For Jacqueline Wozniak, education is about much more than helping students master content. It is about nurturing curiosity, encouraging critical thinking and helping young people discover their place in the world.
As a teacher of Science and Design Technologies (Systems Engineering) at St Columba’s College, Jacqueline has spent nearly two decades helping students ask questions, explore ideas and build the confidence to tackle complex challenges. Along the way, she has been guided by a simple philosophy: if you see a need, do something about it.
A journey shaped by life’s redirections
Jacqueline’s path into teaching was anything but straightforward.
As a teenager, she had her first experience of teaching and curriculum design and immediately found herself drawn to it. Coaching sport and mentoring young people while at university only strengthened that interest.
Originally, she had planned to pursue a career as an athlete and in the Defence Force. When injury changed those plans, she found herself returning to something that had always been there in the background.
“Teaching became the natural next step and, in hindsight, the right one,” she said.
Jacqueline also credits several of her own teachers with shaping her approach to education, particularly those who encouraged her curiosity and challenged her to think deeply.
“Their influence has stayed with me, and it’s something I try to recreate for my own students every day: a sense of wonder, and the confidence to investigate, question and search for understanding rather than settle for easy answers.”
Seeing a need and taking action
One of the most formative experiences of Jacqueline’s career came early on while teaching in the Northern Territory.
There, she encountered students facing significant social, wellbeing and mental health challenges. Working closely with families, she helped run information evenings and redesigned aspects of the Physical Education curriculum to better support students’ needs and encourage their engagement with school.
The experience left a lasting impact.
“It changed the direction of my career,” she said.
Motivated to better understand how schools can support young people, Jacqueline went on to complete a Master of Education and deepen her understanding of leadership, systems and student wellbeing.
Since then, she has carried the same mindset into every aspect of her work.
“Whether proposing a new subject, untangling a clunky school process, or redesigning curriculum, I believe if you see a need, do something about it,” she said.
“Don’t just raise a problem. Bring a solution, and be willing to help build it.”
Lessons that last a lifetime
Some of Jacqueline’s greatest inspirations have come from her own teachers.
She recalls a Physics teacher who patiently answered her endless questions before school, during recess and at lunchtime, helping her understand not only what was true, but why. His belief in her learning left such an impression that they remain in contact today and have even worked together professionally.
Her VCE English teachers had a different but equally profound impact. They challenged her thinking, pushed her writing further and encouraged her to keep improving.
“They taught me that real learning is rarely comfortable, but it is always worth the effort,” she reflected.
It is a lesson she now seeks to pass on to her own students, encouraging them to embrace challenge and persist through difficulty.
Seeing the whole child
For Jacqueline, one of the defining strengths of Catholic education is its commitment to educating the whole person.
She has deliberately chosen to teach in Catholic schools because of their focus on student wellbeing, character formation and personal growth, alongside academic achievement.
“To me, a school’s purpose extends well beyond producing capable workers,” she said.
“It is about forming good people: individuals equipped with skills, faith and a genuine love of learning, ready to contribute meaningfully to the world around them.”
While she describes her own faith as something deeply personal, it continues to shape the way she views her students.
A community built on shared values
When asked what she finds most rewarding about teaching in a Catholic school, Jacqueline points to the people around her.
“Working alongside outstanding colleagues who share similar values toward students and education is, without question, the most rewarding part.”
She also values the opportunities she has been given to innovate, grow professionally and contribute to a school community whose values resonate strongly with her own.
Looking more broadly, Jacqueline believes Catholic education offers something increasingly important in today’s world.
“Catholic schools offer a consistent, unwavering message to young people that they are loved and inherently worthy of love,” she said.
For her, education is not simply about literacy, numeracy or preparing students for employment. It is about helping young people understand the world, think critically about it and find their place within it.
By nurturing both intellect and character, she believes Catholic education helps students become capable, compassionate people who are ready to make a positive contribution to society.
That commitment to curiosity, purpose and human dignity continues to guide Jacqueline’s work every day, inspiring students not only to learn, but to grow into the people they are capable of becoming.
“It shapes how I see every student: as unique, and inherently worthy of love and belief in their potential.”