Applications

La Trobe - Nexus

Nexus Written Statement / Social Justice Statement: In approximately 500 words, tell us your reasons for aspiring to be considered for Nexus. The purpose of the Nexus written statement is to learn more about what drives your aspiration to become a teacher in a low socioeconomic, regional, rural or remote school. In your Nexus written statement, you may want to discuss your: personal background and experiences; skills and talents; personal qualities, attitudes and disposition; and passion for teaching and social justice.

My statement

As an ethnic Chinese, I grew up in Shanghai, with Mandarin as my first language, and started learning English from primary school. After 12 years of primary and secondary education, I was admitted into Shanghai University majoring in Bioengineering. During my time there, I obtained a Bachelor degree and also studied Japanese and passed JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N2 and N3 tests.

I worked a few years after graduation as a software developer until I migrated to Adelaide, Australia and studied in The Unversity of Adelaide on Master of Computing and Innovation. Since I started working on my Master degree, I've lived in Australia for more than 10 years, with 15 years experience working as a full time software engineer.

Now I am an Australian citizen and live permanently in Mill Park, Victoria, and would be happy to work for a school in a northern suburb after graduation.

I can cover most STEM subjects, including Science, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Information Technologies, and I would also be happy to teach Chinese or Japanese.

I aspire to be a teacher because I have consistently been an effective mentor in the workplace. I often tutored junior teammates, guiding them in the right direction. With a logical and articulate mindset, I am able to quickly grasp core concepts and convey them clearly and accessibly to my audience. This ability is an inherent part of who I am.

Compared to my role as an engineer, being a teacher offers greater social interaction and a more diverse professional experience.

Teaching Suitability Assessment Statement

• Who or what has inspired you to become a teacher?

  In my career as an engineer, I consistently take on mentoring responsibilities and enjoy guiding junior colleagues. My colleagues also praise my ability to explain complex ideas clearly and accessibly. As I have matured, I have realised I am naturally inclined toward teaching.

  Being a teacher would bring a completely different professional experience to me, which allows me to develop new skill sets in the long run. I would have more opportunities to connect with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

• Why is teaching a good career choice?

  I enjoy sharing my understanding and presenting it in a way that is accessible and engaging. This is what I have done at work, but never as a teacher. So it seems natural to me to choose to do it for teaching professionally. Choosing a job that fits your nature would be a good move.

  Teaching would also help me develop new skill sets and abilities. Communicating with the next generation would help me continue learning and growing.

• Why are you interested in teaching children/young people?

  Young people are the future. It would be a privilege and a great opportunity to make a positive impact on their lives.

• What subjects are you interested in teaching and why?

  I have a STEM background in Information Technologies, Mathematics, Science which I would be happy to teach.

  In addition, I have previously learned Japanese (N2-equivalent), and committed to learning more, so in future I would be glad to teach Japanese as well if needed. I have examined the Australian Curriculum and confident that I can deliver a good education to my students.

• What does being a good teacher mean to you?

  Be a companion for my students, and guide them along the journey, help them develop interests, and gain a better understanding of the world.

  Teaching is a great way to make a positive impact on the lives of others. It allows me to share my knowledge and experience with others. It provides a platform for me to make a positive contribution to the community and connect with more people.

• What skills and abilities do you have that will make you a good teacher?

  My academic background equips me with the knowledge to teach the subjects, as well as a logical mindset, to articulate ideas clearly, including through presentations.

  Because of my work experience as a software engineer, I am skilled in utilizing IT tools and methodologies to assist teaching activities, and the experience mentoring junior teammates has strengthened the ability to provide constructive feedback, and build supportive learning relationships.

  I often rely on real-life examples and analogies to ease cognitive load, an approach that has consistently resonated with my audience. As our understanding is shaped by what we already know, learning happens when we bridge the gap between the familiar and the unfamiliar.

In no more than 500 words, write about your involvement in learning and leadership activities

Provide examples of your own learning and leadership experiences that demonstrate capabilities like:

• Willingness to learn
• Conscientiousness
• Resilience
• Interpersonal and communications skills
• Organisational and planning skills

1. Once we needed to prepare for a presentation as a team at work. There were a few sibling teams in the same department and every team took turn to present at the monthly event. Everyone prepared his/her own content and copied and pasted it into the shared slides file.

   The whole file was visibly stitched together and there was no coherence and consistency in the presentation when we rehearsed.

   To ensure we could look like a team when we present, I stepped up and overhauled the structure and layout of the slides. Design the presentation and fit contents organically. Everyone just needed to provide me with the ingredients. I acted as the chef to cook it. After discussion with every team member, and the rework, the presentation was ready. Everyone felt good about the final slides. On the day of the presentation, we got great feedback too.

2. Still an example from work, it was a late Friday night, I was already in bed. A junior team member called me to ask for help as he was trying to deploy a new feature. He was stuck at a thorny step, and backing out of the deployment would leave a bad record for the team.

   I reassured him that I would support him to the best of my ability, and quickly got out of the bed. Returning to my laptop, and got on with the step he was stuck at.

   After analysing the problem, before long, he was able to finish the deployment.

   The next workday when we met, we discussed the issue and the solution as a review. He learnt his lesson and was very grateful.

3. Another example from work, we were on a tight schedule (about 3 months) to deliver a project by the end of the financial year. The Business Analyst (BA) who was supposed to bridge the gap between the business and the technical team was on leave, which leaves tester and me with no support.

   We decided to do requirements analysis ourselves and split the work between us. Tester would liaise with business contacts and collect requirements, and I would develop test cases and document them up properly, so eventually we could develop software based on it.

   It was an exhausting experience, and we did considerable overtime, but we finally managed to deliver the project on time.

   Personally I also learned a lot of business and finance knowledge, as well as BA's skill sets, so in the end nothing is ever a wasted effort.