Creating care workers who make a difference

Before becoming a teacher, Lisa worked in the care industry, where she saw first-hand just how important well-trained, compassionate workers are.

“I felt like I needed to be the change I wanted to see,” Lisa said.

“For me, that meant going back to the beginning and teaching people the skills they need to provide high-quality care.”

That decision led Lisa into teaching around eight years ago, including the past six years with TAFE Queensland.

Lisa Stark’s own pathway into the care sector was shaped by a deeply personal experience.

After previously working in childcare, her direction changed when her grandmother developed dementia.

Through spending time with people living with dementia, Lisa discovered a passion for supporting people to retain their sense of belonging, purpose and value.

She went on to study a Bachelor of Dementia Care through the University of Tasmania and began applying what she learned in industry.

“I fell in love with caring for people living with dementia,” she said.

“I wanted to help create high-quality care workers who understand how important it is to give people meaning, purpose and value.”

Today, TAFE Queensland gives Lisa the opportunity to pass that philosophy on to the next generation of care workers.

“TAFE Queensland has given me a platform where I can reach as many people as possible and help create high-quality care workers for the industry,” she said.

As an Individual Support teacher, Lisa works with students from a wide range of ages, cultures and professional backgrounds.

Some are returning to the classroom after many years away. Others arrive with substantial professional experience from overseas but need Australian training to help them take their next step.

Lisa has also taught students with backgrounds including nursing, physiotherapy and chemistry.

Her approach is to build students’ skills and confidence progressively.

“We don’t give students all the skills on the first day. We build them throughout the course,” she said.

“Each step adds to what they’ve already learned, so by the end they can bring all those skills together and apply them in industry.”

Just as importantly, Lisa encourages students to recognise that they are not starting from scratch.

The skills developed in previous careers and life experiences, whether in management, hospitality or another profession, can often be transferred into a new career in care.

“You might not realise it, but the skills you’ve gained in other industries can cross over into the care industry or whatever industry you choose to move into,” she said.

Few students have demonstrated that philosophy quite like Laurence.

Laurence initially came to class to support his wife while she studied. When he learned he couldn’t simply stay in the classroom as her support person, he came up with another solution.

“He just said, ‘That’s okay. I’ll enrol,’” Lisa recalled.

Laurence was 90 years old when he joined her class.

For Lisa, his willingness to embrace a new challenge was a powerful example of what lifelong learning can look like.

“Laurence is an inspiration. He really is,” she said.

“He doesn’t take ‘no’ as a barrier. He looks at a problem and thinks about how we can solve it together.”

Lisa said Laurence also brought decades of life experience with him, including experience from his military background and management roles.

“He was patient and he wasn’t worried about what everybody thought of him. He just wanted to pay it forward into the classroom and into the industry he wanted to go into.”

When the time came to consider practical experience, Lisa Stark worked with Laurence to find a pathway into the industry.

She encouraged him to consider volunteering and, together with his wife, he began volunteering at St Vincent’s.

It’s a great example of the real-world focus Lisa brings to her teaching and her belief that age does not have to be a barrier to learning.

“Anybody can return to study. There’s always something you can learn in life,” she said.

“And if you’re not learning something from someone else, you might be able to pay it forward and teach something to the person studying beside you.” [

For Lisa Stark, that exchange of knowledge and experience is one of the strengths of vocational education.

Whether a student is starting their first career, changing direction or returning to study decades after leaving the classroom, the goal remains the same: helping them recognise what they already bring, build practical new skills and take their next step with confidence.

As Lisa puts it simply: “There’s always something that you can learn in life.”