You can make a difference one child at a time

Tracy Cronin at Mt Ommaney Special School

Recently, the Communications Coordinator for the Alumni & Advancement Office caught up with Tracy Cronin, Head of Curriculum at Mount Ommaney Special School. Tracy’s story is inspirational. She began as a Teacher’s Aide and was driven by the passion and foresight of the teachers that she worked with. She could see the positive impact she was making on the lives of students with special needs and wanted to learn more to add value to their lives.

She studied while working full-time and raising a family of teenage children. She was able to manage due to USQ’s external study program, online courses and the option to study in Semester 3. Also, USQ offered just the right course for her, a Master of Education, Special Education Program.

Since completing her studies, Tracy has gone from strength to strength. Her career began as Relief Teacher Aide, then Classroom Teacher Aide to Education Program Officer. After her studies, Tracy became the ICT teacher one day a week and increased the use of technologies within classrooms across the school. This role then became redundant as the use of ICT was embedded within classroom pedagogies. After this, Tracy moved into the role of Curriculum Coordinator one day a week for two years and now is the Head of Curriculum full time.

Tracy has a passion for Special Education. She has worked towards improving her skills to help her students and can be proud of what she has achieved. A particularly inspiring initiative is the Mount Ommaney Special School whole-school digital performance of “Imagine”.

 ‘A few years ago Mount Ommaney Special School went into partnership with ‘The Song Room’ and developed a drama program that engages students with disabilities in education through storytelling and dramatic play. This was done through several teaching artist drama workshops and a teacher mentoring program. This pedagogy is used to assist our students to engage with the Australian curriculum in a functional and enjoyable manner and we are beginning to use it as a tool for assessing students on Australian curriculum content descriptors. Through this program we have achieved positive and measurable results in terms of increasing student engagement, communication, social interaction, creativity and self-expression.

The partnership between Mount Ommaney Special School and the Song Room received a NAB Schools first award of $50 000 in 2011. This was used during 2012 for Professional filming. One of the aims of this process was to develop a whole-school digital performance based on the text ‘Imagine’ by Alison Lester. Classes chose a section of the book and were asked to ‘Just Imagine’. Each class then developed the props and lesson plans based on their section of the text. The drama sessions took place regularly in classrooms. All classes took part in the filming and the performance was edited by our film maker. This creative performance shows the engagement and participation of the students in this program. The whole school digital performance was first shown to parents in December 2012 during the annual Christmas party.

This year the documentary ‘Just Imagine’ will be released during May. The 30 minute educational documentary follows the journey of the Mount Ommaney Special School and The Song Room partnership and the creation of the whole school digital performance.’

More about Tracy:

What career did you dream of as a child?
I grew up in Cheshire in England and used to dream of being a farmer! I would occasionally try to get a weekend job at a local farm and did my school work experience on one. However, I think that my romantic notions of farming would have been quite incompatible with the reality of waking at 4 each morning in the English winters!

How long have you been working in the Special Education sector and will you work in this sector for a long time?
I have been working in Special Education since 1997 in a number of roles. I didn’t start out as a Teacher and found my passion for Special Education when I began to do some voluntary work, my first role was as a relief Teacher Aide, and I then worked as a classroom Teacher Aide for approximately 5 years. I also held the position of Education Program Officer for 18months prior to gaining my teaching registration.

I found working in Special Education fascinating (and still do) and was fortunate to work with some very talented and passionate teachers. This inspired me to become a Teacher myself so I studied part time while working in class as an Aide.

I intend to work in Special Education for as long as possible and would like to encourage others to give this area of education a try. Although it can be a challenging environment to work in on occasions, it is also an extremely rewarding career.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Watching the students develop and grow, their achievements, though sometimes small to others, can make a significant change to both the student and their families.
The first time that a student:

• is able to access a computer program using a switch independently,
• is able to make a choice using an individual communication system.
• navigates the school grounds using a walker
• reads a book
• communicates!

Also watching the determination of students in wanting to learn and develop.

Why USQ and why Education?
I had begun teaching and wanted to continue my Professional Education and focus on Special Education. After researching, I found that USQ was flexible and had a Master of Education, special Education Program. This flexibility, (on line and external courses) was vital to me and helped me to be able to study, teach and continue to raise my then teenage family. The third semester was also a bonus as I was able to undertake some units over the school summer holidays, giving me more time to focus on my studies.

 Did you specialise in Special Education?
I did through my Masters course. It was important to me to have a sound background of the field that I work in. This has stood me in good stead over the past few years and enables me to understand some of the issues that students face on a daily basis. It also assisted me in the research of appropriate pedagogies to use in class.

What was your first position in Education after USQ?
I was already teaching at Mount Ommaney, however, once I had completed my Masters I was asked to take on the role of the ICT teacher one day a week and increase the use of technologies within classrooms across the school. I am happy to say that this role has not been needed for a while as ICTs are embedded within classroom pedagogies. I also took on the role of Curriculum Co-ordinator on day a week for two years.

What are some of your greatest professional achievements to date?

• Becoming a Special Education Teacher! It took a lot of hard work to gain my qualifications and for me it was an extremely proud moment when I was granted my Teacher Registration.
• Leading the creation, trialling and implementation of a ‘Whole School Curriculum Plan’ through a collaborative school wide process. It incorporates the mandated curriculum, and addresses the needs of individual students in our school, including students who are pre-intentional learners.
• Becoming the Head of Curriculum for the school.
• Increasing the use of Technologies within all classes to assist student curriculum engagement and participation and assisting teachers to gain their certification in this area.
• Working alongside other like-minded curriculum leaders on several projects through the Special Education Curriculum Cluster, including; the creation of a ‘Whole School Literacy Framework for Special Schools.’
• Working on the MOSS/Song Room project, this has been an amazing experience.

What advice do you have for other USQ Education graduates in terms of finding employment or a position that they enjoy?
Develop networks whilst studying, and if possible prior to graduating find a mentor who you can be honest with and who will give you clear feedback (both cool and warm); this will help you to develop your unique skills. Be true to yourself. Show your passion, if you are passionate about working with students this will show through and drive you to excel. Continue to learn and stay curious.

What are your goals/plans for the future?
I intend to continue to work in special education and hope to further develop my career in this area. I would also like to encourage others into this fascinating work environment. I intend to continue with ‘The Song Room’ drama project and with the development of pedagogies for students with disabilities.

I also intend to undertake further professional studies at some stage in the future.

Is there anything else that you would like to mention?
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Special Education and if you would like to find out more about our school please check out our website.