I must have cried enough tears to fill a swimming pool.

I remember the heartbreaking pain of realising that the profession I had dedicated my life to, the work that had brought me so much joy and purpose, the job I had absolutely adored, was no longer aligned with my personal or professional values. Reality hit, it was not going to change any time soon.

With decades of working life ahead of me, I needed to find a solution for myself, because the thought of staying in the system terrified me far more than the thought of acting on that inner voice telling me I was here to create something new.

I call this period of my life my Humpty Dumpty moment....

...to make it sound cuter than it was.

I had climbed up this rickety old wall that we call the education system. It felt slightly unstable as I balanced classroom roles with leadership positions, giving my all to everything I did. In time, I found that it was the leadership that was draining me of my inner naïve goodness, realising that the business we call 'school' did not place students in their rightful position at the core. It was the students who filled my bucket during the rare moments I felt strong enough to rebel against the PowerPoint takeover and have some fun in the classroom. Those moments became fewer and it took it's toll on my health. What once felt like a full and sturdy human body that supported me in my work began to feel vulnerable, fragile, a bit neglected, and wobbling about up there on the wall.... alone.

I remember what it was like to lie awake at night torn between loyalty to students and the quiet knowing that staying in this job means losing myself completely. Maybe you’ve felt it too. The knowing that something isn’t right anymore, life no longer fits inside this box. The ache that whispers there must be more than this.

It was a teeny, tiny, little needle-sized prick that pushed me off the wall entirely. The straw that broke the camel’s back. There I was, shattered into a million pieces on the cold, hard floor. I may have stayed there for a while, but I soon realised that it did not matter how many king’s horses or king’s men trotted alongside me to see if I was okay or tried to put me back together again. That job was up to me. Nobody was coming to save me, and I had two options: pick myself up and figure out how to stay in the system, or pick myself up and figure out my reason for being here.

Either way, I knew that I needed to gather those broken pieces and rebuild myself in a way that felt aligned with my heart and soul.

I started by blindly searching for my eyes. I had identified as a teacher since my early twenties, and that label simply no longer fit like it used to. I transformed the way I saw myself and my purpose in life as a teacher. I realised I was not here to flick through PowerPoint slides, read scripts, and hand out scaffolded assessments to collect meaningless data on students. I am a highly skilled, experienced professional with intuitive talents, a rich collection of pedagogical tools, and a deep joy in inspiring and guiding young people as they grow. Some teachers are placed here on this planet during this time period for a reason. We are necessary for the evolution of education.

Each shattered piece that I found was seen, held, and examined through a new perspective. Every self-belief was tested. Did it belong to the true me, or was it shaped by years of conditioning within a system that I had been in since I was five years old? This healing work was messy, humbling, and oh so powerfully worthwhile.

In time, I stood again. A little different, perhaps, but whole, and freer than I could ever have imagined. I was no longer bound by damaging protocols, and for the first time, I knew how to put myself first and assertively put my students first too. I felt less alone, knowing that I was not the only teacher who had felt this conflict of identity. I began speaking from the heart, and what started as personal healing soon became a collective awakening. After almost two decades of knowing it was coming...

Inquire Education was born.

I began to ask new questions. How does this generation truly learn? Can I teach authentically without predetermined outcomes to work towards? Can I feel that my work is meaningful without assessment data? When I returned to the system strategically and enthusiastically, I was told by my Principal that “the department only ever uses evidence-based practice.” .... "Oh, so that is why we keep cycling through old ways that don't work." I kept that thought to myself, as I laughed at an instant download, knowing my next move, "Ok, I'll go and gather some evidence then, shall I?" Thanks!!

Four years on, I have collected an extraordinary community of home-educating families who place the whole child at the centre of learning, and a strong network of like-minded teachers who teach from the heart. I am inspired by them every single day.

I now feel as valued and respected as I know my Inquire Education community does too. We are all a little quirky, and that is perfectly fine by us. Here is where we belong. We accept each other. We gather in our authenticity to support one another, reimagining education and doing it our way. There is no one telling us what to do, how to do it, or when to do it. Instead, we bring our talents, our skills, our personalities, and our love into spaces where children thrive and purpose shines.

Education feels human again.

If any part of my story resonates with you, perhaps it is because you are standing on that same rickety wall, wondering if it is safe to climb down, not fully knowing what lies on the other side. It is safe to come down, touch the Earth again as you ground into your purpose... You don’t have to rebuild yourself alone either, it might be the perfect time for you to join us inside Inquire Education and discover a community of educators and families who are shaping a new story for learning.

Conscious, Connected, Creative and FREE.