Meet Year 5 Teacher Mr David Goebel

Can you tell us about your current role at Radford and what it involves?

As a Year 5 teacher, I’m responsible for the 25 students in Class 5GO.

I’m blessed and grateful to be working alongside a magnificent Year 5 team that laughs together and supports each other (personally and professionally) on a daily basis. Moving from overseas was a big step for me, but my colleagues and supervisors have been supportive, kind and welcoming from day one. I love that our lesson planning is focused on providing a learning environment that enables students to follow their personal interests.

What do you love about teaching?

For me personally, I haven’t experienced any other profession in which I feel such a profound sense of meaning. Teaching is such a versatile profession. It allows you to be an educator, entertainer, mediator, inquirer, social worker, psychologist, caretaker, manager, administrator, and many more things – it never gets boring.

Can you tell us a little more about your background and the path that led you to joining Radford?

I was born and had lived in Vienna my whole life (until recently). Ten years ago, I met my wonderful wife Jacinta (who is a Radford Collegian (Class of 2008)). During our time together in Vienna, I worked in a bilingual school (English/German), where I also held the position of Vice Principal for two years prior to moving to Australia. Last year, my wife and I made the decision to move our young family to Australia, to immerse ourselves in the culture and to experience this beautiful and adventurous country.

What differences have you noticed between teaching in Austria and Australia?

As a primary school teacher in Austria, you teach your students consecutively from Year 1 to Year 4, so you have the same class for four years. Additionally, you teach almost every subject, including PE, music, art and technical crafts.

The school day is also organised very differently. School starts at 8:00 am, and students arrive at 7:45 am. In winter, it’s still dark outside when school starts. As a teacher, you teach through the entire morning, until 12:00 or 1:00 pm without a break. After this, some students go home, and others go to after-school care. The Austrian school year starts in September with a summer break in July and August during the European summer.

If you could bring one thing from Austria (tradition, culture, hobby, monument, person etc.) to Australia, what/who would it be?

I would love to be able to bring my extended family with me. Ideally, they’d be transported in Café Sperl, which is one of Vienna’s oldest coffee houses, together with at least one grumpy waiter (an essential part of the Austrian experience), my favourite coffee called a 'melange' (which is half a cup of brewed coffee with half a cup of cream - probably, relatively close to a flat white), Viennese cakes and my closest friends.

What do you enjoy outside Radford?

I love spending time with my son and my wife. I enjoy swimming, playing the guitar, reading, yoga, improv theatre, cycling, vegetarian food, surfing (I’m not very good yet, but I hope living in Australia will change this), good coffee, board games and spending time with kind and passionate people.