Teacher Tag: Ms. Cooper

[U]: Not that I’ve been stalking you or anything, but you live a long, long way away from school. Every morning you come to Uni High. What motivates you to get here?

C: You guys!

[U]: Us? What’s so special about us?

C: Well, you’re not ratbags and you’re not feral. I think every day I have a belly laugh and money can’t buy that so I don’t mind driving for it.

[U]: And what about Uni High? Is there anything special about Uni High other than the students?

C: It is a lot of fun to work here. I’m in the English department now, I was in Chapman before and I’ve been in VCE and other places before. There are usually such good relationships between the teachers, again, you get to have lots of laughs and not take things too seriously.

[U]: As you mentioned before, you were the head of Chapman. What makes the green house better than the red and the blue?

C: The colour.

[U]: Just the colour?

C: Yes, that’s why I selected it. I had a choice; they asked me which sub-school I would like. I picked Chapman because I like green.

[U]: And that’s the main reason?

C: Yeah.

[U]: Your house isn’t the only thing that’s far away. You come all the way from New Zealand. Are you a proud Kiwi?

C: Very much so. I am an absolute fanatic All Blacks fan. I can’t bear for anyone to say anything against them.

[U]: What exactly makes you a proud New Zealander?

C: I was born there, I still go back. I don’t know. I guess it’s where you’re born. I love Australia as well but my heart is still there because that’s where I was born. I guess that’s the same for anyone who leaves their country.

[U]: Do you visit often?

C: I try to get back every year. Also, the food there has improved out of sight. It used to be that you couldn’t get even get tomato paste. Fair dinkum.

[U]: Did you always aspire to be a teacher?

C: No. Before I was a teacher I was a radiographer. And then I went back to university to study arts. I’m trained as a radiographer in New Zealand and that’s part of the reason why I came here; because there are no jobs unless I wanted to work on the West Coast of the South islands. When you’re very young, you don’t want to do that.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I had thought about becoming a criminologist, I’d thought about other things and then was really just fluffing about and so I did a Dip Ed – not a Masters. And then I became a teacher.

[U]: What exactly made you want to be a teacher?

C: My mother was a teacher, but I wasn’t even that sure initially. It wasn’t until after I started teaching that I realised I really, really enjoyed it.

Working with young people is the reason. It just keeps you alive. There’s always something. And no two classes are ever the same. Ever. Also, as an English teacher, you get to read books and teach. What could be better?

[U]: As an English teacher, I want your honest opinion on Shakespeare. Is he really that good?

C: Uh, seriously. Look, when I was at school I didn’t understand any of it. I don’t even think when I was at university I was that good with it. But once I started teaching, I had to. The best thing about teaching is that you really have to study things really, really well before you can teach them, so you really get involved in them. And that has changed my life in terms of Shakespeare.

Just in lit this year – year 12 literature – we’re studying Coriolanus, I hadn’t studied it before but it’s amazing! It’s just because he has such great quotations and just this understanding of what it is to be human. And, they’re all great and very funny.

[U]: What is your favourite text to teach?

C: I think my favourite of all times- and it’s not on the list anymore – is The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. I love that. I think my favourite Shakespeare to teach is King Lear.

[U]: And who are some great authors in your opinion?

C: Well, Michael Ondaatje, I like Annie Proulx, I like…Oh my God! Now that I’m asked on the spot I can’t even remember any authors’ names!

[U]: What are some good qualities in an author?

C: I just think that the language that you read is part of it but it’s also things being believable. Like you don’t suddenly think all of a second: hang on.., I just don’t see how that’s so – it needs to grab you as well.

Yeah, I really, really like Janet Frame. She’s a New Zealand writer who died a couple of years ago and she’s truly amazing.

[U]: What’s your favourite word in the English language?

C: I’d have to say ‘nincompoop’.  Well if you call anyone this name it doesn't sound too harsh and can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. The only person who knows what it is meant to represent is the person who said it. 

[U]: I heard that you’re an animal lover! Can you tell me a little about your pets?

C: Oh my God, you have been stalking me! I love animals. I have two cats and a dog and I’ve previously had another three cats and a dog. They’re so cute. I do love them.

It’s just, I’ve always had pets. There’s nothing better. You come home at night and it’s dark and cold and this little, white fluffy thing goes around and around in circles, and the back the other way.  It adores you, so much. Even if I go for half an hour, come back, and this adoration, this total love – the cats don’t.

[U]: Who came up with Cake Fridays?

C: Well, it just seems like a good thing to do, especially with the senior class. It finishes the week really nicely. And with year 12, the relationship between the teacher and the students at that stage is more relaxed and it seems like a good thing to do at that stage.

[U]: As a part of Teacher Tag, I ask staff to share their talents. I’ve been told that you can do the Hakka. Can I get a demonstration please?

C: Yes, yes. I can do a version of the Hakka. Women aren’t supposed to do the Hakka but yeah, I can do it for you.

[U]: Who would you like to tag for the next Teacher Tag?

C: I would like to tag Ms Lennard.