Deb Vietri

 

  Deborah has taught in many diverse primary school settings. Her roles have included: classroom teacher, Arts teacher, EAL Specialist teacher, Literacy Co-ordinator, Learning and Teaching Leader and Deputy Principal.

 Deborah worked for six years at Catholic Education Melbourne where she supported schools with curriculum development, implementing effective learning teaching and assessment strategies and policy development.

  Since 2007 Deborah has been working as an education consultant. She works with teachers, schools and systems in the areas of staff professional development, development of learning and teaching approaches, and planning for student learning.

 

Deborah is a published author. Some of her work includes:

• The Essentials: Units of work for the integrated curriculum. There are three volumes: Senior Primary, Middle Primary and Junior Primary,

• Integrated Units of work incorporating Indigenous perspectives published on the website Yarra Healing

• Member of a team of writers who developed the Envision Maths Program published by Pearson Education Australia

• Member of a team of writers who developed units of work for a Curriculum Corporation resource on Values Education

• Articles in educational magazines including TLN: Teacher Learning Network magazine, Learning Matters and Diversity

 

Deb has presented workshops at national and international conferences including The International Conference on Thinking (ICOT) in Bilbao 2015, and the ACEL Early Years Conference in 2018 in Sydney. She has also run many Professional Development programs for Educational Systems on areas such as: Designing Dynamic Inquiries; Inquiry in the Primary Classroom; Incoroporating Indigenous Perspectives; and Developing a Whole School Approach to Curriculum Planning.

 

Deb is passionate about learning. She loves finding out new things and is energized when she gets to spend time on indulging in creative pursuits. She especially loves seeing the joy when children discover something new or amazing for themselves, or when they create things they are really proud of.

  Deborah believes in giving children the opportunity to own their own learning, teaching them the skills to be able to manage this, and inspiring them to think deeply about things that matter to them. Deborah’s motto is: ‘give them the opportunity to amaze you’.

Deborah shares, “One of the things I love most about my work is visiting so many different school settings, and seeing how many different ways teachers and leaders are striving to make learning relevant, engaging and powerful for their students”.

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Vanessa Willis

 

Vanessa has worked as a classroom teacher, Level Leader, Literacy Leader, Graduate Mentor and Inquiry Leader in a variety of Catholic schools. She has a specific interest in inquiry approaches to learning, literacy and curriculum implementation.  Vanessa feels strongly about the need to support students to develop skills, tools and processes to help them become successful learners whilst maintaining students’ interest and enthusiasm for learning

 

Some of Vanessa’s most enjoyable and rewarding times in teaching beyond her classroom role was working as a Leader in varied curriculum roles and as Graduate Mentor. She was constantly inspired and invigorated by the teachers she worked with and felt privileged to be able to support her colleagues in their teaching practice.  Being a Graduate Mentor helped Vanessa question her own educational philosophies as well refine her practice. Vanessa says “I loved the satisfaction I received from helping shape the pedagogy of my young colleagues at such an early stage of their career”.

 

Since 2014 Vanessa has been working as an education consultant with Deborah Vietri Education Consulting Services. She has been working closely with schools, leaders and teachers in a variety of ways including; facilitation of Professional Development, planning with teachers, mentoring Learning and Teaching leaders and undertaking classroom visits to observe teachers and provide feedback.

 

In 2018 Vanessa co-presented a workshop at the ACEL Early Childhood Conference in Sydney about Discovery Based Inquiry. She explained how this approach to learning in the early years enables young learners to pursue self-directed inquiries that emerge from opportunities to play and explore with a focus on developing student learning dispositions and skills.

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Rita Krnac

 

Rita has over 20 years of teaching experience and is currently the Leader of Learning and Teaching at St Mary Mackillop Primary School in Keilor Downs. Rita is responsible for the implementation of the educational vision of teaching and learning at the school.

Rita is passionate and has a deep knowledge of innovative and educational thinking and practice. Rita has a love of learning and the ability to inspire and enthuse teachers and students. She has experience in leading teams of teachers in developing, implementing, monitoring and assessing academic programs using the Victorian Curriculum.  Rita has presented at various Catholic Education Melbourne professional learning days. Her personal goal is to continue to inquire, learn and improve her own understandings and practices.

 

Rita joined the team at Deborah Vietri Education Consulting in 2019. She has presented at Discovery Clusters, specifically introducing new teachers to Discovery.  Rita mentors and supports teachers in their understanding of designing powerful learning experiences to engage the interest of the children and ignite curiosity. She works with teachers to make explicit curriculum links when planning.

 

In 2019 Rita is looking forward to travelling to the USA and Canada on a study tour in Leading Learning Innovation with Catholic Education Melbourne. This is an opportunity to: develop school leadership skills; network; form new partnerships; and engage in dialogue around professional knowledge. She is looking forward to sharing and implementing her new knowledge when she returns.