Learning from the TLN experts: Meet the teachers educating their colleagues

Recent teachers turned teacher-educators have a unique perspective on the challenges their colleagues face.

The Teacher Learning Network (TLN) was established in 1994 by what is now the IEU Victoria Tasmania Branch and the Australian Education Union (AEU) under the motto “For teachers, by teachers”.

It provides professional development for educators, guided by the belief that teachers are learning experts who should help advance the skills of school staff.

In 2024, three new course coordinators joined TLN, bringing fresh classroom experience.

As they completed their first year educating teachers rather than students, they tell us how their recent teaching experience has shaped the professional development they coordinate.

Jacqui Tarquinio.

Becoming an ‘othersider’

When Jacqui first started at TLN, she struggled to get used to the fact that “sometimes work could wait until tomorrow”.

“Many teachers will vouch for the long evenings after work, creating resources, marking or drafting reports as this work can simply not wait until the next day,” she says.

That firsthand understanding of teachers’ realities and deep respect for their work shaped Jacqui’s first year as the Casual Relief Teacher (CRT) PD Coordinator.

She expected CRTs would be focused on getting updates on the science of reading, but after meeting them realised they want to be “understood, heard and praised for the excellent work they do”.

“While attendees come to CRTPD to learn they often leave feeling reinforced through professional development and networking that they are doing an excellent job in the classroom,” she says.

“This [feedback] is something busy schools and society in general do not understand nor hold in great esteem.”

Jacqui stresses she is “still constantly learning” as a teacher at TLN.

“As an ‘othersider’, I do not want to lose touch with the realities of teaching – like the feeling one gets when a class is about to start and there is no paper in the photocopier or there is no paper in the school at all.”

In her first year at TLN, Jacqui maintained weekly contact with CRTs and provisionally registered teachers. Along with in-person CRT courses, professional forums and meetings with educators, this kept her connected to current trends, ensuring her teaching knowledge and experience remained up to date.

“I do miss the classroom,” she says. “I still have dreams at night of teaching, which tells me that, while I am here on the other side for a while, I will return to the classroom in the future.”

Richard Linton.

School staff need our support

Richard’s experience as an award-winning IEU rep and Health and Safety rep has proved invaluable in his new role.

“Our connections with the IEU and AEU are vital in keeping a pulse on emerging issues in educational settings,” he says.

“Incidental and formal conversations with officers and officials at both unions provide important insight into the direction they are heading and how we can support education and the union movement.”

After 17 years in the “education bubble” as a full-time teacher, Richard was curious to see how the non-teaching world functioned.

“I did not truly appreciate how demanding working in a school was until I left the bubble,” he says.

“After a year of being outside and looking in, I can see school staff are some of the most committed, passionate people I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with. They also need our support more than ever.”

In his first year at TLN, Richard stayed connected to the profession through his presenters, who were active in teaching or educational leadership.

“Professional learning courses are conducted outside business hours, and hosting offers a great opportunity to engage with attendees and discuss the profession, its challenges and needs,” he says.

The new job meant Richard could attend the annual two-day EduTECH conference, where he discussed the future of education with colleagues and observed the evolution of curriculum resource providers.

Richard says staff wellbeing is too often neglected.

“The education profession places the highest priority on the education and wellbeing of students, but promoting staff wellbeing is vital to ensuring staff can continue their great work,” he says.

“Gender equity is better than most other sectors, but women are still significantly under-represented at leadership and executive leadership levels. This suggests that the glass ceiling and walls are still present in our profession.”

Richard says many schools and staff still struggle to implement First Nations pedagogy, despite quality professional development being available.

Another major challenge for schools is “learning to use AI in a critical and ethical way to support both learning and school operations”, he says.

Such considerations shape the courses Richard recommends for TLN.

“It is my hope that providing learning opportunities that support progress on these challenges will support school staff to continue their great work in educating young people and to assist with staff development and retention,” he says.

Louisa Callanan.

Helping prepare teachers

“Delivering professional development to educators is a natural progression from my teaching and union rep work,” Louisa says.

“As I have found my feet at TLN and enjoyed regular hearty and frank discussions with members across sectors, CRTs, presenters and colleagues, it has become clear that now more than ever, what educators need is explicit, targeted support of their practice and wellbeing, and dedicated time to complete the overwhelming workload.”

Louisa admits she felt “completely ill-prepared” as a first-year graduate teacher when faced with managing the extreme and unsafe behaviours of three students in her Year 2 class.

Her studies and placements had covered “theoretical scenarios” but had not prepared her for the “practical reality” of these challenges.

Louisa survived thanks to an advisory teacher for behaviour support, who worked one-on-one with her for several weeks, “modelling strategies with the class and building my skills and confidence”.

“It was a steep and challenging learning curve, but it set me up for a sustainable career in teaching across diverse school settings, and in a variety of roles,” she says.

“I soon came to learn that this practical support for behaviour and classroom management is not a common experience, especially among early career teachers, who constitute a large proportion of those who are exiting the profession.”

Louisa is not surprised that behaviour management was one of the highest attended TLN course topics in 2024: educators need to drive the organisation’s offerings.

Louisa says those discussions have identified neurodiversity as an important PD topic for education staff.

“With growing awareness and diagnoses of ADHD and autism in particular, neuro-affirming strategies, simple practical strategies and action plans are vital for teachers to establish and maintain a learning environment that benefits all students, and themselves,” she says.

More information

These topics are explored further in the TLN Journal, a free, practitioner-focused publication, visit: tln.org.au