Two TasTAFE hospitality teachers named as Tasmanian Training Award finalists
Published on: 07 Sep 2022
TasTAFE Drysdale teachers Rachel de Winter and Matthew Fraser were recently selected as finalists for VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year at the 2022 Tasmanian Training Awards.
Rachel has worked at TasTAFE for over 10 years. She started her career as an educator at Ansett Airlines, continuing to refine her skills within the tourism sector for many years prior to joining the teaching team at TasTAFE. Rachel says her shortlisting has been a great chance to reflect on her career and the role of vocational education and training in the state.
“For me it’s about representing the team and the organisation and my passion for life-long learning. I think it’s great for our brand, to really highlight the importance of vocational education and training (VET) in education.”
As a qualified chef working in industry for many years, now turned educator, commercial cookery teacher Matthew saw it as recognition for the dedication he and his colleagues have in training their students.
“Being nominated as a finalist is acknowledgement that I don’t see what I do as just a job. I see it as a holistic approach to guide, mentor and develop future generations of chefs and potential business owners in the hospitality industry. For me, it’s an acknowledgement to keep going, to keep driving forward and invoke growth and change whilst embracing evolving teaching methods”.
As well as reflecting on his hard work to date, the shortlisting had Matthew casting his eye to the future.
“I believe VET plays a very important role in the reskilling of our country moving forward… VET needs to be seen as a desirable pathway (for students).”
The past few years have created challenges for teachers and students, but Rachel has found it a good test of her own skills.
“I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of having to engage students online.” Rachel said. “I’ve invited guest speakers from industry to join in on Zoom to share experiences with students and to inspire them to work in tourism and hospitality. We even had the General Manager of Hotel Verge give us a virtual tour of the Hotel”.
Winners of the Tasmanian Training Awards will be announced on 9 September at Wrest Point.