Becoming a Professional

Professionalisation is the process whereby members of a profession aspire to increasingly meet the criteria of their group.

Professional development is the process whereby members go about improving their competencies.

Over the course of the past few years I have participated in a number of activities that I feel have helped me in developing skills that are of use within the teaching profession.

My first experience as a teacher was during year 10 work experience, at St. Joseph’s Primary School in Portland. It has been from this point that I have developed a passion for the teaching profession.
Year 10 Work Experience Evaluation.

Since then I have also spent 2 weeks at Palmer’s Island Public School.

Senior First Aid Certificate
This is a qualification that I believe is a necessity in any workplace. It is extremely useful when working with children, as children are accident prone. With this qualification I have the knowledge and skill required to act appropriately if an emergency is to occur.

Stage One Child Protection Certificate
This certificate is a mandatory requirement for working with children. Though also in participating in this course provided me with a greater knowledge of what to do in the case where I find out that a child is having problems outside of the classroom environment.

Over the course of high school I participated in a number of extra-curricular activities that I believe has helped in my development as a leader and as a professional. Some of these extra-curricular activities include participation in:
School choirs
Netball team
Soccer team
Touch football team
Debating
Swimming and athletics carnivals
Mathematics, Science and English competitions
Peer support leader
School leader

As a Peer support leader I was required to take part in a Peer Skills workshop held by Kids Helpline. This gave me information and knowledge about helping other with any problems that they may have. This involved how to effectively listen to this person and talk them through their problem, and where help may be sourced.
Kids Helpline Peer Skills workshop certificate
This role meant that I was assigned a group of year 7 students that I lead through a number of set tasks over the course of a few weeks. I was also available for these students to come and talk to me about any concerns that they have about anything.
Certificate of appreciation – peer support leader

In year 12 I was elected by my peers as 1 of 10 school leaders. This meant that I was sent to a school leaders’ course at the Edmund Rice Retreat and Conference Centre at Mulgoa. This course worked on developing a number of leadership skills, all of which are outlined on the certificate itself.
School leaders’ course certificate
Being a school leader meant that there were a number of duties that I was require to fill over the course of the year they include:
Organising and running fundraiser activities
Organising swimming and athletics carnivals
Canteen duty, for which I was responsible for developing and maintaining a roster
Representation of school at official events
Orientation of new students
+ much more
Certificate of acknowledgement – school leader 2004

I believe that all of these activities and achievement have helped in developing the person I am today, and all the skills developed are of use within the teaching profession.