From the country to college to the classroom - How Tilly Johnston strives to incorporate 21st Century skills as a graduate teacher
Tilly Johnston, or Ms Johnston as her students know her, recently began her teaching career at Bencubbin Primary School. Engaging with students from Years 4 to 6, her new role as a graduate teacher definitely has some challenges, but many highlights.
Facing challenges is not new for Tilly. She moved away from home to live at St Catherine’s College and attend university which was frightening but became a transformative experience that helped her along with her career.
“I loved being at St Catherine’s. I must have as I was there for five years! I thrived at College, I met so many people and went on so many adventures. I learnt so much about myself and about other people, the kinds of people you’d never get to meet in Mt Barker. The College also gave me very real skills and my biggest achievement was definitely being a Residential Advisor. I’ve always been drawn to pastoral care roles and I use a lot of what I learned at College in the classroom.”
Tilly has an adventurous spirit and continuously pushes herself out of her comfort zone. From climbing to the base camp of Mt Everest to being College student leader for four years through floods, storms, global pandemics and more. In 2020, she also took on the role of Education Manager with Teach, Learn, Grow (TLG) which is a non-profit organisation that works to support the education of students facing disadvantage, with tutoring and mentoring programs in rural and remote areas.
“Working with TLG set me up to understand current issues and bring new ideas to the table. I gained so much from working with the organisation and leading my team throughout the year”.
Being a graduate teacher is exciting but Tilly has to ensure people don’t think she’s a student.
“People always assume I’m younger than I am. I went into a hardware store the other day, and a lady working there asked me which school I went to. I had to tell her that I’m a teacher now. It’s pretty funny and it happens all the time. I find there are a lot of benefits to being a young teacher and ensuring that I do bring value to the table. I went from high school to university and from university to teaching. When I reflect on my education it’s helpful to remember what things I liked about school and what could have been done better, so I really know what matters to my students.
“Teaching a multiage classroom involves teaching multiple curricula, so that can be quite challenging. However, having a small class means that I can get to know my students well, learn about their lives, and build a strong rapport with them.”
“My short term goals at the moment are all about making learning as interesting and relevant as possible. For example, in our Maths classes, we are building a vegetable patch and working with measurements. Making learning worthwhile and helping students see a connection to real life is so important.”
Tilly is also passionate about discovering new ways to incorporate important life skills into primary education. Particularly, she recognises the importance of both STEM education and emotional intelligence for long term growth and success.
“Resilience is important for children, and while it’s learnt through experience, managing emotions is something that needs to be taught. I want to be able to teach kids how to manage their emotions so that when they’re older and feel stressed or overwhelmed they can step back, acknowledge how they feel but be able to come back from it.”
“I’m also passionate about incorporating STEM and 21st-century skills into learning. I want to be able to effectively integrate skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork and project-based, inquiry learning. I’d also love to take on a leadership role in the field of social and emotional learning. I’ve still got a long way to go, but once I get there I’d love to help other teachers do the same.”
Growing up in Mount Barker, a town 400 km south of Perth, Tilly was no stranger to the benefits of living in a rural community.
“I always knew I would need a break from the city after being there for 5 years of university. I feel that being remote you can get more involved in the community and make a greater impact at school.
“I expected my first year of teaching to be a crazy, stressful year. I’m learning more and more that with incredible support, it doesn’t have to be like that. I’ve been truly blessed with this welcoming community. Being a young teacher also means I have so much of my life ahead of me, so I don’t feel afraid to try new things.”
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