Professional Context Statement
My work has always been focused on creating experiences whether at events, in venue management or in the education sector. In order to achieve this, in corporate or not-for-profit organisations, I have embedded education components in all roles – whether this was to create training for front and back of house personnel at the Victorian Arts Centre, educate chefs at London’s Barbican Centre to buy local, create a values strategy for wine sellers or educate young lawyers to communicate more effectively, education has always been my passion.
Working as a TAFE teacher, teaching event management and hospitality management, when running a successful event management business, was one of the most rewarding experiences in my career. Creating industry-relevant curriculum and projects allowed me to develop my skills as an educator and celebrate my industry contacts for the advancement of my students’ careers.
My passion for vocational education led me to be an Education Manager with Bendigo Kangan Institute where I championed the development of digital content and teacher capability in the tech space. This was rewarded during the COVID lockdown when resources had already been developed for online learning and with some support and training my team were able to pivot to a virtual classroom effectively and creatively.
Professional Learning Profile
I studied at University, straight after school, and enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts. I completed first year and realised I wanted to work so was employed at the Victorian Arts Centre, SABA clothing and Rosati restaurant – my career in hospitality and events (with a love of fashion) began! I completed a series of business and hospitality courses including Cordon Bleu, Intermediate and advanced wine studies and Train-the-Trainer.
Later in my career I studied a Certificate IV in Vocational Learning and Assessment, allowing me to teach event management & hospitality – a job I loved and was really good at!
I did return to University in my 30’s, after completing dozens of vocational courses, to complete a Graduate Certificate in Event Management at Victoria University in 2009 to consolidate my Event Management experience when working as a TAFE educator. This led to me wanting to study an MBA. I did not complete this qualification but was passionate about pursuing a career in vocational education and doing further study.
My interest in learning more about technology led me to apply for a role supporting people wanting to work in the startup environment. I am now the event and project manager on a project supported by LaunchVic called Pivott. This program includes an online learning academy, a mentor program, jobs platform and the curation of an event/workshop series to support candidates to apply and be successful in a startup role. This program and some leadership initiatives will be the context for my current studies.
Course Learning Goals
My first unit of study is Evaluating Learning and Innovation which is a great starting point as it will provide the blueprint to design how I can achieve the key milestone results for a current Government project I manage.
Whilst my desire to complete the Graduate Certificate in Professional and Organisational Learning is directly aligned to the project I currently manage it is also a career aspiration of mine to move into an organisational capability or senior education management role in the future, and honing my existing skills will be explored in all subjects: Professional learning and practice; Learning Innovation Practices; Strategic Learning in Workplaces.
Working towards the completion of each unit will be a challenge as I find it difficult to focus at times. I have chosen this course because of the defined way each unit is delivered and the tight time-frames. I also thrive when I can apply what I have learnt directly to a work project so am hoping each subject will align with my work objectives and allow me to do a better job and create some efficiencies.
UTS Portfolio - Professional & Organisational Learning 