Raj Selvam, a respected Lead Teacher at Melbourne Polytechnic and freelance Education Consultant, has made it his mission to shape meaningful learning experiences. Born in Chennai, India, Raj moved to Australia in 2006 and has since dedicated his career to empowering marginalized communities.
“It was my parents’ dream for me to become a doctor, but I always saw myself as a performer or a choreographer,” Raj recalls. When he didn’t get the grades to pursue a medical degree, he chose Biotechnology for his undergraduate studies, not fully sure where it would lead him.
Despite the uncertainty, Raj’s extroverted nature and love for performance arts kept him engaged. During his school and university years, he was drawn to subjects like anthropology, sociology, and history. But he didn’t have mentors or role models to guide him in these fields. “I had no insight, exposure, or role models in the areas I was curious about,” he explains.
It wasn’t until Raj began working as a Disability Support Worker while completing his post-graduate studies in Biotechnology that his true calling revealed itself. One of his clients, the Chairperson for the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission, encouraged him to explore community welfare. “It was like the stars aligned,” Raj says. Shortly after completing a degree in community welfare, he received multiple job offers. This marked the beginning of his work with children and adolescents—particularly those facing homelessness in Melbourne.
Raj found his passion in supporting young people, helping them re-engage with education and find pathways to careers or training. His work, combined with a Master’s in Youth Services Management, a Global Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship course at Charles University in Prague, and several other qualifications, shaped his approach to education and leadership. Yet, through it all, he remained fascinated by human behavior. “I often wondered why well-educated people, whether consciously or unconsciously, harm others,” Raj shares. These diverse credentials and real-world experience now form the backbone of his teaching and leadership approach.
Finding Purpose Through Mentorship
Raj’s transition into vocational education wasn’t something he had planned—it happened by chance. While working as a Team Leader in a Housing and Homelessness service, a colleague approached him with an unexpected offer. “He told me he had a student who had high aspirations and values similar to mine. He asked if I would consider taking the student on work placement and mentoring her,” Raj explains. Skeptical at first, he decided to meet the student.
That meeting ended up being transformative—not just for the student but also for Raj. “The student went back to the institute and told them she learned more from me in two months than in her two-year degree,” Raj says, chuckling. The feedback caught the attention of the institution, which promptly offered him a teaching role. Raj, ever the pragmatist, decided to “test the waters” by teaching a subject. Before long, he was offered a teaching contract. He found himself teaching Year 11 and 12 Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications, including Certificate 2, 3, and 4, as well as Diploma-level courses within the Australian Qualifications Framework.
Raj’s journey into higher education also began with a chance encounter. During a networking event, he met a Higher Education academic course manager who was inspired by his attitude toward life. She invited him to join her team, leading to over four years of lecturing in a Bachelor of Community Services program. This experience was pivotal for Raj, as it gave him deeper insight into the behavioral changes he had been curious about for years. “Becoming an educator really opened my eyes to how we can influence change in others,” Raj reflects.
Today, Raj is not just a teacher; he’s a guide and a mentor who understands the power of education to transform lives. He’s spent over 15 years working in youth and community services, delivering programs in housing and homelessness, disability services, mental health, and education. His hands-on expertise extends to working with marginalized communities, including refugees, new migrants, and LGBTIQA+ individuals with complex needs.
“The key lesson I’ve learned over the years is that effective programs must be dynamic,” he shares. Raj believes in a holistic approach that combines place-based strategies with co-creation and design-thinking models. “Scalability should always balance sustainability and power dynamics in resource management,” he adds thoughtfully.
This approach also informs Raj’s teaching. He is heavily influenced by the ideas of Knud Illeris, who defined learning as “any process that leads to permanent capacity change and is not solely due to biological maturation or aging.” Raj also draws inspiration from Paulo Freire’s concept of developing critically conscious learners who work to liberate themselves and the world from injustice. These philosophies resonate deeply with Raj, as they align with his own values of creating change through education and empowerment.
Balance and Inspiration in a Complex World
Raj understands that students aren’t just learners—they’re individuals with their own unique “ecosystems.” Each student brings their own beliefs, values, attitudes, experiences, and motivations into the classroom, creating a dynamic collision of ecosystems in a shared learning environment. “As an educator, I have to acknowledge and value these rich ecosystems,” Raj explains. His role, he believes, is to honor these complexities while also guiding students toward growth.
For Raj, true learning must bring about lasting change—not just in academic knowledge but in the personal and professional lives of his students. It’s about transforming their individual ecosystems in meaningful ways. “I believe student learning must bring a level of permanent change in their personal or professional lives, or in their ecosystem as a whole,” Raj emphasizes. His teaching approach reflects a commitment to fostering this deep, transformative kind of education.
Balancing his role as an educator with the demands of everyday life, Raj practices trauma-informed self-care. In today’s globalized, post-modern, neoliberal, and capitalistic world, he’s fully aware of how information—and sometimes misinformation—can drain emotional energy. He finds inspiration in the resilience of people facing everyday hardships. “Despite not having a roof over their heads or knowing when their next meal will be, they often have a pleasant smile and a helping hand for others in need,” he notes. That sense of selflessness, the ability to be present without expecting anything in return, is what keeps Raj going, even in the toughest of times.
Of course, his biggest inspiration comes from home. “My parents are my first and biggest inspiration,” he says. Growing up, Raj watched his parents work tirelessly at two jobs to support four children, all while living in a small studio room until he was a teenager. Their strength and determination taught him the value of perseverance. “Education aligned with Freire’s critical pedagogy is key to breaking the cycle of disadvantage, marginalization, inequity, and poverty,” Raj asserts. This belief drives him to continuously build his own capabilities while also empowering others to do the same. “Education is the tool that changes everything,” he says with conviction, a belief he carries into every classroom, every program, and every interaction.
Utilizing Vocational Education as a Catalyst for Social and Economic Progress
For Raj, Vocational Education and Training (VET) isn’t just about equipping students with skills—it’s at the heart of innovation and societal advancement. He sees VET as essential to addressing the most pressing challenges facing the world today, particularly in the realms of social, economic, and environmental health. “VET learners and graduates hold the key to solving many of today’s biggest issues,” Raj says with conviction. He believes that VET qualifications, which are industry-informed and designed to address skill shortages, play a critical role in strengthening the economy while fostering broader societal progress.
Raj is especially passionate about reshaping VET to meet the needs of a diverse and evolving world. His vision includes playing a pivotal role in teacher education within the VET sector and promoting trauma-informed teaching practices. Raj advocates for moving away from a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach to learning. Instead, he envisions a dynamic, experiential, and collaborative model that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of learners. “It’s not just about changing the curriculum,” he explains. “We need to create a learning model that’s student-led, one that builds cultural humility, industry capability, and promotes a sense of belonging, equity, and social justice.”
At the core of Raj’s philosophy is the belief that learning is not a static event—it’s an ongoing, cyclical process. He emphasizes that both learning and leadership should be relational experiences, not just transactional ones. “Learning can be incredibly rewarding and enjoyable when teaching activities are aligned with learning outcomes and educators are deliberate in their practice,” he notes. Raj stresses the importance of creating a safe environment for learning—physically, psychologically, and spiritually—while fostering humility and respect. He believes that active listening and open communication are key to demonstrating this respect in educational settings.
Raj’s long-term vision is to integrate indigenous experiential learning practices into mainstream education. He hopes to foster equity and synergy in the classroom, with an emphasis on developing critically conscious, ‘humanized’ learners who are equipped to liberate themselves—and the world—from injustice. “Education should be more than just learning skills. It should inspire students to challenge injustices and work toward a more equitable world,” Raj asserts.
Through his work, Raj aims to continue transforming VET, ensuring that it not only meets industry needs but also contributes to the broader goal of social equity and justice. His commitment to building an education system that empowers learners from all walks of life is evident in every aspect of his teaching philosophy.
For More Info: https://www.melbournepolytechnic.edu.au/