Overcoming Teaching Challenges with Efficiency and Innovation

One of the best things about teaching is the ability to make a direct, positive impact on kids’ lives if given the opportunity.

Take Victorian teacher Liam Benton from Kolbe Catholic College, who went the extra yards for an ESL student and turned her into the school’s highest-ever ATAR achiever.

Kolbe Catholic College is in the Northwest of Victoria. It is a co-educational Catholic school with large populations of migrant and refugee families from the Middle East (places like Iraq and Syria).

“It is an absolutely amazing place to work; we are really well supported by our school leadership team and the students are really appreciative of all the hard work the staff put in. We, of course, have our challenges as well,” says Benton.

The school has one of the highest proportions of English as an additional language students in the region, which means lots of the students need extra support. It also means that communication with families can be challenging, but luckily the school has a multicultural team that works directly with families.

Benton says, “The multicultural hub is always buzzing with activity and some of our multicultural aides are bastions of the community. This can also have wider reaching effects on the students’ wellbeing. Many students have faced significant trauma in the past and continue to feel the effects as events unfold overseas. For example, the fire at the wedding in Iraq this year had a significant impact on many of our students.

“One of the stand out characteristics of our school is community, both between staff and the wider community. We all really look out for each other and go out of our way to help each other wherever we can. For example, one of our awesome multicultural aides has taught me a little bit of Arabic.”

Myrtali was in Benton’s Year 12 Chemistry class in 2022. Chemistry is a tough subject and Mrytali’s cohort missed many Year 10 and Year 11 face- to-face classes due to COVID-19. Chemistry is very hands on, so there was a lot of practical time missed.

“There were also lots of gaps in student knowledge. Myrtali faced her own challenge; she was a very academic student in a school that, while moving quickly in the right direction, would not be considered a high performing school academically, though we do punch above our weight.

“One of the ways we tackled these challenges was by allowing flexibility. Myrtali always had the opportunity to catch me after school for extra help or to discuss questions. She had the resources to work when she needed to (e.g. Edrolo videos) and could always send problems via our chat.”

Myrtali went on to romp in her final exams, achieving the best ATAR score to ever come from Kolbe which Benton feels has had the effect of lifting the entire student body.

“It has shown the whole school what kind of achievement is possible for students at Kolbe when you work hard, set goals and dedicate yourself to achieve them.

“I use Myrtali to motivate students in Chemistry classes. Myrtali is now doing Biomedicine at Melbourne University. She wants to become a surgeon and I have no doubts she will get there. It will be an amazing success story to drive students at Kolbe for years to come. Myrtali was also an excellent example to students in Year 12 - and other year levels - that balance can be beneficial to academic performance. Myrtali was the leader of Teresa house and did lots of sport as well - she is about to run a marathon, I believe.”

A common complaint is that teachers are stretched too thin and finding that extra time to help Myrtali was a definite challenge.

Benton says, “It was really difficult, time is definitely at a premium as an educator. I suppose I utilised the tools at my disposal and tried to come up with creative solutions. In Chemistry, I think formal feedback before SACs is really important. For that reason, we do tests for each subtopic (which don’t count towards the ATAR) and then the students do their SAC. The tests not only prepare them for the SAC, but also the exam. This can significantly add to the marking burden, so I often get students to self-correct their tests and then I just look over them and upload their marks.

“Myrtali and I were also really efficient and communicated questions via instant message. Our school utilises Google Chat, so I created a Google Chat for our Chemistry class where students could ask questions. If a student had a problem they were finding difficult, they could post a screenshot on the chat. I required two students to attempt to answer it before I got involved. It is like a variation on the primary school technique ‘three before me’”.

The experience has informed Benton’s teaching, underlining the importance of creating a feeling of a safe space where students feel they always have permission to ask questions.

“I also learned that recognising those students that are more independent and providing them with the tools they need to excel is also important. Myrtali had access to the whole year’s worth of work whenever she needed. Often this was before the rest of the class. I also learned that some pre-learning (we used Edrolo videos) can be really beneficial for students to spend more time in class on the really difficult or tricky concepts.”

He has some ideas about boosting teacher numbers, one would be to change the process of teacher qualifications.

“It would definitely benefit from more of an apprenticeship approach where people moving into the profession are in the classroom more often and are receiving some pay for what they do. The master's degree approach is definitely interesting. Education is vital but I am not sure I would have become a teacher if I had to take two years away from full-time work compared to the one year of the old Dip Ed.”

Benton would like to see more cooperation between families and schools as that is usually what really pushes students along.

“I would also like to see other changes underpinned by the questions ‘What is best for the student?’. School staff need to be given the time, space and pay to be really effective educators and leave some of the administrative burden to other areas. Mostly, this would require investment into schools with that question of what is best for the students in mind. 

“I would also love to see more hands-on and real-world opportunities for student learning, it’s something that can be challenging to incorporate at times but is usually effective for the students.”

Benton is featured in the government’s ‘Be That Teacher’ campaign which is looking attract quality people to the teaching profession.

“The ‘Be that Teacher’ campaign is a really great step and an important piece of the puzzle. As a society we really need to work on elevating the status of the teaching profession, and recognising all the hard work and effort that teachers put into educating the next generation. Participating in the campaign has been a really positive experience for me; it has given me an opportunity to reflect on my teaching, where I’ve been and come from, and how I’ve gotten here today.”