The Day I Realised Teaching Is About Trust, Not Just Content

How standing in front of a multicultural class shaped my approach to education, empathy, and creative intelligence.

I remember the moment clearly. I was standing in front of my very first class at Byron Community College (Australia) about to deliver my first official workshop.

In front of me sat a group of adults from six different countries and vastly different cultural backgrounds. There were 20-year-old backpackers from France and South America, published authors and artists from all over Australia, emerging entrepreneurs, and even two senior scholars who wanted to learn how to communicate their field to 'outsiders.'

As each person introduced themselves in turn, I had exactly the length of the introduction round to rethink everything: what I had planned, how I would deliver it, and how I could make it relevant to every single one of them.

Because here's the truth: If I didn’t receive top feedback, this would likely be my first and last workshop for the college. No pressure, right?

But instead of panicking, I found myself falling back on two things and they were not academic frameworks, slides or scripts. They were something far deeper. It was:

• My lived experience across cultures and systems, and

  
  

• my creative intelligence: the capacity to adapt, connect, and design meaning in the moment.

I began listening more closely. I wove their stories and interests into the examples I gave. I repeated key ideas when I felt someone’s personal journey could help the entire group connect. I shifted the structure without ever announcing it. And something remarkable happened.

People didn’t just engage. They opened up. They leaned in. They felt seen.

I received not just good reviews. In the following week, I received deeply personal thank-you emails. I saw many of them again in future workshops. But most importantly, I witnessed firsthand what happens when people feel seen, heard, and valued in educational settings.

That wasn’t part of the curriculum. But it was what changed everything.

What I Learned (And What I Still Believe)

That day taught me something I return to again and again:

Knowledge is not just cognitive. Real learning lives in connection — in trust, safety, and shared meaning.

Teaching, at its best, is a deeply human, creative, relational act. It’s not about transferring data, but it is all about building bridges between lives, minds, and stories.

And while I’ve since gone on to teach dozens of workshops and develop curricula to even far more complex groups, I still carry that moment with me because this was the very moment when I truly fell in love — again — with educational psychology.

I fell in love because in the complex, sensitive, and multicultural waters of that classroom, and because of exactly just that, I began to fly. I wasn’t teaching despite the pressure. I was teaching because of it. Because something inside me rose to meet it - with empathy, with intuition, and with creativity.

And the students? They rose too. I have been so amazed with the work many of them proceeded to do afterwards.

I’d love to hear from you:

• Have you ever had a moment like this — where your role suddenly became deeply personal and powerful?

• What do you believe makes a learning experience truly transformative?

Louise Sommer is an Educational Psychologist, artist, graphic designer, and creative learning consultant. With over 20 years of international experience, she works at the intersection of adult education, emotional intelligence, and cultural storytelling. Louise helps institutions, professionals, and purpose-driven educators transform complex knowledge into meaningful, human-centred communication.

She offers 1:1 online mentoring for educators and professionals seeking to strengthen their voice, presence, and communication impact — and designs tailored workshops for workgroups and learning teams.

She’s passionate about helping others feel seen, empowered, and ready to lead from within.

📬 Connect on LinkedIn @louisesommer