Clare FitzPatrick
Student Report 2012
I am proud to say that I have successfully completed my second year of the Bachelor
of Education specialising in Design and Technology at the University of Tasmania. I am also
proud and honoured to be writing a student report for the King and Amy O’Malley Trust for
the second time. To be selected a second year for this amazing scholarship is such an
honour and I am extremely proud and thankful for the opportunity I have been given.
Without the support of this scholarship I would have faced many financial difficulties. I had
to move away from home in order to study which meant I was facing costs in rent, power
bills, general everyday expenses as well as university fees and text book costs. The
scholarship has helped me immensely and allowed me to focus more on studying rather
than worrying about the financial stresses I was facing.
It was through the King and Amy O’Malley Trust that I was introduced to the Home
Economics Institute of Australia. I think it is such an amazing support network for home
economics teachers as well as other professionals in similar areas of expertise. Having
access to resources, journals, workshops and newsletters has been really beneficial for me
while studying this year. I have used the journals numerous times for information and it is
great to get the newsletter to keep up to date with what different people are doing and
events that are going on. This year I hope to be able to have more time to attend the
different workshops held around the state. It will be great to meet the different members of
the HEIA and learn more skills from the workshops which will benefit me and my future
teaching career.
The Bachelor of Education specialising in Design and Technology is a course for
students that want to teach in the design areas in high school from metal work and graphic
design to textiles and food studies. The subjects which I studied this year have helped to
develop my current knowledge particularly in the area of food studies which will be the
main subject I want to teach in the future. The subjects I have studied this year were:
Planning for Positive Behaviour, Teacher as a Planner, Assessor and Reporter, Design and
Applied Learning, Visual Arts B, Culinary Design, Food and Nutrition, History and Theory of
Design, Health Promotion and Design for Learning Spaces: Creativity and Teaching
Materials. Throughout several of my classes this year part of the assessment involved
creating resources that can be used in a classroom. I really enjoyed this part of the
assessment as it was a chance to show my capabilities of becoming an engaging teacher. I
Clare FitzPatrick
Student Report 2012
look forward to being able to use these resources in my future classes. I also learnt in the
subject ‘Planning for Positive Behaviour’ how to deal with behaviour issues in the classroom
and the different theories behind these behaviour management approaches. It is really
interesting seeing it from a teacher’s point of view rather than the student. While on
professional experience I was able to observe different teachers and their approaches to
behaviour management.
This year I completed my second professional learning experience at a high school in
Hobart. This experience was for three weeks and I was able to start teaching a few of my
own lessons. It was really nice to see how much I have improved and how much my
confidence has grown as a teacher compared to my first professional experience. I can see
how every subject I am enrolled in at University is helping me - from planning lessons, to
managing student behaviour, to further developing my current knowledge. While I was on
prac I was able to take a grade seven class for their first cooking lesson ever. The class had a
range of students all with different capabilities and experiences in the kitchen. For some of
the students it was the first time they had cooked. It was really eye opening for me as it
made me realise just how important home economic teachers are and just how important
our role is to these students. We are teaching them life skills which they will need as they
grow up, move out of home and start their own families in the future. I was lucky enough
when I was younger to help out in the kitchen when my mother was cooking but it was
through my cooking lessons at school that I learnt more specific skills such as various
cooking methods, basic knife skills and lots of different cooking terminologies.
This year did not go without its challenges. Moving to Launceston away from my
friends and family has been and still is hard at times. The most challenging part of my
degree I have found particularly this year is the structure of the course. Numbers are low in
this degree and the continuation of the course was being questioned. Certain subjects could
not be run due to numbers and I was worried I would not be able to complete the degree
with the specialisations I wanted. I was also worried that future students wanting to
become home economic teachers would not be able to undertake this degree. I was
extremely upset and concerned with the matter and spoke to staff at the university about it.
I am now aware that some changes are being made to this degree but it is still going to be
offered in the future which is reassuring.
Clare FitzPatrick
Student Report 2012
As I have mentioned in my application for the scholarship I was lucky enough to see
first-hand the benefits of having a teaching career as both my mother and father are
teachers. I am excited at the thought of being able to teach the subjects I have such a strong
passion for. As a holder of the King and Amy O’Malley Trust scholarship, a current student
and a future home economics teacher, it is my responsibility to promote the benefits of
becoming a home economics teacher. I also plan to talk to students while I’m on prac and
inform them of this scholarship. It was through my home economics teacher at high school
that I heard about King and Amy O’Malley. I also plan to continue to get the best possible
marks and attend every tutorial and lecture to prove why I was selected as a King and Amy
O’malley scholarship holder for 2012. Again I would like to thank the O’Malley trust for
selecting me and making my second year at the University of Tasmania such a successful
and enjoyable year.