Educator ends decades working in NT

A veteran educator has ended her successful career after working in the Northern Territory for almost 40 years.

Charles Darwin University Arts Education and Childcare lecturer Lorraine Connell has taught in schools and universities across the globe in the course of her career.

But she said she gained invaluable experience from teaching and lecturing in the NT.

“Teaching in the Northern Territory is fantastic and the opportunities are wonderful,” Ms Connell said.

“You learn skills that will last forever.”

Ms Connell began teaching in the NT after relocating from Melbourne in 1977, when public schools were run by the Commonwealth Government’s NT Teaching Service.

“I decided I wanted a change, as you do when you’re young,” she said. “It’s been a great journey.”

Ms Connell then discovered her passion for teaching at tertiary level at CDU in 1990, which was then known as the Northern Territory University, and remained there for 25 years.

“CDU has given me amazing opportunities that I probably would never have gotten if I had stayed in Melbourne,” she said.

“I loved the flexibility of teaching tertiary students and I felt I had so much to offer in terms of my experience.”

Ms Connell has also taught in Timor-Leste and in the United States. She is currently lecturing in Arts Education at CDU’s Melbourne campus.

“I’d reached the point where I thought it was probably time to call it quits, although I will miss it,” she said.

“You’re never really sure whether you’re ready for it, but I think I probably am.”