Stan retires after 40 years as a trades teacher

Stan Mcfadyen has been making a difference in the lives of students as a teacher at TAFE and CQUniversity for the past 40 years.

A teacher in the automotive discipline, Stan’s long career was honoured by CQUniversity at the recent staff service awards held at the Emerald Campus. 

Emerald-based Student Engagement Officer Carin Van Rooyen was also recognised at the awards for 10 years’ service to CQUniversity.

Stan, who is now making the transition to retirement, estimated he would have taught more than 15 000 students over the past 40 years.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed making a difference to ensure my students were learning and were walking away with usable knowledge and skills to further their career in the trades or other fields of endeavour,” he said.

Stan began his teaching career at Mt Gravatt TAFE and worked at Rockhampton’s Bolsover Street Campus and Bundaberg - but spent 20 years on the Central Highlands.

“In those hectic days in Rockhampton, it was not uncommon to be running a total of seven, seven-week blocks per year and have 28 students in stage one and similar numbers in stages two and three for diesel fitting apprentices.

“These numbers were consistently sustained between 1986 and 1997 when TAFE downsized the diesel fitting team. I have been on the Central Highlands for 20 years, with an 18-week secondment to Mt Isa TAFE in 2013 and frequent three-week stints in Gladstone and a stint in Mackay in 2020 - so I suspect my guesstimate of 15,000 students may be conservative.”

Over the years, Stan has been a frontline teacher for prevocational, apprenticeship and post-trade evening and mainline courses.

“In Bundaberg, I was responsible for team-teaching a farm machinery implement setting course, where the classroom became a 30-acre paddock on the banks of the Burnett River,” he said.

“At the opening of the upgraded terminal in Rockhampton in 1987, I found myself doing the public relations on a Saturday morning with the then new VL Commodore sedan and the Krypton Diagnostic Test Equipment, only to find that most of the passing public wanted to know if the shiny new car was for sale!”

With major technological and mechanical advancements over the past 40 years, Stan is no stranger to being on the learning side of his profession, as he adapted to new systems.

“One of the major changes has been the transition from mechanically operated to the computer controlled full authority electronic systems. This resulted in the automotive and heavy mobile equipment trades having service personnel who could perform diagnostic procedures using simple test lights, digital multimeters, laptops and electronic scan tools to enable fault finding to be carried out.

“The ‘black art’ of the electronics and electrical systems was increasingly needed to fix malfunctions. Acquiring said skills has long been the bane of trade personnel who were more accustomed to hands-on inspection and precision mechanical measuring tools to ascertain the serviceability of suspect components.

“In spite of the efficiencies in fuel economy and lower exhaust emissions, even the electronic diesel engines were needing to exhaust devices and closed crankcase ventilation systems in order to comply with increasingly stringent exhaust emission standards.

“The diesel engine, as we knew it, is fighting for its life.

“The emergence of hybrid vehicles and hydrogen fuelled engine has seen manufacturers embrace diversified approaches to move ever steadily to a mooted zero emissions goal. Electric powered vehicles are being used more widely to achieve greater efficiencies over conventional mechanical or diesel electric powered machines.”

However, 40 years of teaching does not come without its more interesting moments.

“As a beginner teacher at Mt Gravatt TAFE, I was supervising the students carrying out a convertor stall test.

“The engine was struggling to achieve the expected RPM because one of the hydraulic controls was stuck and the extra load on the engine caused it to belch out a continuous stream of black exhaust smoke.

“The smoke detectors were set off on the next floor above the workshops and within minutes the fire alarm sounded, heralding the fire brigade from downtown Mt Gravatt rushing to answer the call.

“The students assisted me getting the loader out of there to allow room for the fire brigade vehicle and the culprit smoking loader was long gone. Upon returning to class after lunch, the students scribbled ‘Stall test cancelled due to firefighters’ on the class whiteboard."

Stan said when he was in Rockhampton, he once advised a senior technical teacher on ways to bolster post-trade and community courses.

“I had some dealings with the Fitzroy Motor Boat Club, so I suggested a Marine Engine Maintenance Course.

“It filled rapidly after the advertisement was placed in The Morning Bulletin, but the overwhelming interest was for outboard-related maintenance work, not little marine diesel engines.

“In order to satisfy this demand, another experienced teacher found himself running the course for 13 consecutive weeks. He wasn’t happy and duly suggested next time I suggest a course that I be able to teach it in its entirety.”

Stan is now looking to the future and getting a perspective on the emerging landscape that comes with retirement. 

Although what exactly is on his horizon is currently unclear, he is optimistic opportunities will arise that he can embrace to keep retirement interesting and fruitful.

“Obviously, I will miss the staff I worked alongside and the students with whom I engaged positively,” he said.

“But I will also miss the passion and enthusiasm I felt for the learning experience, along with thinking outside the box while getting the best out of sometimes scant resources to enhance student hands-on learning.”

CQUniversity Associate Vice President Rockhampton and Central Highlands Regions Kim Harrington congratulated Stan on his commitment to teaching.

“He has touched the lives of thousands of students over the past 40 years, many of whom no doubt have fond memories of their time at CQUniversity and TAFE,” she said.

“Stan has been an important member of the CQUniversity team and we will miss him greatly. We wish him well in his retirement.”