Meet your new Honorary Vice-President
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 2, 28 March 2024, page 10.
Writing this article as the QTU’s newly elected Honorary Vice-President in the Union’s 135th year, I can’t help but feel a great sense of pride. My aim is to focus on the issues that really matter to teachers, school leaders and TAFE. The legacy I will leave is one of service – serving you, the membership, through strong and vocal advocacy and by acting with integrity.
As a longstanding State Council delegate, I pride myself on using our Union structures to represent the views of my branch, as well as having the ability to build trusted and reciprocal relationships with my fellow State Council delegates. I am always mindful that many different perspectives, school contexts, and regional viewpoints make up our great Union, and no single solution ever exists to remedy the complex issues our teachers and school leaders face in their workplaces.
My activism started in the Wide Bay as a first-year art teacher at Monto State High School. Attending branch meetings not only enabled me to keep abreast of issues across the state, but also to build networks and friendships across the region. During my six years in Monto, I was lucky enough to have two great Organisers in Greg Purches and Scott Welch, who provided guidance to me as a QTU Representative and encouraged me to take on additional responsibilities within the branch and area.
Listening to the stories of staunch activists in the area, such as Allan Cook, Paula Nunan and Don Mengel, demonstrated to me the power of the QTU and that the grass roots activists in our schools are the engine room of our great Union, particularly when they understand and use the Union’s democratic structures to bring about meaningful change – something which requires not just passion, but also a willingness and flexibility to consider an issue from multiple perspectives. This fuelled my fire to further increase my engagement.
Following my six years in Monto, I have spent the past 10 years on the Sunshine Coast, starting as both head of department senior schooling/VET and deputy principal. These roles have enabled me to work closely with the local TAFE in each of the areas I have worked in, building partnerships, and creating opportunities for students, while prioritising and promoting TAFE as the best provider of vocational education. This is a strong position of mine, which I have prioritised at every school I have worked in since.
I often hear people say “You have to choose whether you are wearing your QTU Representative hat or your school leader hat,” as if the two are mutually exclusive. My view is that this is simply not true. The reality is, being a school leader requires the same characteristics as being a great QTU Representative. You have to be someone who is relational, prioritises honesty and transparency, acts ethically and with integrity, is always seeking to maintain relationships when resolving issues and conflict through a solution-focused approach, and above all, someone who is in it for the greater good and not just their own self-promotion.
I can say, hand on heart, that I have learned more about leadership, problem-solving, and managing people through being a QTU activist than I have in all of my years working within the Department of Education. I feel very privileged to have had such great guidance and mentorship through the QTU, and as such I am committed to working with and for the membership, not just to achieve broadscale wins, but also to provide guidance and mentorship of current and future activists.
I look forward to speaking with members at the various QTU events and meetings throughout the year as we work towards the development of the QTU log of claims for the next EB.
I encourage all members to attend their next branch meeting, bring a friend or colleague, engage in the democratic structures of our great Union, and share your issues and experiences with other local activists in your area.