Private Versus Public Schools on 3AW 693AM Radio Melbourne with Tony Jones

By Sue Ellson

Topic: Private Versus Public Schools

Date: 16 September 2024

Media Outlet: 3AW 693AM Melbourne https://www.3aw.com.au

Broadcaster / Interviewer: Tony Jones

Producer: Jess

Duration: 00:06:23

Time of show: 09:24am

Audio Recording:

YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qvEIu_zqvs

Private Versus Public Schools on 3AW 693AM Radio Melbourne with Tony Jones and Sue Ellson

Transcript

I want your views on this one as well because I reckon this is a very Melbourne thing. Is it a Melbourne thing? I don’t know. If they do, well they probably do it in Sydney as well but I don’t know if it’s uh as common in other states around the place it’s uh people asking where did you go to high school. So jump on the line 133693.

Did you go to a private school did you go to a public high school um is it better is it worse do you think your education benefited because you went to a private school or was it just an opportunity?

Maybe your parents to say that you went to a private school 133693 is the number and uh I don’t say that with tongue fully in cheek because I know that there are you know the area that I live in there’s a lot of private schools around there. I never went to a private school. My wife never went to a private school but we were always amazed at when people say oh we’re Xavier parents or or we’re Trinity parents or something like that.

Not all students parents do that but there seems to be this sort of like class system whereby you can say you went to a private school but does it really matter at the end of the day? Does it really matter? I know there’s plenty of government schools who have terrific results and their students go on to greatness, whether it be at university or private enterprise.

The Age has got an interesting article this morning revealing whether our MP’s went to public or private schools. The results private school graduates or uh were over represented in the nation’s parliament with data revealing that more than half of Independent and Coalition MP’s attended non-government schools.

However half of Labor MP’s went to public schools which shouldn’t surprise us really considering what they stand for. Joining us on the line now is Sue Nelson a Career Development Practitioner Hello Sue

Hi TJ

Well does it really matter whether you go to a private school or a government school?

Well it depends on the career path you want to follow uh in some respects but I would say it’s not just what school you went to but what you did after school. We know that a lot of people may or may not go to university, they may or may not continue with learning and one of the things I will say about independent and non-government schools is a lot of parents assume that they will get a better education for their child and there’ll be more a better teacher to student ratio and more facilities and those sorts of things so a lot of parents would be like that. But yes you know some people still say what school did you go to and I remember I’m originally from Adelaide and went to a public school but I remember hearing that several years ago if you wanted to get into a law for firm you had to go to a particular private school to be able to get a job in a law firm. I don’t know whether that still exists but that was definitely a rumour I heard back in the day.

Mmm, because you know it’s interesting um Sue, and sorry I’ve mispronounced your surname there at the start which is Ellson, That’s alright. As opposed to Nelson I’m sorry about that.

All good.

But you can tell I didn’t have great schooling so see I never went to university as well but that’s beside the point. But my my point here is that when you say that you know it all depends what career path you want to go down well how how do you know like in grade six like how do you know.

Mmm.

What you I mean I always knew that I wanted to work in the field that I’m working in now.

Yes.

But but I was one of the lucky ones is that I was able to pursue that passion.

Mmm.

But how do you know in year seven or grade six? What you’re going to do and how do you know as a parent.

Mmm.

You’d love the child to sign a document of some sort guaranteeing, hey listen you’re going to fork out all this money and it is going to be worth your while.

Yes, yeah. Look it’s difficult. I know a person who was three when they said they wanted to work in telecommunications and that’s what they did and worked for Telstra all their life so it it is horses for courses. Some people know some people don’t. For me personally I did work experience in radiography and ended up in banking and stayed there 11 years because I realized radiography was walking into a room laying out a patient pressing a button walking out going back in and you know it just wasn’t for me so working out what you want to do you can definitely get help from a career development practitioner and they can help you and if you get that through your schooling years and fairly early it can definitely help you identify your natural skills.

But for me I’ve actually ended up learning additional skills and they’re what I’ve really enjoyed in my career and my career has gone on many different paths and because of the changes in technology most of us are going to have multiple careers in our lifetime going forward but what school is about is teaching us how to learn and those skills you can transfer you know basically into almost any discipline as you go along and you’ll probably find a lot of the things that work for you but I think that we we can’t necessarily predict but we can definitely get help from people like Career Development Practitioners to guide us on well have you considered this have you tried that a lot of us automatically by osmosis learn skills from our parents and and follow in those paths.

Mmm.

So for a lot of those politicians they may have you know have a family of politicians behind them and that could have led them on on that career path as well.

Yeah um well career path is one thing but it’s uh whether it’s advantageous to actually go to a private school.?

Mmm.

As opposed to a non-private school and I don’t know whether there’s data to suggest that those who do go to private schools actually make more of a fist out of their their chosen vocation than those who didn’t go.

Yeah it’s I don’t know whether there is data on that. I do know that there was a bit of a joke that uh people who didn’t do well in private school as educationally well would end up as real estate agents I don’t know whether you know because they they’ve got accustomed to the lifestyle of private schools uh so I don’t know the specific data but I think ultimately we all need to take personal responsibility for our ability to learn and acquire skills and I’m sure in your uh journalistic and presenting career you’ve acquired many additional skills, you’ve taught other people, you’ve mentored other people, you’ve really dedicated yourself to it so it’s not just in my mind about an academic qualification it’s those skills, knowledge and networks that you build up along the way and they that whole picture is definitely what’s going to help you in your career rather than just an education from a university or a school. It’s really your commitment to your personal growth and and personal development.

Yeah, certainly something you got to sit down and discuss as a family don’t you.

Definitely.

Sort of which uh path you going to go down uh always good to talk to you Sue, thank you

Thanks TJ

Thank you Sue Ellson joining us there Career Development Practitioner um well

Social Share

PRIVATE VERSUS PUBLIC SCHOOL // Did you attend a private or a public secondary school? Did it make a difference to your career? Have people asked you which school did you go to?

Tony Jones interviewed me on 3AW Radio Melbourne 693AM 📻 and we discussed:

✅ teacher to student ratios and facilities in private schools
✅ being asked about what school you went to
✅ getting help from a career development practitioner at school
✅ identifying your natural skills and career alternatives
✅ learning additional skills for different careers over time
✅ acquiring skills by osmosis from our parents
✅ taking personal responsibility for learning and acquiring skills
✅ building skills, knowledge and networks

Enjoy the show online at https://sueellson.com/blog/private-versus-public-schools-on-3aw-693am-radio-melbourne-with-tony-jones

Thanks to Producer Jess for reaching out!

➡️ What do you think? Does it make a difference if you go to a public or private school?

#3awmelbourne #privateschool #publicschool #tonyjones #sueellson