Making the Change to Teaching in Mid-life

Attracting professionals to teaching has come to be seen as an ideal, if it can be done, you’re going to access staff that have experience at the top of a profession and are committed enough to education to stay the course.

Making the change to a new job mid-career isn’t easy but two teachers from Australian Christian College Moreton managed to contend with the retraining and the changes to their routines to do it.

From the school’s perspective, it now has two staff members with top notch experience in challenging careers who can impart their expertise to students and bring to bear skills honed in the technical and political arenas.

Andrea Tattam spent nearly 20 years in private and public sector roles in economic development, but decided she felt she could make a greater impact on the community through teaching.

Already highly educated, Tattam began a third Master’s degree in teaching and is educating a diverse student population through the Australian Christian College Moreton Distance Education program.

A common student complaint about maths and physics is that they don’t relate to real life but high school maths and physics teacher, Bruce Vaschina is living proof that they do. After a career in engineering, Vaschina now takes enjoyment from watching his students grasp a topic they had found difficult.

“I was feeling like I had passed on all the knowledge I had gained in my previous role to others who were quite capable of taking up the mantle. I thought back to when I chose engineering at 17, teaching was another option that I had considered at the time, and that perhaps this really was the calling that I was meant to pursue,” says Vaschina.

“Those moments when you see that a student has really grasped a topic that they were struggling with - the ‘light bulb’ moments - are very motivating. It is also good to, hopefully, be able to impart some wisdom via life experience, to the students, and - in their better moments - young people are just fun to be around. Of course, at ACC, the opportunity to freely present the gospel to students is a very special privilege,” he says.

Vaschina was fortunate to have accumulated almost enough long service and annual leave to complete a Grad Dip Ed in the standard one year, making up the shortfall with unpaid leave.

“When I did not immediately land a teaching position, I was able to return to my previous employment while keeping on the lookout for a suitable teaching position.

“In terms of home life, I treated the full-time study pretty much like a full-time job and so my family would not have noticed a huge difference. I am probably quite atypical in the way I was able to do the study and get into teaching and it will probably be a lot more difficult for a lot of people.”

The role has its obvious differences to Vaschina’s previous life, he says, “it is generally a lot more people oriented. There is also a lot more work at home and on weekends required - offset by a little more flexibility in how you work outside of standard school hours.

“Having strict timetables and having to be in the right place at the right time constantly is a bit different to previous roles where scheduled meetings were more irregular and there was a reasonable amount of time at your desk with some of the flexibility that that allows.”

For Vaschina, the slight drop off in income at the start of his teaching career has now resolved, “I am probably not too far behind where I might have been if I had stayed in my old position,” he says.

Working with a lot of documentation as an engineer gave him a handle on creating exams and assignment documents and having to be organised in his previous role has helped his teaching, where a high level of organisation is essential.

“Teaching is a very rewarding career, though it is no picnic and can be very challenging a lot of the time. However, if you are someone who wants to combine their technical knowledge with a very human centred, interactive role, there are few better things you could choose to do.”

For Andrea Tattam, returning to school to gain a teaching credential required a big commitment in time and finances.

“I chose to study full time as the Master of Primary Teaching was 18 months full time versus 3 years part time. This meant I gave up full time work, which we could make financially work for us as a family.

“In saying that, after two semesters I changed to part time study and went back to part time work, this proved to work better for us as a family and it was great that there was so much flexibility in the university course.  I also chose to study predominantly online through Griffith University as this offered a lot of flexibility, I did complete some modules, such as science, on campus and again the course was fantastic as it offered this flexibility.

“I finished after 2.5 years of study then went into casual relief teaching for a few months before finding my current role at ACC,” she says.

In Tattam’s previous job, seeing results and making an impact could take a long time, she says, “That's what working in a political space can often feel like. I also felt the results I delivered were very contingent on others, again that's working in government!

“The classroom is such a dynamic and energetic space and this is a major difference, you can literally make an impact in a single teaching moment. And as the classroom teacher you are the one in front of the kids in those moments, you are responsible for what happens as you lead the learning in every lesson. Of course, the long-term impacts are still there and of course we work as teams with others, but those little wins through the course of day are really fulfilling and motivating. The primary classroom is also a lot of fun!”

Tattam did absorb a significant pay cut when she entered teaching but feels it’s been offset by lifestyle improvements and the nature of the work.

“Yes, I took a significant reduction in my salary, as a starting teacher I knew what the pay would be, but ultimately I was driven by career fulfillment rather than salary.

“There is also a huge positive family life balance that has comes with teaching.  Although there isn't a dollar value on that and as teachers we do work long hours. I used to have to spend long days in the office or at public events whereas any outside school hours work I do can be done at home.”

Tattam had always intended to be a teacher but was offered a job and her teaching aspirations were set aside.

“I was Initially studying sports science with the view of becoming a teacher. Originally from Belfast, I took a job and didn’t go back to teaching. Teaching is also always something I wanted to do. It got to the point where I wanted to work in a different industry and I felt that I had good communication skills and other skills to bring across. I was especially interested in educating the younger years. I feel that teaching gives you the opportunity to make an impact. As a mum, I find a real energy from being around kids and a real energy you get from teaching.

“I enjoy the connection that you have with students. As a DE teacher, it’s a little bit different. You also have a connection with the whole family and I love making that connection and feeling. You have to take that extra mile to make the kids feel like they’re part of the class. The more you put in, the more rewarding it is.”

Her previous role relied on strong communication skills, building and managing stakeholder relationships and long-term strategic planning, “All of these I've been able to draw upon to help with building connections and relationships with families and within the school community.

“Planning is central to teaching so being organised and a good planner definitely is something that comes across into my teaching role,” she says.

Tattam offers this advice for anyone thinking about becoming a teacher; “Follow your calling, your heart and your dreams. Teaching is a hugely rewarding career, yes, it's hard work but making an impact in a child’s life is one of the greatest gifts you could ask for in your work.”