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Preston completed a traineeship after leaving school and deferred university study for one year. He then did a sports coaching course at university before travelling overseas for a year. On his return to Australia he completed a

Graduate Diploma of Education. He had taught Health and Physical Education at a secondary school for two years prior to working at PARTNERSHIP. He loves teaching something he is passionate about. He says he always loved working with young people in a coaching and teaching capacity and gets satisfaction from seeing them improve.

Preston described the major difference between his experience teaching in a school and his teaching at PARTNERSHIP in the following way

… school was fairly academic so it was a lot of teacher driven type

activities and students were supposedly more suited to an academic type curriculum whereas when I came here – it was very much applied

learning. What I enjoyed about it the most was the opportunity for students to be actually doing [something and] student ownership over those tasks.

Preston explained his view of the differences between VCE and VCAL

…in [VCE] this is the curriculum that is it – [the students] will go with it because that is it whereas these VCAL kids if they don’t want to do it – they won’t do it! And if they can see that you are prepared to give a bit your way – they will do the same. Because they are good kids – they just want you to see a bit from their point of view as well.

Preston was happy with his preparation for teaching VCAL and did not find the move from his VCE teaching to teaching VCAL at PARTNERSHIP very difficult – I was fine. This was because he considered the teaching approaches he used in his Physical Education teaching practice were already hands on and provided him with relevant experience to draw on. Preston explained

… yeah it wasn’t foreign – and I didn’t think ‘I will struggle to do that” I think the [VCAL] assessment is different and that is probably something

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that takes a little bit to get used to in other words you have got - you go VCAL – you know you are not marking A B C Ds or out of 10 things like that – that was probably the bigger thing that was different for me – but in terms in how to make it applied and have students have the

opportunities for those things not really because that is essentially what PE [Physical Education] is I suppose and my little experience with VET as well.

Preston indicated that he had also learnt about applied learning by going on school camps as an assistant teacher. He had watched how the lead teacher at his previous school had prepared students for camp in the classroom and then organised the camp in the field, but said

… ultimately it was the responsibility of the students to facilitate the whole thing and process and things like that – to me I really like that ‘cause you equip them with skills and they would actually go away and put it into practice and [I would] probably try and expose myself to as much of that in a school setting – I liked that model.

When he first heard a colleague speak about the proposed PARTNERSHIP model of curriculum that combined VET and VCAL he thought

… that is me that is what I want to do – I want to have students who are self-sufficient and get involved and [develop] initiative and all those different types of things.

However, Preston also made the point that his decision to defer university study after school for a year and take a year travelling overseas between his

undergraduate study and Diploma of Education better equipped him for working with his particular student cohort. He believes his ability to make linkages and draw on his life experiences enhances his ability to teach. In addition, he finds that contacts he has made in the sports industry makes it easier for him to establish learning partnerships.

Preston welcomed the flexibility of VCAL as it seemed to have a good fit with his personal view of education. He compared the differences in experiences of teaching in schools to teaching applied learning at PARTNERSHIP. Preston felt that in schools

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… everything is so structured and then VCAL and VET make it – they give you that bit of flexibility but it is hard, you have got to almost move yourself out of that mould … to get you thinking laterally and outside the box and things like that which I felt a little bit starved of in high schools. He also thought the flexibility of VCAL allowed him to respond to reading his class in a way that he could not do if the teaching and learning was all conducted in a classroom setting. For example he can balance the outside activity with class discussion and meal breaks. He believes this approach achieves more productivity than if

… I just worked them all day and every day in the classroom – you would get less done than if you had, you know forty minute sessions of head down and really do it.

… that is what I love about the program – that is if it wasn’t working I could change it it’s not dictated by a bell. If I wanted to go out for the day –‘ cause it just wasn’t working in class I could go and do that. If I thought it was best to work in the morning – we could work in the morning and do something else in the afternoon or vice versa.

Unlike Pierce, Preston feels there is plenty of opportunity for creativity and things like that at PARTNERSHIP, which suits his preferred way of teaching of using content that is real life and interesting. He considered teachers who liked structure might struggle with teaching in VCAL.

Preston thought that professional development in a

… school setting was very formalised. It was scheduled and you do it with other teachers.

At PARTNERSHIP he believes that his best professional development is

… done on the job by constantly improving and reviewing your practice.

He told me that this type of professional development is done with colleagues through discussions of what worked well or what did not work well with their student groups and talking about the challenges of both the cohort and the curriculum. When Preston attends professional development opportunities, such as conferences, he later finds it

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… really enjoyable to share knowledge with other teachers at PARTNERSHIP.

Preston says the flexible nature of VCAL means the demands of accountability exceeded those in other curriculum. He explained

… you are even more vigilant with VCAL … because you have got that flexibility and creativity if you get audited you need to be red hot on … because it is simply your responsibility.

He indicated that this perspective of vigilance in VCAL perhaps being greater than other curriculum might surprise some educators who were expecting that teaching in VCAL was easier, or less onerous. Yet, for Preston the reality is if

… you slack off in terms of what you develop curriculum wise you won’t have them engaged – you won’t have your students engaged – but then if you slack off in the compliance part of it – you leave yourself open

professionally.

Preston said that sometimes the gains might appear small by the standards of other curriculum, but in the context of the situation, they might be big ones

… sometimes I think with young people we expect straight As and this and that. Whereas I never forget a Mum told me in my first year of this program ‘he got himself up out of bed’. The mum didn’t have to get him out of bed. He made his own lunch and he got to the program and he did that every day.

In VCAL Preston said relationship building was important, both with the students and when forming outside partnerships

… I think your interpersonal skills are important – I think I am able to relate to the students because I am genuinely interested in [them]. I also have experience and knowledge in the area. [As part of the leadership team] I have got to build relationships with local council, clubs,

management, staff, students, and other organisations. Essentially my whole role is building relationships and you have got to be able to do that.

Preston regretted that VCAL was not available when he completed his schooling

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… I didn’t have this, there was no VCAL when I was going around and I think it would have benefited me and I could have still ended up in the same spot [teaching] but just under an alternative way.

… I just love it [VCAL] so much – I like talking about it. I have enjoyed talking about it – I think it is good to be able to talk about something that you enjoy talking about - reflect on some of those things which you don’t have time for in the 9 – 5 rat race.

I observed to Preston that it was interesting he had talked about himself as a hands-on learner as his work as VCAL educator offered him an opportunity to teach using a hands on approach. He was quite definite in agreeing that there was a connection between his preferred learning style and his preferred teaching style.

Perry: “one area I personally find difficult about VCAL is that