Catholic teachers from across Australia are featured in a national campaign to inspire more Australians to want to become a teacher as part of the broader campaign under the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan (NTWAP) to address teacher workforce challenges.
“It is an important initiative aimed at lifting the status of teachers in Australia and attracting more teachers to the profession,” National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said today.
“Teacher quality has the greatest impact on student learning and Catholic education welcomes the significant focus by the federal, state and territory education ministers to respond to the challenges we see across all sectors of education, particularly in regional, rural and remote areas.
“While it’s critical to attract more teachers to the profession, we also need to provide the best initial teacher education we can, coupled with ongoing professional learning and mentoring to support teachers throughout their careers.
“I hope young Australians and those in other fields will be inspired to consider teaching as a career, by hearing about the great work teachers do,” Jacinta said.
The Be that teacher campaign is a joint initiative of the Australian and state and territory governments. Featuring teachers from all education sectors, the campaign was launched today by the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Education Minister Jason Clare MP.
The Education Minister Jason Clare said the campaign is about changing the way we as a country think about our teachers, and the way our teachers think our country thinks of them.
“I want more young Australians to want to be a teacher. To be that teacher, who inspires and changes young lives,” Minister Clare said.
“We have many amazing teachers across our sector, but we still need more. I hope young Australians will be inspired by listening to and reading about the great work teachers do across, not just our sector, but nationally.”
The 15 Catholic teachers featured in the campaign are listed below. Read about why they chose teaching as a career and their inspirational stories about the lasting impact they have had on their students.
- Andrew McCausland, St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, Riverside.
- Edwina Battersby, Newman College, Churchlands.
- Alexandra Cashin, Saint Mary’s Catholic College, Kingaroy.
- Liam Benton, Kolbe Catholic College, Greenvale.
- Mary Jane Logan, St Clare’s College, Griffith.
- Emma Rice, St Johns College, Dubbo.
- Tegan Douglas, St Johns College, Dubbo.
- Jayme Rafferty, St Monica’s College, Cairns.
- Leanne Shead, St Monica’s College, Cairns.
- Jodie Maller, Our Lady of the Angels, Wavell Heights
- Lisa Modd, Padua College, Mornington.
- Monique George, St Thomas the Apostle Primary, Kambah.
- Sarah Adams, St Mary MacKillop College, Isabella Plains.
- Andrea McQuirk, St Thomas More’s Primary School, Campbell.
- Tania Willsdon, Our Lady of Hope, Greenwith.
Top image: Catholic teachers Andrea McQuirk, Andrew McCausland, Lisa Modd and Tania Willsdon feature as part of the national teacher recruitment campaign. Lower image: Catholic educators in the campaign are (top clockwise) Edwina Battersby, Emma Rice, Lisa Modd, Liam Benton, Sarah Adams, Andrea McQuirk, Mary Jane Logan, Jodie Maller, Andrew McCausland, Tania Willsdon, Alexandra Cashin and Tegan Douglas. Jayme Rafferty, Leanne Shead and Monique George not pictured.