Hey there, I’m Zen Joyner! A pre-service teacher and education support worker based in Bendigo, Australia! My education journey has been driven by a goal to ensure that every single student has a supportive figure in their corner, and that all young men have access to a positive male role model throughout their schooling.

I was inspired to enter the education sector after having a number of excellent teachers throughout my schooling who went above and beyond to make every student feel seen, understood and valued. These teachers were so much more than teachers, they were, coaches, mentors, therapists and parents. Students in Australia spend about 13 years of their life at school, so it’s essential that whilst they’re at school, they have role models who they can look up to, this is especially important when teaching or working at schools in a low socioeconomic status area like Wedderburn, where I work now.

I am aiming to become a science and humanities leading teacher who brings these subjects that are often perceived by many students to be “dry“ or “boring” to life in an engaging and fun environment. These were my favourite subjects at school and ones that I look forward to learning more about throughout my university electives.

Outside of my education work and study I am an avid fisherman, golfer and massive South Sydney Rabbitohs Fan. I am an uncle to a cheeky nephew and a gorgeous niece, and a father to my ginger cat Lynx.

I am also the Secretary of the Bendigo Education Society, a society for students enrolled in education subjects at La Trobe Bendigo to network, socialise and access professional resources and job opportunities. Through this role I aim to not only support education students, but also act as a positive role model to regional men who may want to enter the teaching profession, but don’t due to the stigma around not getting a job on a farm or in the trades (yes, as ridiculous as it sounds this is a real thing, particularly for men who want to study early childhood or primary teaching).

Throughout this professional portfolio, I aim to display a number of skills I have acquired through my study of education, as well as providing valuable insights into highly important topics in the education space in the form of a blog post and a set of reflections.