Australia's 10 Most Influential Education Leaders-2019

At the Forefront of
an Educational Reformation
The course of mankind’s evolution and the norms
and methodologies of education have evidently
been treading on the same roads, hand in hand,
leveraging the opportunities provided by technology. This
correlational evolution has birthed a certain sect of people,
who uphold the prominence of contemporary education and
the resultant profundity of its acknowledgment, and who
can be safely assumed to be designated as educational
leaders. To simply exhibit an example, while not
stereotyping, of how and what an educational leader should
be, we wish to place the spotlight on Kelly Gervasoni, the
Year 9 Coordinator at St Andrews Lutheran College.
Kelly’s teaching career began in 2012 when she was
granted ‘special provision’ with the Victorian Institute of
th
Teaching to start teaching in her 4 year of university study
for Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences/Bachelor of
Education. During her first few years, she developed mentor
relationships with the Head of Mathematics and School
Principal and admired their strong leadership
characteristics. These relationships enabled her growth as
an educational leader through their support and
encouragement of reflective practices. Kelly remembers her
Principal saying, “Get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
She made the conscious effort to say yes to all opportunities
within reason and made multi-level action goals with these
mentors. Kelly strongly believes that self-awareness is a
crucial element of an effective leader (Goleman, 2013) and
thus, regularly reviewed her strengths and weaknesses and
incorporated these into her action goals.
Kelly began working at St Andrews Lutheran College as a
Kelly Gervasoni
Year 9 Coordinator
Middle/Senior School teacher and made the conscious
effort to develop authentic relationships with her
colleagues, which were based on trust and authenticity.
During this process, she developed a new Mentor – the
Deputy Principal, Mrs. Virginia Warner, and admired her
passion, dedication and having relationships at the core of
her practice. Kelly longed to have those excellent relational
skills and patience with colleagues and thus knew Mrs.
Warner was the next mentor who could enhance her
leadership skills.
In 2019, Kelly was offered further opportunities at St
Andrews, including the role of Year 9 Coordinator. She was
excited to lead and empower another team in the area of
Student Wellbeing, where she could use her knowledge and
skills learnt from her postgraduate studies. Her career
aspirations as an educational leader are to become an
effective leader in the area of student wellbeing, where she
hopes to initiate productive collaboration amongst staff and
students to facilitate quality practices that are reflective and
model life-long learning amongst staff and students.
22 | JULY 2019