Sandy Marshall: A Life-Long Learner with an Enduring Passion for History

Currently, Sandy is studying at The Teachers’ Institute while gaining hands-on experience as a History Teacher Trainee at Massey High School. “The way that The Teachers’ Institute programme is designed has made the journey so much easier for me and my family,” Sandy says. “I also love the way that we are immersed in a school right from the outset and combine this with the theory and assessments required for our qualification.”

Sandy had always considered a career in teaching, but life took her on a different path for many years. “Teaching is something that I had always considered but life kind of got in the way,” she shares. After finishing high school, Sandy didn’t go to university right away. Instead, she travelled extensively in her 20s and focused on raising her family throughout her 30s, 40s, and into her 50s. A couple of years ago, she completed her degree in history and rediscovered her love for being in a supportive learning environment.

A self-proclaimed history nerd, Sandy’s passion for the subject began in high school, where she was fortunate to have excellent history teachers. Her love for history was further fueled by her travels, particularly in Europe and the UK. “There are so many ‘aha moments,’ but high on the list would be going to Lenin’s Mausoleum in Moscow, seeing where the popes are buried in St Peter’s Basilica, the Churchill War Rooms in London, and the cemeteries of the Western Front,” she shares.

Sandy plans to bring history to life for her students by making the subject engaging and exciting. “I think history is sometimes viewed as a bit of a dry subject (dates, wars, and dead people), so I want to really try and bring to life what it is we are studying. I want to enhance the knowledge of students in a myriad of ways and really get them thinking deeply and critically about the topics covered, and why they are so important that we are still studying them,” Sandy explains. She hopes that the lessons learned in her history classes will remain with her students long after they leave school.

In her teaching career, Sandy’s primary goal is to build strong, positive relationships with her students and impact their lives through the lessons they learn. She believes that understanding the past is crucial for making sense of the present and future. “I want to see students impacted by what they learn in my history classes. I hope that they will see that while they may be learning about what has happened in the past, it is still relevant to their lives today,” she says.

Looking ahead, Sandy hopes to secure a history teaching position next year and have a form class that she can mentor. “I would very much like to have a form class which I can take through for the full five years of secondary school. I have seen great form teachers in action and they make an enormous difference in the lives of their students,” she shares.

As one of the mature trainee teachers at The Teachers’ Institute, Sandy hopes to inspire students by demonstrating that career paths are not set in stone. She wants them to see that it’s okay to change careers and pursue lifelong learning. “I’m one of the older trainee teachers at The Teachers’ Institute, so I hope that school students will see that what you decide to do straight out of high school doesn’t define you forever—it’s OK to change careers at any time. I hope that I can provide an example of lifelong learning and how if you put your mind to it, you can achieve so much,” Sandy says.

For those considering a career in teaching, Sandy advises exploring all the different study options to find the best fit and spending time in a classroom to understand the current school environment. “Check out all the different study options to find which one works best for you. Try and spend some time in a classroom and see what it is like in a school today—it’s quite different from when I was at high school. And you’ve got to enjoy working with teenagers!” she advises.