The Power of School Partnerships

School partnerships lie at the centre of the Secondary Teacher Education courses at the UTS School of International Studies and Education. On the 4^th of April, UTS secondary education students went to Killara High School (KHS) for a school immersion day. They were deployed throughout the school to shadow KHS teachers and to participate in the full spectrum of school life.

The morning began with a warm welcome from Principal Robin Chand and the Deputy Principals Craig Date, David Browne and Clair-Louise Schofield. Craig shared his journey into teaching and concluded with a vibrant message about why teaching is the ‘best’ job in the world. Carol Lye, a Humanities and Social Sciences teacher and UTS alumnus, then shared her key insights as an early career teacher. 

Be patient, engage in life-long learning, be flexible, passionate and ultimately be yourself. 

Lorna Macfarlane, a current UTS teacher education student, also provided valuable insights into how to get a foot in the door through working as a student learning support officer.

Afterwards, UTS students were sent off to all corners of the school, equipped with a school map and the location of their teacher. It was like the Amazing Race but on a grander scale. They navigated the complex maze of Killara High’s school grounds, which caters for around 1700 students and over 120 teachers. 

The scale of Killara High’s operations is enormous, and it continues to flourish as the top comprehensive co-educational high school in the state over the last two years.

Mathematics teacher James Wray kindly accommodated a large group of mathematics teachers in his first period Year 8 maths class. They watched and laughed, and were prodded to respond as James led them expertly through the nuances of navigating introductory quadratic equations. Mentor groups followed, showing the school’s commitment to providing students with a range of different opportunities to find their community, and to participate more fully in school life.

UTS pre-service teachers followed Killara High teachers to the school oval where they were supervising a girl’s hockey team, as well as to the cola where students were playing badminton and choreographing a dance. There were groups deployed to every curriculum area the school had to offer. The learning curve was intense, but were the UTS preservice teachers game enough to enter a packed bus with boisterous school students to supervise school sports or to engage in a reel of line dancing? The answer was a resounding “YES!”

There was even an opportunity to sit in a professional learning session for executive teachers, facilitated by the Deputy Principal David Browne, on positive classroom management. UTS pre-service teachers could observe school leaders discussing the complexities of managing critical moments involving their peers and students. Experienced KHS staff unpacked the magical craft of teaching, drawing on their empathy and wisdom to give our pre-service teachers insight into the language, intonation and bodily gestures required to create a safe learning environment.

Why do kids refuse and how can you offer them an exit?

Follow the path of de-escalation, choosing the least intrusive action to take.

Debrief and listen. Acknowledge the emotional work of teaching.

Transform critical incidents into opportunities for growth and change to prevent colleagues getting stuck in a vortex of grief.

Listening to experienced practitioners unpacking their craft of teaching with each other was an extremely powerful impetus for learning. Not only did it provide a concrete example of how teachers never stop learning throughout their careers, but it demonstrated how good teachers never stop sharing their knowledge to support each other in their craft. The dedication and the passion of these professionals provided a glimpse into the future. Although we were sitting at the back of the classroom observing their exchanges, we knew that in a few years’ time, we would be sitting amongst them, continuing to learn how to become the ‘best’ teacher possible in what was the most amazing career in the world.