JENNY GRENFELL
JENNY GRENFELL WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDING STAFF MEMBERS AT DEAKIN UNIVERSITY. SINCE RETIRING SHE IS WORKING ON COMPLETING HER PhD. I STARTED my career as a secondary teacher of visual art in 1960 after graduating from the University of Melbourne with a secondary teaching qualification.
I always had a passion for the arts and, in particular, visual arts.
It was most unusual for girls to go on to tertiary education because usually at that time girls would go into nursing or some form of office work, but I had parents who supported me and my passion for the arts, which led me to be an arts teacher.
I spent a number of years teaching in the country at various schools.
Not long after I was married and moved to Geelong to take up a new position at the Geelong teachers’ college in 1969.
In about 1974, there was a proposal for a new university in Geelong to be developed and so the Gordon Institute of Technology and the State College of Victoria amalgamated to form Deakin University.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to join the school of education in the newlyestablished Deakin University, so I was one of the foundation members of the university.
One of the most exciting things of becoming part of Deakin University was that it was brand new.
Not only did we have little in the way of buildings when we came, as a new university there were no established courses so we spent the first 12 months writing new courses. It was really exciting because we could plan what we wanted.
Back then we used the latest technology, which was print, slides and audio tapes.
Technology then evolved to include the use of video tapes and then CDs and then the internet arrived.
Each technological development was exciting and a huge learning curve because we were moving once again into a new way of working.
Since retiring, I miss the students more than anything.
I hope that I have contributed to my students’ love of the teaching profession, particularly in the arts.
I worked with such dedicated young men and women who have gone on to be teachers themselves and it’s amazing to have been part of their beginning journey into a profession that I am so passionate about.
Now that I have retired I plan to finally complete the PhD I started 30 years ago.
It is a bit of a nomad’s journey, taking a number of my papers and book chapters and putting them into a narrative that is my teaching and learning journey in arts education.