What inspired you to pursue teaching, and what do you find most rewarding about working in education?
When I was in Year 7 a Headmaster I really respected was giving a farewell speech and he asked us all to consider teaching as a profession. This really stuck with me, so I wanted to be a teacher from when I was 12 years old. I have always found that the very best way to learn something is to explain it to someone else – I’m still learning things about the mathematics I teach every year. There were twists and turns along the way, including miserably flunking out of university the first time I tried it and then working a random series of jobs to support myself and then travelling. Eventually I started as a properly qualified classroom teacher when I was 27.
Tell us a bit about your journey - what led you to teach at Oxley?
I recommended the school for my nephews first – I had heard great things about Oxley’s inclusive spirit and how the college could help anyone become the best version of themselves, no matter their background or ambitions. After they had been here as students for a few years, it made sense to follow them and move to the Highlands with my family.
What do you hope students remember most about their time in your classroom?
A sense of intellectual rigour. I don’t expect all students to remember how to prove Pythagoras’ Theorem, or how to derive the Quadratic Formula. What I want them to take away is that there is a difference between “someone just told me this thing” or even “someone seems to reckon this is true” and the much more rigorous “this is a proven result that I have witnessed being proven”. This kind of thinking, what Dr Hall would call epistemology, has never been more important in our world.
When you're not at school, what are some things you love doing or exploring?
Walking with the kids and the dogs through the forests around the Highlands is a favourite weekend activity. Going to the Opera with friends is a highlight of my year. (Guess which Oxley teacher goes with me!)
What's your favourite thing about the Southern Highlands?
The weather: the cold and wet is preferable to heat. Also, the lack of traffic is awesome.
