Jodi Rechsteiner is an advocate for the positive changes youth pathway programs can have on young people and their education journeys.
Ms Rechsteiner teaches the VCE Vocational Major and Victorian Pathways Certificate, previously known as VCAL, at Goulburn Ovens institute of TAFE (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.
“The new certificates are based around the pillars of applied learning, and preparing students for life after school,” Ms Rechsteiner 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.”
Ms Rechsteiner recently celebrated 13 years of working at GOTAFE, and as her positions have evolved over time, so too has her love for educating others.
“My plan was to go in and teach in high schools and be one of those home economics teachers because I thought it would be fun to teach kids how to make ANZAC biscuits and scones,” she said.
In Ms Rechsteiner’s own words, she was working at Kilmore International School as the breakfast chef when her plans were “slightly hijacked” while job-searching. She ended up in a part-time role in the hospitality department at GOTAFE.
By the end of her first year in the hospitality department, Ms Rechsteiner was asked whether she’d be interested in teaching a VCAL unit, and for the next couple of years, was both working in hospitality and teaching VCAL at GOTAFE.
“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,” she said.
Ms Rechsteiner found that VCAL overlapped with her interests and skill-set, 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.”
For Ms Rechsteiner, the best part of the job is building relationships with each of her students, who come from a variety of backgrounds.
“I love what I do,” she said.
“I consider myself exceptionally privileged to be able to work with these young people.”