As can be seen from the above diagram I am more fortunate than most in enjoying the support of a formidable array of education professionals.  It has been noted elsewhere that my Wife is a dedicated educator of 25 years experience.  In her current leadership position at a large private school she is responsible for staff morale and well-being, team cohesion, professional development and implementation of that school's Christian mission.  She will be my most constant and most immediate source of professional advice and support in my first year as a Teacher.

Not surprisingly, our circle of acquaintance and community network includes many other teaching professionals.  Some of those could offer guidance more specific to primary settings and others in leadership positions and above have other potentially valuable perspectives to offer.

I have an excellent relationship with four of my former mentor teachers, two of whom I still drop in on regularly in class time to help and to enjoy the kid company.  All of them have inspired me in different ways, however I would particularly value the advice of Bryan Simpson and Gay Quelhurst whose vintage and values closely align with my own.

I have formed solid working relationships with staff at all of the schools to which I have been professionally attached and do not hesitate to ask for assistance, clarification, resources be they material or intellectual.  The diagram divides them into four categories: the Year Level teaching team, who if present are likely to have an excellent grasp of the students’ and ways of the school; other teaching staff can often give the insights and act as resource organisers and suggesters, such as library staff; larger schools frequently have officers dedicated to pastoral and counselling care who can provide the calm, contemplative view that distance from the coal face affords and; school leadership.  I find that I can usually cultivate a useful relationship with school leaders, largely, I suppose, because of my wife’s leadership role and likely also because I have myself been accustomed to operate in a superordinate, executive capacity for some years.

I am now and have continuously been a trade union member since my first day as steelworker some thirty years ago.  Many times has such affiliation assisted me with support and advice and I expect that helpful relationship to continue.  In recent months I have joined another organisation, the Beginning and Establishing Teachers Association, which provides considerable scope for networking and support.  Also, the QSA has several programs to help stabilise new teachers.  Of particular note are the Flying Start program on their Aspiring, Beginning and Establishing Teachers' Community web pages and the Teacher Induction program which lays out the various types and respective advantages of Professional Development and provides templates to guide the beginning teacher.

I anticipate that once in the classroom my needs with regard to Professional Development will become clearer. The Department of Education and Training produces a “Professional Development Agenda” each year that outlines professional development initiatives that will be supported in the respective financial year.   Unless I have other pressing needs it is my intention in my first year to pursue PD that focuses on integration of the arts into more mainstream KLAs as that is a particular interest of mine.

As I have written elsewhere in these pages, I am also interested in the blend of art and science in teaching.  Teaching and Architecture share this: they require of their practitioners both creative flair and technical, professional acumen.  Accordingly, debate rages in both professions as to whether they are more Art or Science (USQ Faculty of Education, 2007). 

It has been my observation that all creative endeavour, into which category teaching most certainly falls, must wrestle with contradictory, sometimes mutually exclusive seeming imperatives.  However, success and genuine creativity rely utterly on their successful resolution.

In architecture, for instance, it is not difficult to design a building which is within budget, structurally sound, adequately lit, correctly ventilated, fulfilling a broad array of functional requirements which is delivered on a timely program.  It is equally easy to design a building which is a sculptural and poetic rendition of its surrounding cultural signifiers and societal progenitors and which is responsive to and reflective of its physical place and time.

Each of these taken singly is easily achievable but will result in either a functional box which people will loathe or a cultural icon which is inefficient and /or dysfunctional.

In Teaching, many practitioners feel that knowing the “what”, the content, and being expert and confident in that content is paramount.  Others maintain that the “how”, the teaching arts, being a personable, effective communicator and relationship creator is more important.  Both, I believe, are half right.  Knowing the curriculum and its content inside out is not difficult.  Being a classroom facilitator who can motivate students is, likewise, nothing special.   A good teacher must be able to unify both, diminishing neither, creating a powerful learning force greater than the sum of its parts.  The magic only happens in the fusion of the two, thus demanding a rare synthesis of art and science.

I reckon there’s a PhD. in that somewhere down the road.