Published on: 17th February 2022
Meet Auslan teacher of eleven years Robyn Wood
Robyn Wood is our Senior Coordinator for Workforce Training. We asked her to chat about her work as an Auslan teacher, here’s what she had to say:
Hi, I’m Robyn Wood. I am the Senior Coordinator for Workforce training within the education team at Deaf Connect (formerly Deaf Services and the Deaf Society). I have been teaching Auslan for eleven years but didn’t always know I was going to be an Auslan teacher. I started with teaching community classes and then moved onto accredited courses and have really enjoyed it.
A typical day of work for an Auslan teacher consists of preparation and organisation to ensure the students have access to everything they need to learn that day. There is of course, assessments and marking too.
I would recommend teaching Auslan as a career as it is an excellent opportunity to teach the hearing community about our language – Auslan. I also think students prefer learning from deaf teachers because it’s their language and culture.
Before becoming an Auslan teacher, I recommend you complete the Diploma of Auslan. Through the Diploma, you will learn about our language and structure. You would also be required to do extra training, such as Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.
One of my greatest joys is seeing students’ progress through the Auslan qualifications from Certificate II through to Diploma of Auslan and become interpreters. It’s such a rewarding feeling.
Auslan is incredibly important to me because it’s my communication method. Not only does Auslan break down barriers, it’s a beautiful language. Being deaf, my community is part of my life, and Auslan is entrenched within my community – using Auslan and interacting with my community is where I feel most at home, in my comfort zone, it is where I feel most connected.
My goal is to recruit more deaf people to become Auslan teachers and have more of the wider community learning the beautiful language of Auslan.
If you have ever considered a career teaching Auslan, now is the time. Learn more and apply now by visiting our careers page here.
