Laughter, Dirt and Education

This episode is a solo one, where I give my personal advice of what to look for when searching for a governess job. As I mention in the episode, I do not know everything about this job, so I would love for my community to contribute. Head over to our Instagram or Facebook pages and comment with your advice!

Vanessa was a born and bred Adelaide girl, but after a trip to Central Australia, she found herself moving to the Northern Territory to governess. While she is still governessing many years down the track, that doesn’t mean that she has felt like every family has been the right one for her. This is a vulnerable chat and I love that we have had an opportunity to discuss this!

While teaching wasn’t Georgia Luscombe’s first choice of career when she finished school, after finding herself in the Early Childhood sector for a few years, she decided she wanted to further her study and went to university. Now a first-year teacher in North West Queensland, Georgia and her partner took the massive leap to move their from Brisbane. She speaks candidly about her first year in the classroom and some of the challenges, and successes she has had over the past 3 terms! You can find Georgia on Instagram at @teachinginthenorthwest

After starting off her teaching career in Melbourne, Megan took a massive jump and not only move to be with her partner, but also start teaching in the remote town of Alice Springs. Our chat covers a very real side of moving and teaching and some of the struggles that Megan had to face. Please remember that there is always some you can go to for help, and if needed, make sure you reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14 if you are needing a professional to speak to. It is not weak to speak! You can find Megan on Instagram @megan.in.melbourne

Welcome back to the podcast! After a break, I am excited to bring this week's guest, Lucy Grant, onto the show. We had a wonderful chat about what her life looked like after leaving school, and how it now looks. 

From starring on Masterchef, to working as a teacher at School of the Air, you could say that this week’s guest, Emma, has had a wide variety of experiences. The passion she has for her job is so clear in our chat and I just loved chatting to Emma and getting to know her better!

From growing up in Sydney, to nannying in western Queensland, this week’s guest, Hannah, has made a few huge life changes over the past two years. I loved her perspective after being out west and how she has been able to connect with the people around her on a deeper level. 

I have my very first Tasmanian teacher on the podcast, and I have loved listening to Meg Irvine’s story of her childhood and her teaching career in Tassie. You can find Meg on Instagram, @learningto_teach  Make sure you give her a follow!

This week I got to speak with Jaquarra Chapman, who after governessing for a few years, has recognised how important it is for our stories to be told! We have a chat about her adventures, plus about her new project, The Govie Diaries. Make sure you listen to the end to find out how you can contribute your story to Jaquarra’s new coffee table book!

This week I have collaborated with the lovely Hannah Calcino, to put together our top tips for managing behaviour. While we have aimed these tips at govies, we hope that everyone is able to take something away from it. Please remember, we are all on a learning journey, and it’s okay to change your behaviour practices.

From rural Australia, to Melbourne, and then the remote NT and QLD, Demi Grace has certainly spread her wings around the country. What started out with a nanny job while doing university, turned into Demi finding a passion for working with children, which lead her to remote parts of the country to governess and now be a teacher aide. I love Demi’s honesty, she speaks about some of the negatives, but also discusses the many positives of working in education, which has kept her coming back year after year. 

Not many 17 year old’s can say that they decided to one day apply for a governess job and move thousands of kilometers away from their family. However, that is exactly what this week’s guest, Abbie Gilchrist, did in 2021! After an amazing year in the Northern Territory, she has since moved to South-West Queensland. What I love most about this though is that the School of the Air that her student’s go through is in a completely different state! I think this shows how unique everyone’s situation is!

Adelaide’s story has just blown me away- from living in the remote West Arnham Land, to teaching in a ‘tent’, this lady has such a unique story. While there may be tough times, it is clear that Adelaide has an adventurous spirit and gives most things a go. To see more of her incredible life, you can find her on her Instagram @__radelaide

I am a true believer that everything in life is meant to be… And for this week’s guest, Bec Hannam, it turned out that one small email from a friend would change the course of her life (in a positive way). Bec now is a teacher up in North- West Queensland, and it is obvious that she is in love with it all (and I’m sure the entire community feel the same about her. You can find more of Bec’s adventures on her Instagram page @another_qld_teacher

From starting her life in Western and Central Queensland, to then growing up in Brisbane, Kate has always had country in her blood. This stuck with her once she finished her teaching degree, and she headed back out west. Not only did she get to experience mainstream teaching, but also distance education teaching! While she has since moved back closer to her family, she has still ensured she teaches and lives in a small country town. I hope you enjoy listening to her journey!

EPISODE 20- Cass Kath

Imagine deciding when you were in preschool that you wanted to be a govie, and then many years later, you continue that dream. That is exactly what happened for this week’s guest, Cass Kath. Even more amazing is that she governesses through the same school that she also attended school. Talk about a complete 360! If you head over to the podcast’s Facebook or Instagram pages, I have started asking on a Thursday what you enjoyed the most about the episode! I can’t wait to hear from you!

 You can find Cass on Instagram @life_with_misscass_

Welcome to the start of the 2022 school year! This episode is a little different this week. Instead of an interview, I have sat down to share with you my top 10 pieces of advice for new teachers. Please make sure you share this episode with anyone you know who is just starting off in their teaching career. I hope it is helpful to you all!

I don’t know about you, but when I hear of a school that only has 20 students, I instantly think of a school out in the country. However, this isn’t the case for this week’s guest, Steph Bremner. I discovered Steph through her Instagram page, @thelittlebushschool, and was surprised to find out that the school she teaches at (with the teaching principal) is actually in southern Sydney! While Steph may not be a ‘rural or remote’ teacher, I have loved speaking to her about this amazing and unique school! Make sure you follow her on Instagram to see all the amazing things she gets up to!

Welcome back to the first episode for 2022! This week I am bringing an episode aimed at first time govies. I have put together (with the help of my amazing Instagram community), a list of 10 things you may like to consider packing for your new adventure. Don’t forget to follow the podcast on Facebook and Instagram!

After deciding to governess when she left school, Grace Kummerfeld has had some amazing experiences in her life so far. She speaks so passionately about her job, but also keeps it real and tells us about some of the difficult times that she has had. I hope you love the episode!

While I may be the host of the podcast and I have to listen to my voice each week, it is definitely strange being on the other side. My beautiful friend, Lauren, from last week’s episode, kindly offered to interview me. I share my journey from teaching to governessing and how it has shaped me as a person. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little bit more about me!

The year 2020 definitely had an impact on us all, but imagine being a student nurse and being thrown into a pandemic. This is exactly what happened to this week’s guest, Lauren Baguley. However, while it threw out her original life pathway, she is now on an amazing adventure and is thriving. To follow Lauren’s adventures of governessing, you can find her on Instagram @literallylifeloz

From completing a course in Zoology, to now living and working in western Queensland, Lily Cronin has definitely had some big changes in her life. We chat about her quick decision to start governessing and how she hasn’t looked back. It is clear that Lily was meant for station life and she has taken on all the adventures and challenges that she had to take!

Once again I have had the privilege of speaking with another passionate educator. This week’s guest, Mindy Petersen, knows first hand the struggles that rural and remote children face. After her family moved to another farm, she had to face the daunting move to boarding school. These struggles have truly shaped her into the wonderful person she is today, with it leading to her governessing. Now she works as a teacher aide, while juggling study, and it is clear that she will do amazing things for the education of our rural and remote kids. You can also find Mindy over on Instagram, @learningwithmindy . 

After growing up in Adelaide, Lucy Gower now calls a small town in South-Eastern South Australia home. While Lucy never pictured herself working and living in a rural town, she now loves it. We have a great chat about how she implements the Walker Learning Approach into her classroom, and some of the struggles that she first had as a beginning teacher. After the interview, make sure you jump over to her Instagram page @miss_gower_adventures to see her amazing classroom and all the fantastic ideas that she implements!

In this week’s episode I chat with governess, Kiralee Fuller. After spending part of her childhood in remote New South Wales, she moved to America, before coming back to Australia in her teens. After spending a few years nannying in various area of Australia, this year Kiralee calls a cattle station in remote Queensland home. We have a great discussion around the stereotypes that are present for rural and remote areas, and how we can break these. Make sure you head over to her Instagram @life.of.missk to follow all of her adventures!

Were you (or maybe you currently are) someone who wasn’t really sure what they wanted to do after they left high school? That was the predicament that this week’s guest, Brittanay Purtell, found herself in. After a few years, she went governessing, and it’s clear in our chat that the life experiences she has had over the past couple of years has shaped her life and allowed her to work out her career path! 

Could you imagine being 18 and moving from one side of Australia to the other? Well, that is exactly what this week’s guest, Sophie Telfer, did. It was definitely a move that paid off for her and now at 23 years old she has some amazing memories and experiences to tell. Sophie speaks about the amazing people she has met along the way, and how she is still passionate to teach in rural and remote locations in the future.

For Tiahne, being a special education teacher was something always close to her heart. However, after a few short years, she felt she needed a change to mainstream. She decided to dive into the deep end and headed west to a K-6 school where the only other teaching staff was her principal. Tiahne is honest in her struggles with moving to a small community and what she has to face. With anything in life, there’s always negatives and positives, and Tiahne isn’t afraid to tackle these topics head on. Since recording and editing this episode, Tiahne has accepted an Acting Principals position at another remote school for Term 3. I wish her all the best! You can find Tiahne on her Instagram @teach.it.with.t

Often your career can take many turns, and in the end you end up exactly where you were meant to be. This has been the case for this weeks guest, Emily Caldwell, who has not only taught Primary and Highschool, but is now back governessing in a primary school room. On this episode, Em speaks about her passion for self care and why it is important to look after yourself. If you enjoyed this episode or know of a teacher who is thinking of taking the leap to governess, make sure you share it with them. You can find Em on her Instagram @em_teaches_outback 

A podcast made for rural and remote educators. Stay tuned, Laughter, Dirt and Education is launching soon!