Interview: Alice Cook
English and Media Studies Teacher and Head of Forbes House
What inspired you to be a teacher?
The truth is, it was almost by accident that I found myself enrolled in a Diploma of Education course. Initially, I wasn’ t so sure it was a good idea, but I knew it had the potential to be one. There had been a couple of influential teachers in my own history who had made school fun, and they seemed to enjoy their jobs. Of course, too, I’ d watched a collection of Hollywood blockbuster films which seemed to suggest that becoming a teacher was a good choice to make. That it mattered to someone or something bigger than myself promised great job satisfaction, and, in that Hollywood way, a degree of coolness. I’ d also read a great book, a memoir: Teacher Man by Frank McCourt.
And so, having started my professional life as a 16 year old passing canapés around on silver dishes at racecourse events, before later, in a bid to support myself as a university student, working as a cook in a pub in Port Melbourne and running a bar in Rathdowne Street, Carlton, with my own self-titled cocktail hour, I decided to move into education.
It wasn’ t until I stepped into the classroom that the true and deep roots of the inspiration to teach ambushed me. I wasn’ t expecting the experience of the very real and powerful way in which relationships are formed and learning matters. I am forever surprised by the boys. I am forever spurred on by the promise of the unknown and immeasurable marker of potential that sits within each of them.
Today, I still study, and continue to discover a deeper appreciation of the power of education and the many creative pathways it might take.
What are your roles at Scotch and what do you most enjoy about your work in the school?
I am a classroom teacher of English and Media Studies, and I am also the Head of Forbes House.
I enjoy the stories the boys share; their conversations. I enjoy seeing them experience success and navigate that which challenges them. Seeing them become taller, stronger, wiser boys who will one day walk out of the school with a will to keep at it. To keep on going is important.
Recently, I savoured the moment when my Year 12 boys walked out of their English examination ready to say goodbye to the formalities of VCE study, while carrying with them a little wave of a thought, a sentence or two, taken from literature, that will one day creep back into their minds and bring a smile to their faces.
Tea, too, keeps my day on track and gives me time to enjoy the company of those I work with.
What student expressions of growth most impress you?
When boys are prepared to fail, and then to fail again, is a powerful expression of an individual’ s strength. It ultimately breeds success – it determines success. When boys recognise their mistakes and value them as an opportunity to do something better, deeper connections are made to the world around them, and their place within it grows.
When that boy who would otherwise have sat alone is drawn into the constellation of other boys around him – over the years becoming more and more central to the cosmos of his social world – I am impressed by the way in which his small gestures and quietness can become a part of the music of the schoolyard.
What advice would you give our VCE students as they embark on a life outside Scotch?
When I was a teenager, an uncle once said to me that the best days of our lives are spent at school. They are not. The best days are there for the taking.
You might just feel a little lost along the way, but that’ s not necessarily a bad thing. Turn off Google Maps. Look around you. Keep going! Stop checking social media obsessively – it’ s not a life skill, it’ s a distraction. Lock eyes with the person sitting in front of you. Regularly.
Be prepared to make new connections – free yourself up to be shaken by new experiences. If you go to university – talk. If you use public transport – talk. If you travel – talk. Life is just one big conversation.
You’ ll probably change your mind a bit about that which matters to you – that’ s a good thing. And things that you felt sure of when you were at school might be challenged by life’ s circumstance along the way. Roll with it; this is how we grow old.
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