Juliette Bentley

History & Social Studies

The Gap, Australia

About

Spark Collaborative Creativity

I am a digital bowerbird, fascinated by finding ways to help my students unleash their creativity as they emerge as global citizens, interested in creating a sustainable future. I have contributed to over sixteen textbooks, run global projects with the Asia-Europe Foundation, become the APAC Adobe Master Teacher, and am now a Google Innovator, driving a project around the United Nations Sustainability Goals. I've been teaching since 1989 and love my vocation more now than I did when I began. I had the choice early, as a non-computer literate chalkie, to ride the tide of digital literacy or be drowned by it. My passion lies in helping educators support one another as they build bridges internationally in an attempt to nurture cultural understanding and empathy through collaborations. I have run a successful Writers Club for ten years and am constantly seeking to leverage life long learning for my students. I present both nationally and internationally and more detail can be found on my website, where you will also find teaching resources in English and Religion and Ethics. I look forward to working with educators, carers and innovators. I can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn. Fellow Google Innovator Alex McMillan and I have created a student driven news programme called Students, Camera Action to explore student advocacy and action on tge sustainable development goals and invite schools from around the world to participate. You can find more information at http://www.studentscameraaction.com where you will find episode 1. This is a project which may take two years to complete the first iteration, but each episode is supported by general capabilities teaching suggestions.

I am a passionate educator who simply wants to lead and leave a legacy of authentic connection and learning.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that as educators and carers, it is incumbent upon us to liberate and leverage student creativity to build authentic relationships and deep learning in collaborative, respectful, and global ways, particularly at this time. Only by showing ourselves as authentic life-long learners, able to navigate successes and disappointments transparently, can our students recognise the process of learning and the value of productive failure. If we present as perfect and all-knowing, we set our students up to measure themselves unfairly and this often becomes a wall that stalls their engagement. As co-learners we both grow in understanding and ownership of the learning context..

Subjects & Specialisms

History & Social Studies

Experience

I have been teaching since 1989 in both state and private schools and have been in my current school Mount Saint Michaels College Ashgrove since 2001. I began my teaching life in Drama, Theatre, English, and Humanities but in recent years have focused on the transition of Grade six students into high school. I teach English and Religion from Grade 7 to 12.

I have run a successful writers club for ten years and have presented at national and international conferences with a focus on writing for pleasure as a skill-building but powerful tool for student voice and efficacy building. I have presented at EduTECH in both Australia and Asia, presented at Adobe APAC AEL summits, Adobe Max, and regularly on the Adobe APAC Inject Creativity Youtube broadcast.

I was recognised by the Asia-Europe Foundation with a Gold Award for my 2019 Global Project, Postcards From The Edge and I co-ran another around the Sustainable Development Goals in 2020. Global projects are close to my heart.

I have a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Literature, Theatre and Social Science. I hold a Masters in Education, building on my Graduate Certificate of Secondary Teaching. I am an Adobe Education Leader and Master Teacher. I hold my Google Educator Certificate One and Two, and am a Google Innovator. I am also a new Google Global Educator Group Leader. Watch this space.