Teaching a winning philosophy
by Rebecca Gill
Photo courtesy of The Advertiser
Paul Thomas, Andrew Whiteman and Heath Younie all share more than a common love of teaching – they also share some friendly competition on the footy field. All three play in the SA National Football League, and have recently graduated with teaching degrees at UniSA.
Together they represent an increasing number of young men bringing their zest for life into the classroom.
"What I love about teaching is that while it’s backed by a lot of theory, it’s really very practical. Passing real life skills onto students is really rewarding," said 27-year-old Younie, who plays for North Adelaide.
He graduated from a double degree in sports science and education, and
now teaches physical education and
science at Windsor Gardens Vocational School.
Central Districts’ Thomas, who works at Trinity College, Gawler River, voices a similar love for his occupation.
"Getting outside with kids and interacting is great fun. I also love the fact that there is a lot that’s changing and we’re constantly learning and doing different things."
Sturt’s Andrew Whiteman, 28, teaches at Xavier College.
While AFL players’ incomes don’t often necessitate full-time employment, many SANFL players still have to juggle commitments to the club with work. And these three were no exception.
"Uni life fits in well with playing footy or professional sport of any kind. But I, like most guys in the league, have to work full-time," Younie said.
Now that graduation day has come, all admit that applying a hard-working philosophy to both study and the field was a challenge.
Younie worked full-time at a footy club and found that his footy occasionally suffered.
"Exam time was hard work. Working as a student teacher was even harder, because we had huge blocks of practicals and they were often pretty far away," he said.
Whiteman agrees that it was a juggling act.
"But footy isn’t going to last forever, so it was always important to me to have something else. It has definitely been worth it."
And notwithstanding last month’s graduations, there have been plenty of on-field achievements for the three. Younie has captained his side on occasion and Whiteman helped Sturt gain a premiership in 2002. In 2004 Thomas won the Best and Fairest in the SANFL competition – the Magarey Medal.
All are passionate about education – both from a studying and teaching perspective, and believe it is important for men to be represented in teaching. They admit that sometimes their job is made a little easier by the fact that many students look up to them as professional athletes.
"Most of our students know that we play in state league, and some are even supporters. I suppose we are role models in some ways," Thomas said.
Younie, Whiteman and Thomas were among the 1049 UniSA graduands who donned their mortarboards and gowns to become graduates at ceremonies held on August 17-18.