Let me take you back to your classroom experiences. Can you recall your favourite teacher, what was it about him/her that you liked? How did she/he engage you in learning? Did he/she use visuals, play videos, talk, write on the board, have you working in groups, ask questions, present learning in many forms? Did he/she know you – I mean really know you, not just your name, but your thoughts and feelings about school, about life, what you liked, didn’t like – did they?

I know mine did – her name was Zacher, she was the teacher on whom I most model myself. She made the pages of my art text book come alive. She would tell stories about the people who made the works. She was very passionate about her subject and we couldn’t help but join her in the adventures of the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans and especially the most famous of all – those from the Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello! Are these names familiar? You might remember them as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Zacher was the reason I became an art teacher. I made up my mind in Year 9 and I never looked back. Thirty something years later my love of teaching and learning has not spent.