback it’s only when I get
time to engage in my craft and share
what I’m doing outside of the classroom
with my students that I see unexpected
rewards such as this through my
publishing I’ve engaged in writing
different text types I’ve I feel I’m
more compassionate to my students as a
result who are undergoing the same
processes as I am I engage my students
in authentic learning situations such as
having embedded in the English
curriculum publishing units whereby
students became authors of their own
work and attended their own book launch
seeing enhanced motivation and and
student ownership of their writing now
doing well teaching doesn’t come without
its challenges in my initial year in the
profession I had to unite the conflict
of identities that I felt between the
teacher and the artist who inherit two
completely different worlds one being
more regulated and accountable than the
other I struggled with time that I so
desperately needed to express rather
than repress my creativity in nurturing
my students as talents
I had to nurture my own I worked hard to
adapt to different frames of minds and
routines required for each role
eventually I found a balance that worked
for me
full-time in the profession for the last
five years accepting that teaching and
doing support each other magnificently
that they can’t be lived separately that
yet more than a teacher I kept searching
for self definition to this question Who
am I
it wasn’t until I started working at the
Melbourne Graduate School of Education
as a lecturer and Co researcher that I
arrived at this self-definition the
teacher as practitioner a practitioner
is a person who is actively engaged in a
specialist artform discipline or
profession in essence they are all
artists through my involvement in the
teacher as practitioner project
administered by the Melbourne Graduate
School of Education I encountered a
whole body of literature that documents
the struggles that practitioners who
teach face and the benefits of their
expertise in schools the research shows
that those who managed to sustain a
successful teacher and practitioner
relationship have an increased desire
for professional longevity and teachings
such as I today the teacher as
practitioner project supports teachers
who go beyond the arts such as
environmental education mathematics and
science as curator of the project I
curated multiple exhibitions that
supported early career art teachers who
were struggling to maintain an artistic
practice as they taught Claire Mooney
was one participant from the project
she says that the exhibition’s were
instrumental in launching her back into
her artistic practice as an early career
full-time art teacher
she says that the rewards are so great
that if you only have a spark of it it’s
worth nurturing today she’s reduced to
part-time teaching in order to better
establish her art she’s now exhibiting
in art fairs galleries and taking
commissions for her work she also says
that her teaching inspires her art
making she’s learned a broad range of
technical skills through teaching art
simultaneously she acknowledges that her
experience in the creative industry
helps her support her students through
their creative journeys clearly there is
a reciprocal relationship yet in my time
research
and teaching in schools across Australia
in the UK I’ve encountered many teacher
as practitioners who weren’t able to
sustain in the institution such as Liz
Johnson an Australian based professional
sculptor who left teaching after two
terms full-time in the profession saying
that the rigidity of the school system
was unfitting to her work as an artist
today loving educating she still
continues to deliver workshops privately
what a cost to schools who would
otherwise benefit from such expertise in
our school we are fortunate to have
full-time teacher as practitioners who
are successfully nurturing their talents
and making a visible impact on student
learning miss Davis an English teacher
at Bangkok padna school is also a
performer at the Bangkok Community
Theatre she utilizes her drama
background to facilitate the study of
literature texts giving students
hands-on learning experience such as in
this year 10 lesson on Macbeth she often
sets up the classroom as she would for a
stage with no performance
mr. fern head of art at Bangkok Patna
school engages in his art making to
model exemplary work to his students
setting high expectations he also
encourages art teachers in the school to
produce art and exhibit alongside their
own students as works such as in the IB
arts exhibition in 2016 which saw a
mutually supportive environment with
enhanced rapport between students and
teachers who were discussing their
practices and an increased credibility
on part of the educators whose passion
was clearly at the forefront of their
teaching the key solutions I propose
involve schools and educators taking
chances in order to nurture retain
and see the positive impact of the
teacher as practitioner who have so much
to offer schools can create a community
of practice by establishing
opportunities for educators to exhibit
their talent alongside their students
‘as such as in exhibitions performances
workshops blogs they could tackle the
challenges faced by teacher as
practitioners such as time and allotting
time to pursue their craft they could
offer professional development to
facilitate their interest and embed in
professional development the concept of
the teacher as practitioner educators
evaluate the value that creativity holds
to you and your students negotiate a
balance that works for you and work out
a plan on how to achieve it rather than
giving up your craft that you are so
passionate express your whole person in
the school you never know who you might
be inspiring we encourage our students
to be well-rounded global citizens
so should we encourage ourselves so Who
am I through my journey I’ve nestled in
this in-between space that unites all
that I love to do by doing I unlocked
the possibilities for generating
innovative lessons and curriculum that
reflects real world experiences and
contemporary issues not only am i
actively engaging in the real world but
I am constantly thinking and reflecting
[Music] [Applause]