The Public Education Foundation and Teachers Mutual Bank have announced that Katie O’Connell, of St Albans Secondary College, is this year’s recipient of the Public Education Foundation’s Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship.
This scholarship supports public school teachers in Victoria who have been teaching for between five and fifteen years, with Teachers Mutual Bank providing $10,000 for professional development activities of the scholar’s choice. Katie will be using her scholarship to travel to the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA to join the weeklong Project Zero Classroom (PZC). PZC asks “How can the classroom become a place where today’s learners become the citizens and leaders of tomorrow?” and takes educators through Project Zero’s pioneering research that examines key facets of human potential such as intelligence and creativity, asking how educators and schools can design learning experiences that are engaging and exciting for all learners.
Katie is in her seventh year of teaching and has observed that meeting the challenges of the present and of the future – climate change, threats to democracy, media literacy, conflict resolution – is dependent on being able to form reasoned, logical arguments backed up by evidence, and being able to think critically and creatively. Strategies such as those developed and promoted by Project Zero, are key to helping students develop these critical and creative thinking skills, and, while they are relevant to all subject areas, are particularly useful in relation to her teaching of the Humanities.
Teachers Mutual Bank’s Chief Marketing Officer Nichole Banks said, “We admire Katie’s passion for social justice and we applaud her drive to empower her students to tackle the big challenges our future generations will come up against. Mid-career teachers are vital to the education sector, and we are delighted to support Katie as she challenges herself to reach new professional heights.”
Katie’s drive to become a leader in public education is unquestionable and can be seen in her work at St Albans Secondary College. Many of the school’s students come from diverse cultural, economic and linguistic backgrounds and this has reinforced to Katie the importance of access to public education as a human right, regardless of circumstance.
David Riordan, Public Education Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, said “We are delighted to be able to support Katie with her professional learning goals and support her outstanding efforts and commitment to public education, social justice and the right of every student to have access to a quality education regardless of socioeconomic circumstances. The future of this nation is based on the education of our young people and we at PEF are very appreciative of the enormous support provided by Teachers Mutual Bank for this Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship. This will not only change Katie O’Connell’s life, but also the lives of the students fortunate enough to have her as their teacher.”
“I am so grateful to have received the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship which will assist me in learning even more about Visible Thinking strategies, a flexible and systematic research-based conceptual framework, which aims to integrate the development of students’ thinking with content learning across subject matters.”
“There is no question that our society is and will continue facing significant global challenges. Ultimately, I would hope that the knowledge I gain from Project Zero would help to increase student engagement in exploring the complexities of life in the 21st century and equip students to make meaningful and active contributions to their world.
“As a Humanities teacher particularly interested in the teaching of History and Politics I am passionate about developing students’ capacity to be active citizens within their schools, their communities and the wider world, particularly those students who may come from disadvantaged backgrounds and who may otherwise be disenfranchised.”, said scholarship winner Katie O’Connell.
For more information please contact: Paul Somers, Public Education Foundation
Tel: 02 7814 2806
Teachers Mutual Bank is dedicated to helping Australian education sector employees and their families secure their financial futures. In 1966 a group of passionate teachers with a shared vision of giving those alongside them better financial options came together to form a credit union. More than 50 years on, that passion is stronger than ever. We’re still supporting teachers, their families, and the education community with superior banking products and member service.
We’re more than just a bank, we’re a market leader in member advocacy in the Australian banking sector, and committed to strong standards of corporate responsibility through community investment and ethical business.
Teachers Mutual Bank is one division of Teachers Mutual Bank Limited, alongside Health Professionals Bank, Firefighters Mutual Bank, UniBank, and Hiver Bank. Collectively, Teachers Mutual Bank Limited has more than 230,000 members and over $10 billion in assets. See more details at www.tmbank.com.au.
The Public Education Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing life-changing scholarships to students and educators in public education, and enhancing the value and reputation of public education. See more details at www.publiceducationfoundation.org.au.
