We celebrate World Teachers’ Day in Australia this year on Friday 25 October. For this day, we share a reflection by Elise Scrivens and Cassie Lawson – University of Southern Queensland Education Students and School Officers (Assisting Student Learning) working at Mary MacKillop Catholic College, Highfields, in the Diocese of Toowoomba. They are both alumnus of the College which is a part of AJASS (Association of Josephite Affiliated Secondary Schools).

World Teachers’ Day is about celebrating the professionalism, devotion, faith and love that teachers in Josephite schools model every day.

We are pre-service teachers, currently working as School Officers (Assisting Student Learning) at Mary MacKillop Catholic College in Highfields, Queensland. This is the College we attended from Prep to Year 12.

Attending a Josephite school from Prep to Year 12, meant being surrounded by teachers who prioritised their students; supporting them with a gentle touch of love and care fuelled by faith. Our teachers have shaped our identities holistically and provided a safe, caring and faith-filled environment to understand and explore mission.

As students during our time at the College, World Teachers’ Day fostered a culture of appreciation of the teachers’ collective commitment and reinforced a devotion to a genuinely universal education embedded in Catholic beliefs. In times of struggle with finding identity and pathways, it is our teachers who are patient and supportive in providing a diverse range of opportunities in academics, sports, cultural activities and personal and spiritual development.

We are in the fortunate position to have seen teachers in Josephite schools from different perspectives. We have felt their love and guidance as a student and felt their support and seen their professionalism as colleagues. This has enabled a deep appreciation of their depth and value, and the change they make in our society.

World Teachers’ Day holds special significance in our Josephite schools as it emphasises the importance of education, faith and community. This day provides an opportunity to recognise the vital role teachers play in shaping not only the academic skills of students but also, more holistically, the faith development of those they teach.

As preservice teachers, we are excited about working in a Josephite school now, and having the opportunity to speak to young people about a lived experience as a young person growing up enthused by the Josephite charism. We are equally excited about continuing to spread that message when we teach.

Elise Scrivens and Cassie Lawson