Teacher Jodi Rechsteiner is an advocate for the positive changes youth pathway programs can have on young people and their education journeys.
Ms Rechsteiner teaches VCE-Vocational Major and Victorian Pathways Certificate, previously known as Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning, at GOTAFE.
The replacement qualifications came into effect in 2023 and are bringing about a positive change to the perceptions of young people and their education journeys, Ms Rechsteiner said.
“The new certificates are based around the pillars of applied learning, and preparing students for life after school,” she said.
“Kids don’t want to learn something if they can’t see the relevance to their own lives, so the strengths of our programs are that we make it relevant to them.
“VCAL didn’t exist when I was in school, which is such a shame, as it suits so many of our learners. I am such a big advocate for it now.”
Ms Rechsteiner found that VCAL overlapped with her interests and skills, and as a result, she would often have students crossing over to both VCAL and hospitality.
“My favourite subject to teach was personal development skills,” she said.
“The beautiful thing is I could make it fun for the kids, which makes a huge difference to their education journey.”
The best part of the job is building relationships with each of her students, who come from a variety of backgrounds, Ms Rechsteiner said.
“I love what I do,” she said.
“I consider myself exceptionally privileged to be able to work with these young people.”
In 2020, 61.2 per cent of VCAL certificate enrolments were students enrolled in government schools across Victoria.
As non-secondary providers, GOTAFE’s VCAL program has typically attracted many students who don’t fit into the mainstream model of education, delivered by government schools.
“For many reasons, not at the fault of the students, VCAL has always had a stigma. People often thought VCAL was for dumb kids and drop-outs. That’s not the case at all.”