Team in Focus: Greg Schneiders - ACHPER Victoria General Manager

Greg Schneiders joined ACHPER Victoria as our new General Manager in January this year. Supporting our team through our growth and development, Greg has brought a huge breadth of knowledge and infectious enthusiasm to his role with us. In his time BA (before ACHPER), his career spanned from being a leading HPE teacher, university lecturer, and Head of Department and Director of Sport in some of Australia’s leading schools and universities.

We sat down for a catch up with Greg recently, here's how it went:

Share a funny work-related story

There are so many to mention as every day provides many laughs. Let’s start with the time I made our CEO choke on her morning breakfast on a Teams chat, or maybe the fact that I am the only one in the team not ‘trendy enough’ to have white runners as part of my wardrobe! Each day with this team provides much joy and laughter.

What element of your role do you find most rewarding?

The work that we do with teachers to build their understanding, knowledge and capacity, which, in turn ultimately strengthens the positive relationship and learning outcomes for their students. I love seeing and hearing about how our work has resulted in improved outcomes for both the HPE teacher and their students.

What are your goals for 2022 (professional or otherwise)?

2022 continues to be a big year both personally and professionally. On a professional level, I look forward to continue working with our great team here at ACHPER Victoria to grow and expand our business operations. This year will see a review of our strategic plan, providing a wonderful opportunity to examine the future of HPE teaching and, more broadly, education in general. The focus on teacher (and student) wellbeing, the importance of continued professional learning and how that translates into quality teacher practice, and the ongoing challenges within the teaching profession heightened by the recent pandemic, all present interesting and dynamic challenges for myself and my team to consider. On a personal note, I am very excited to be getting married later this year and continuing to support my partner and three children.

What professional growth have you experienced during your time with ACHPER Victoria?

While I have been an ACHPER Victoria member since the mid 1990’s, I never truly understood the extensive reach and positive impact that the organisation has throughout our profession. Not only does our work extend to teachers of HPE across the state, we are extensively involved in projects that have a much wider and deeper connection to the community. This extends to projects that we are delivering with major state and national sporting organisations including the peak sporting body – the Australian Sports Commission. Additionally, we provide significant support to our government and tertiary alliance groups, which comprises all major universities, government departments and key stakeholders who have a vested interest in the work of schools and educators across the sectors. Importantly, this work is not only here in Victoria, but across the country. The culmination of this work has provided me with ample opportunities to extend my professional network, gain better insight to needs of our colleagues, and devise ways in which our team here at ACHPER Victoria can continue to support teachers, school, and more broadly anyone who has an interest in our fields.

What is one piece of advice you would be lost without?

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working alongside so many great professionals, all of whom have offered great advice. Some of my key takeaways over the years include, doing what you love to do – find a job or career that you really love to do, and your work life will be more fulfilling. Getting the balance right between work and life outside is super important, this is particularly true as you get older and find you have greater responsibilities. Build a great network of people around you, you will often need them throughout your career. Finally, remember that we are always learning, so always be open to learning new ideas and ways of operating.  

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