Teresa (Tez) Phillips has had many roles in life. Farm hand, “checkout chick”, drover, fire extinguisher filler, IT manager and teacher’s aide among them. As well as parenting four amazing kids and, more recently, becoming a nanny to eight precious grandchildren.
Her own childhood was far less happy. “My parents separated and I was flipped between one parent and another, from NSW to Queensland, and only completed five years of schooling all up. I struggled and was repeatedly told I was unteachable, that I would never amount to anything.”
But at age 19 Teresa decided to flip the script – and embarked on her first TAFE course. In the decades that followed she would accumulate qualifications spanning everything from secretarial studies, Information technology and civil construction to Aboriginal languages and even a Diploma of Management.
“I worked wherever I could find work, including 20 years on and off as a teacher’s aide while my kids were young,” Teresa says. “I had difficulties learning because of my lack of education and never, ever thought I would be clever enough to do anything like university or become a teacher.”
That changed in 1989 when, encouraged by the students she worked with at Coonamble High School (as a Student Support Officer) and her daughters Rebecca and Belinda, Teresa enrolled in a Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) at UNE. “The kids at school kept pushing me and telling me, ‘You can do this’. And Rebecca was studying criminology at UNE and coming home and talking about all the amazing stuff she was learning and doing. I got entry on the back of my diploma, and it snowballed from there.”
Keeping up her full time work at Coonamble High, Teresa “dug in”. There were times when she doubted she would complete the degree, but she had a diverse skillset and a wealth of life experiences to draw on.
“Because of the roller-coaster ride I had when I was younger, I am versatile and adaptable. I’ve learnt to keep going.”
Finishing her degree in 2025 was, Teresa says, the most rewarding achievement of her working life. So rewarding, that she leapt straight into a Master of Special and Inclusive Education. “Uni became this in-depth learning experience. I just loved it. I knew what it was like to struggle with learning at school, to be put in the too-hard-basket, and here I was learning how to teach kids differently.”
Those students, past and present, remain a big source of inspiration and motivation and were among the first to congratulate Teresa when she joined Coonamble High’s special education unit as a full-time teacher earlier this year.
“It’s a big job but they are all amazing kids and I love the challenge; it’s a natural fit. Even now, when I see kids who have left school, they tell me how amazing it is that I’m now teaching and that they wish they could come back to school and have me as their teacher.
“I’ve had the right training and education to do this, and I understand where they are coming from. I’m dug in like a tick. You won’t get me out.”
And as is so often in life, hard-earned lessons inform Teresa’s approach in positive ways.
“I spent my life fumbling through things and trying to find my way. But what I learnt at TAFE and through life makes me a more effective teacher. It enables me to support kids better – to build their confidence and ability to learn.
I never thought I would get here but I did – and it feels amazing. It all came down to UNE, which gave me the chance to grow, learn and now teach others. At 56, I’m still learning. I hope my journey inspires others, to never give up and to know that it’s never too late.
Postscript: Teresa will graduate with a Master of Special and Inclusive Education from UNE in October. Two research papers she co-wrote on neurodivergence in secondary schools with one of her lecturers, Associate Professor Ingrid Harrington, are now pending publication. Teresa has also drafted 150 pages of a potential thesis, but just don’t ask her about Honours or PhD studies … yet.
