Learning is not just the domain of our students. An important part of our teaching practice is to model to our students, the attributes of a lifelong ...
Learning is not just the domain of our students. An important part of our teaching practice is to model to our students, the attributes of a lifelong learner. Our teaching staff engage with professional learning opportunities to not only model these attributes, but also to enrich the teaching and learning opportunities in our classrooms. Over the next few newsletters, we would like to share with you some of our teaching staff’s ‘student experiences’. This week we include reflections from two of our teachers who have recently engaged in Theological studies.
Victoria Legg, Health and Physical Education and Christian Studies Teacher has commenced a postgraduate study in Theology:
“As teachers, we want to model what it means to be lifelong learners to our students. As such, I’ve been undertaking postgraduate study in Theology at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Sydney twice in the past six months for a couple of week-long intensive units on the Old Testament and a Foundational Theology unit, examining what the Bible says about who God is. I’m also looking forward to a preaching unit in September, which will help me develop my exegetical ability in understanding Biblical texts, and then being able to communicate this most effectively – skills which are highly valuable and transferrable into the Christian Studies classroom.”
Head of Roff House, Rachel Pickering, recently attended a week-long professional learning opportunity in Canberra, completing a pastoral care intensive course:
“I believe transformational learning comes not from prioritising compliance, but rather, relationship. I recently had the privilege of attending St Marks Theological Centre for an intensive on Pastoral Counselling Skills. As a Head of House, my role involves a large proportion of in-depth coaching and counselling. As such, any training in developing robust relational and conversational skills in invaluable. A focus for me was how to frame conversations, skills of reflective listening, and creating rhetoric of feelings and thoughts for people who struggle to articulate themselves. I also had the privilege of attending their library, which has one of the foremost Rare Theological Book collections in the Southern Hemisphere – I saw the great legacy of education in this rarefied space – including some of the earliest translations of the Bible into English (included the 1583 Geneva translation pictured), as well as the Bible Societies collection of Australian Indigenous language translations – one of the most comprehensive records of these valuable languages. To be in this space of learning inspired me to bring back much of what I learnt – I have already be using the skills and adding my learning to Christian Studies lessons.”
We look forward to sharing more of our ‘teachers as students’ series with you.
Sarah Shepherd & Natalie Stewart
Co-Directors of Teaching and Learning.