[Gentle music]

Anna McGregor: I had worked twenty years in the finance industry, but I started to feel like I needed something a bit more. And I had a friend who suggested this career change program. 

Anthony Rodaughan: I understood her motivations were really altruistic. She, like many teachers, saw it as a bit more of a vocation.

Anna McGregor: But he wasn't sure if I would be strong enough for the robust environment that we've got within the school. But he was willing to take a chance.

[On-screen text: Employment-based Teaching Degrees] 

Anthony Rodaughan: The range of programs that are offered allows people to get into the classroom in a relatively short period of time, and it does push the Masters of Education into a pretty short timeline, which is demanding. But that suited her.

Anna McGregor: To be able to start a new career quite quickly in a time frame where everything that I was learning from university, I could then see it play out in the classroom.

Anna McGregor: So the financial assistance that was provided by the program was in the form of a scholarship and then to be able to earn wage from the department.

Anthony Rodaughan: They’re leaving employment to study. Many of them have lots of financial commitments in their own families and so on. 

Anna McGregor: That little bit of support helped me make that leap of faith, I guess. 

Within the program there's mentoring that was provided both through the university as well as through the school. 

Anthony Rodaughan: We don't just throw them into a classroom and let them go. They have people to keep an eye on them and make sure that they don't go under. 

Anna McGregor: Being able to, I guess, have a sounding board of different approaches to try has been really, really important in developing my own skills as a teacher.

Anna McGregor: Part of the program was that students at university were matched into a local school. 

Anthony Rodaughan: They don’t have to relocate. They don't have to find new friends. They've already got their connections, and because they're supported through these initiatives there’s more chance of success. It's better for our college in a hard to staff area and it's better for our system.

Anna McGregor: I still don't call myself a teacher because I was twenty years in finance, so I've got a long road ahead. But I can give twenty years to the Education Department.

[On-screen text: Teach The Future – The Education State - Victorian State Government – Department of Education] 

[End of transcript]