AUSSIE

Carolyn McKay is an Australian educator with many years of international experience in Australia, England and Indonesia, and now as a consultant in New York City working with elementary schools. Carolyn has taught and worked with students from Pre-Kindergarten to High School.

In Australia, her focus was Aboriginal Education. For several years she taught in remote and country schools that were designated ‘hard to staff’ because of poverty and isolation issues. These schools also had large populations of Aboriginal students. As an Aboriginal Education Teacher, she worked with parents, staff and students to better support the educational needs of Aboriginal students. Carolyn also worked as a Primary Years Project Officer with the South Australian Education Department, facilitating professional development and projects in literacy and numeracy across the state. She was involved in the development of resources and curriculum materials such as ‘Contextual teaching and learning – a strategy to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal learners’, and ‘Cycles for Success – action research as a tool for improving outcomes for Aboriginal learners’.

In Indonesia, as well as teaching elementary classes, Carolyn mentored and supported the professional development of local teachers.  She implemented a range of strategies to support ‘Student Voice’ across the school, including establishing a Student Representative Council.

In London, Carolyn worked successfully with testing grades, particularly with students identified as ESL as well as those with special needs.  She was an integral member of the school’s leadership/management committee.

Carolyn’s work in schools in New York has particularly focused on supporting teachers to collect useful data about their students, analyzing and then using it to inform instruction. This year she is working with several new schools who have opted into the DYO (Do Your Own) assessment plan as supported by AUSSIE, leading their efforts to become reflective and supportive schools, catering for the needs and strengths of all of their students.
 
Carolyn’s various roles have always had a professional development focus to enable teachers and educators to better support the strengths and needs of the students with whom they work.