After shaking the dust of an undergraduate midwifery program off my shoes exactly two years and swearing I would never teach midwifery again, I am still a little bemused as I tell you that I have taken a new job, teaching in the midwifery program at Griffith University in Brisbane.In 2011 I am going to be working at Griffith at 0.5 fte and continuing at my current job at Otago Polytechnic as an educational developer 0.5 fte.
How it is going to work is I am going to be a "virtual" faculty staff member which means I will do all my teaching online, and also continue my online development and research work such as the Virtual International Day of the Midwife. I will go to Brisbane at least three times a year for face-to-face work with students and staff....which will be no hardship, I can tell you. This job will give me an entrée into Australia and a university career structure, yet give me the freedom to continue to develop in the areas I am interested in, such as ePortfolio and open education. On the other hand, Griffith gets a very experienced midwife and midwifery educator, a teacher with eLearning and instructional design experience, as well as a staff developer....so win-win all around.
At the same time, I am extremely grateful that my boss at Otago Polytechnic, Terry Marler, is prepared to be flexible with me, and keep me on to teach my great passion "Facilitating Online" and continue growing my staff development skills.
So I get my cake and eat it.....live in Dunedin...hang out with the wonderful team at EDC, Otago Polytechnic...have regular visits to Brisbane... and hang out with a midwifery team who are innovative and really keen to push the boundaries in midwifery education.
What more could a girl want?!
Image: 'Griffith University - Queensland Conservatorium'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37103425@N00/268598163
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