"Put it this way, I was one of the stronger women at my school." She laughs, remembering her time at St Clare's College in the 1970s, and a teacher who encouraged a rebellious student to think about teaching as a career.

"I didn't want to be a teacher, but Mrs Stewart kept at me," Trish says. "It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do."

But now, 35 years since she first stood in front of a classroom, she wouldn't change a thing. As one of about 6000 ACT school teachers celebrating World Teachers' Day on Friday, Trish reflected on the most important things about her profession.

"I love being in schools, I love being with children and the energy that children have," she says.

"Those a-ha moments, when a child gets something for the first time, when you can see the light bulb turning on, that's a joyous thing and worth every moment."

Now working as the ICT co-ordinator at Mawson Primary School, where she's making great inroads into incorporating technology across the curriculum, Trish has seen many changes in schools over the years. She's had 16 years in the public education system and worked in the Catholic sector before that. She also ran a dancing school for 20 years.

"When I first started teaching I was the teacher and I was respected by the community and the parents backed you up," she says.

"In the schools we did a lot more sport and encouraged a lot more creativity and children were allowed to be children, they had a childhood.

"Now we're driven by a curriculum that's over-crowded, parents have changed, the respect for teachers just isn't there.

"That's the saddest part because teachers are the hardest working, most conscientious people I know."

She says her goal now is to encourage young teachers to continue in the profession.

"It's my job now to make sure young teachers are OK. That they know it's OK not to complete the set curriculum, or to take a day off, or to seek me out for a coffee if they've had a bad day and talk about it."

When her own daughter Amelia decided to become a teacher Trish had her reservations but she is proud her daughter is also making a difference to the lives of her students.

Amelia has been teaching dance and media studies at Narrabundah College for five years. As a former student there Amelia loves that she can provide an alternative for students whose strengths lay outside the core subjects.

Mother and daughter talk about their collaborations over the years, where students from Mawson and Narrabundah have worked together on projects as diverse as dance concerts and interactive board games.

"Mum definitely planted the seed about becoming a teacher," says Amelia, who studied communications at the University of Canberra before heading to Sydney to pursue a career in film and media, before returning to UC to complete a graduate diploma in secondary education.

Both women are advocates for well-being and mindfulness within the school environment.

"No one can learn when they're stressed, no one can teach when they're stressed," Trish says.

"It's a mix we have to get right or we're going to run out of teachers, run out of people who are great at it."