Rita Brademann has become a familiar face around TAFE for generations of students since she arrived in Australia in 1986. Photo: TAFE NSW – Cooma Facebook.
There is a box in Rita Brademann’s home with special mementoes from her former students, collected through a teaching career spanning almost 40 years.
“This box is stuffed with cards. I have a lot of these cards, where people write down what it has meant to them and just say ‘Thank you,'” she said.
“I’ve still got students that text me or send messages on my birthday. Some of the students have moved away and still keep in contact and have become personal friends.”
It was a career that started when she left Germany and moved to Australia with her family, settling in the Riverina region of NSW.
She eventually found herself working in the Riverina, Queanbeyan and Cooma campuses of TAFE, after joining the organisation in 1986.
“I wanted to work. I hadn’t been in the country for very long [and] had worked in a community and cultural centre in Germany,” she said.
“In the local paper I spotted an advertisement where TAFE was looking for a communication teacher or a teacher [for] a women’s course.”
After her interview she was invited to run a workshop, teaching assertive communication to rural women, and stayed in the region for two years.
After leaving the Riverina Ms Brademann moved to Cooma and started teaching German and later, adult literacy and numeracy.
“The students learned German, I learned English and improved my English. It was the perfect combination,” she said.
By 1993, she was teaching general education courses – such as literacy and numeracy – at TAFE Queanbeyan on a full-time basis.
“Most of my students were language students and most of the students were part of the Macedonian community. There were Chinese students, Serbian, Croations … even a few Germans here and there!”
By 2000, she returned to TAFE Cooma, becoming head teacher at TAFE Cooma. Ms Brademann stepped back from full-time teaching in 2016 and took up a part-time role in the Equity, Foundation Skills, Aboriginal Culture, and Languages faculty.
Regional NSW became Ms Brademann’s home (and where she met new friends) after leaving Germany. Photo: TAFE NSW – Cooma Facebook.
Ms Brademann said she was proud the courses were a “practical stepping-stone” for her students as they upskilled, retrained or learned new skills.
“TAFE had – and still has – a hugely important role to really cater for the needs of the community. My TAFE work was always connected with community work,” she said.
“I get as much out of the classes as the students get from me. It’s a very interesting and enjoyable process.”
She said teaching gave her a chance to bond with students over their similar experiences coming to Australia, as well as navigating cultural and language differences.
“These students became my community, as well, because we had a shared experience,” she said.
“In teaching at TAFE, with these students, I found my own community and my place in the Australian community.
“I know so many faces in the community. Whenever we meet it’s a happy meeting because we share great experiences together.”
Ms Brademann said her time at TAFE had been a “great ride”, but she was planning to leave the classroom in the coming years.
“I’m getting older and there will be a decision at some stage,” she said.
“I would like to maintain a teaching role as long as I can, but I can’t put a time frame onto it.”
