For Danielle Patten, teaching at TasTAFE delivers plenty of rewards

TasTAFE Individual Support teacher, Danielle Patten, has really found her calling since becoming an educator. A registered nurse who worked in the aged-care sector for 10 years, she started her TasTAFE teaching career in 2021.

“I was in a bit of a rut with nursing, and just wanted a shake-up – something to excite me again,” Danielle said. “So I decided to take the TasTAFE pathway and I haven’t looked back.

“I've always enjoyed passing on knowledge and sharing my passion for the industry: I really enjoy aged care, and I think everyone else should too!”

Based at Alanvale Campus in Launceston, Danielle teaches Certificate III in Individual Support, which covers both Aged Care and Disability Support, along with several short courses.

“The Individual Support team is really collaborative. We communicate really well and work together respectfully, sharing resources, helping each other out and jumping in wherever we can. It's really nice.”

Beyond the classroom, Danielle says there are also advantages for teachers with young families.

“For me, you can't go past the leave,” Danielle said. “I have 3 young children, so it works out really well for me to take some time off with them during the school holidays.

“The work/life balance is great: it’s a 9-to-5 job essentially, and we don't have to do shift work. I don’t have anything negative to say about that!”

On the flipside, Danielle’s learners benefit from the real-world industry experience that she and her team bring to the classroom.

“For our learners, those different perspectives give them a really broad overview of the industry that they're going into,” Danielle said. “I think they really appreciate that.”

“We draw on best industry practice and we’re always trying to find the latest technology, or the latest legislation – making sure that we’re teaching with the latest up-to-date knowledge.”

“We have lots of PD opportunities,” Danielle continued. “And those of us with specific industry skills are supported to return to industry to make sure we're current in the latest practices, so we don't get rusty.”

For anyone considering a teaching role at TasTAFE, Danielle’s advice is to skill-up in advance: “Make sure that you've got a lot of experience first – everything to do with the industry.”

The teamwork, work/life balance and PD opportunities at TasTAFE may be hard to beat – but at the end of the day, it’s working with TasTAFE learners that Danielle finds the most rewarding.

“At the start when our learners find out what they'll be doing, they're sometimes a bit scared… But then they go out on placement and it's just a complete transformation. To see things start to click for them after that first day, it’s just great.

“We also have quite a large number of learners who come from other parts of the world and don’t speak much English. It's amazing to see the effort they put in – the passion they have to really stick it out. That's the sort of thing that makes teaching really worthwhile.”