The International Experience

The International Experience

Since my return from eight years in Hong Kong last December there have been numerous people asking what my time living and working in Asia was like. I have attempted to expand on what the experience was like but I thought I would take the opportunity to place it in words on my blog.

Living in a foreign country may not be everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ but when the opportunity presented itself it was something that I quickly accepted. My wife needed a little more persuading as she was leaving a great job for life in an unknown environment.

The thoughts I will mention are in no set order.

·         Hong Kong was a very ‘easy’ culture for somebody from a western background to live. The influence of the British is still vibrant within the city. English is widely spoken, there are all of the shops and services that you are used to experiencing at home in Australia.

·         Initially when we were looking to go overseas Singapore was our preferred destination. We had been to Singapore a few times and were very comfortable with the city. As fate had it I missed out on a position in Singapore and a few weeks later ended up accepting a job in Hong Kong. In hindsight Hong Kong was a great option for our family. We loved the crazy Chinese atmosphere that exists in the city and makes it a truly Asian destination whilst Singapore seems almost too western a city for Asia where the taxi drivers speak better English than their counterparts in Sydney or Melbourne.

·         Professionally moving to the Australian International School was a very safe option. Teaching mostly Australian students using the New South Wales curriculum (of which I was familiar) was quite a straight forward task. I was surrounded by colleagues who had a similar background and experience.

·         After eight years the time came to move my family back to Australia for a variety of reasons. There are many teachers in international schools throughout the world who move from one school in a particular location to another. This was not necessarily the case with the staff of the Australian International School due to our school year running from January to December whilst the majority of international schools run from August to July in sync with the Northern Hemisphere school year. If the opportunity arose for me to ever move to another international school there are three locations that I would be interested in: Beijing, Shanghai or Bangkok. Who knows, maybe one day we will decide to do the international thing again and I may end up in one of these Asian locales.

·         Obviously when you move anywhere there are going to be numerous things you miss. First and foremost for us was family and friends. You never get over the longing to see these important people in your life. Technology came to be a great assistance in this area whether it was Skype or Facebook. We missed clean air, space and other intangibles that one requires. It was hard to compensate for the things that we longed for but we tried to find substitutes as best we could.

·         We met wonderful people during our time in Hong Kong who will be lifelong friends. Through all aspects of our lives in HK we came across people who enriched our lives and whose company we enjoyed. We look forward to staying in contact with many of these people.

·         Professionally I was afforded many amazing opportunities during my time at the Australian International School. I worked with experienced and talented colleagues who assisted in my development as an educator. Having a 1 to 1 laptop program at school fostered my interest in the world of ICT and its uses and potential in the classroom. I was able to attend numerous professional development sessions that were incredibly beneficial and got to travel to a variety of destinations in Asia and Australia for these sessions. My fascination for the country of China was nurtured by taking students to Beijing and Shenzhen on excursion on a number of occasions. In whole, I am a much better and more experienced educator from having spent eight years working in Hong Kong.

·         My passion for the sport of rugby was indulged whole heartedly throughout my time in Hong Kong. I got to coach and play and travel to Singapore, the Gold Coast of Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Shanghai for rugby matches, coaching and playing.

·         I wanted to immerse myself in a foreign language (although of course English is widely spoken in Hong Kong).  I embraced the language of Putonghua (Chinese or Mandarin if you will) and saw the importance of learning this dialect.

·         Of course I was attracted to the financial side of living in Hong Kong. In 2005 when my career started my salary was going to equate to an increase from what I had previously been earning. The big influence on my salary during my years in HK was the fluctuating Australian dollar. Having to send money back to Australia with the dollar continuing to rise was incredibly difficult. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 was wonderful as the dollar hit a record low in terms of our time in HK. Two large financial positives of working in Hong Kong were the 16% tax rate and the excellent bonus I received at the completion of each two year contract. Costs in Hong Kong were quite reasonable with the marked exception being rent and property which were ridiculously high. Hey I could even buy Australian beer from the supermarket in Hong Kong cheaper than I could buy at home.

·         I am addicted to travel and seeing the world. Being based in Hong Kong allowed our family to have access to a variety of destinations that were close at hand. In the eight years living in Asia we were able to explore the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, marvel at the sights of ancient Petra and float on the Dead Sea in Jordan, trek up the Great Wall of China (a number of times) and relax on beaches in India, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand just to name a few of the travel experiences we had. There is absolutely no way my family could have had these wonderful opportunities had we not been living in Hong Kong.

·         Hong Kong and Asia still influences us greatly now we are back in Australia. It will always be a significant part of our lives that will be remembered with great fondness for the rest of our lives.

Overall was the eight years in Hong Kong a positive experience? Without a doubt and I have few regrets about the time I spent in Asia’s world city.

Is Teaching a Professional Career

What does being a professional mean? What does it take to be professional?  Are teachers classified as professionals? Do teachers class themselves as professionals? What does it take for a teacher to be classified as a professional?

I would love to attend a forum where these issues are discussed by a group of teachers. It would be fascinating to hear insights and opinions on these questions that have popped up in my mind.

For whatever it is worth I thought I would add my two cents worth on these questions.

For mine professional means a person who has a tertiary degree and is working in a particular field. Whilst it is clear that particular fields (medicine, law, accountancy etc) are clearly classified as professional the line on whether teaching is a professional occupation appears to be somewhat blurred.

Personally I believe that teaching is a professional occupation. Going hand in hand into this is the need for teachers to act in a professional manner. Therefore what constitutes professional manner for a teacher? This can be debated and discussed in a variety of forms but I will go through my list for what I believe is appropriate for a teacher who classes themselves as professional (this list is in no set order):

·         Dress for teachers can be open for interpretation in a variety of forms. I understand that what someone wears does not necessarily influence the way they perform their role. Many schools have very tight guidelines for what students must wear for their uniform. This in turn may influence what a school expects their staff to wear. For the past fifteen years I have taught at schools that expect staff to wear a tie every day (except in terms two and three in Hong Kong where it was too ridiculously hot to wear a tie) and at times a jacket in winter. This certainly portrayed a professional image and I had absolutely no issue conforming to these directives. In the schools where I am currently doing casual teaching staff dress appears to be quite ‘loose’ (except in one school where all male staff are expected to wear a tie). Interestingly all male executive staff (and a few others) sport ties and I wait to see whether in terms two and three, when all students are expected to wear ties, if all male staff wear one as well. Anyhow I have continued to wear a tie each day when I have worked this term. I have my ideas of what professional dress comprises and I attempt to meet these standards each day I teach.

·         Interacting with others is an area in which all colleagues I have worked with over the years particularly excel. These interactions include with students, colleagues and the wider school community which may mean parents etc. Teachers, generally, have sound social skills so interacting and communicating with others is a strong point and also an essential element in the life of a teacher.

·         Continued professional development is an area in which teachers must engage but at times there is reluctance from individuals to be involved. Many are happy with the ways they go about their daily routines and lessons. I have even heard stories about teachers refusing to enter into professional development as they are close to retirement and are therefore too old to be taught new tricks. Obviously the reason why they teach ‘For the benefit of the students’ has been forgotten.  Being professional means continual development of new skills, practices and concepts. This can be done in a number of different manners be it at weekly staff meetings, attending external conferences or development days or even via their own professional readings.

Undoubtedly there is far more to being a professional than the reasons I have listed here. I also understand that the reasons I have mentioned can apply to a multitude of professions. These musings are just a random collection of thoughts that I have mulled over in my mind for some time.

This post appears to be more questions rather than answers. This topic is something that has interested me and I have mused about for a number of years. I understand people will have greatly differing opinions from me on this area and I would love to hear what they think.

Pride: It's why I Teach

Sunday night whilst watching television at home I received another inspiring reminder of why I teach and what I love about teaching.

I vowed never to watch the program The Voice. I’m not into reality television and singing competitions are not my kind of scene. However, I was drawn to last night’s episode due to a performance from an ex-student of mine. Through Facebook Alex Gibson notified his followers that he would appear in the audition episode of The Voice. I had to tune in. I had followed Alex’s music career on Facebook (unfortunately having never been able to attend a gig) so was looking forward to seeing him perform for the first time.

I quickly grasped the concept of the show and nervously waited for Alex to perform. His performance of The Beatles song Blackbird was outstanding. I was on the edge of my chair waiting to see if one of the judges turned around. It was a relief when both Seal and Joel Madden both turned to indicate they wanted Alex on their team. 

I beamed with pride throughout the entire time Alex was on screen and was still glowing late into the night when I read comments and reviews on social media.

I taught Alex in 1999 in Year 6 at Canberra Grammar. Whilst I did not teach him music (which is to his great fortune with my musical ability) I still take pride in knowing that I had some input to his development as a student and a human being.

Pride in my students, both current and past, for me is one of the greatest satisfactions that I gain from being a teacher. I am always proud of the achievements of students of whom I have taught. No matter what the particular student achieves in their life I am proud. I have had students achieve in a variety of fields: studying law and medicine, in the world of professional sports, small business owners and some who are still achieving at school just to name a few. Last year a student I worked with a number of years ago lost his life whilst serving in the Australian Army in Afghanistan. There was an overwhelming sense of pride in this instance. Importantly I am also proud of the person they have developed into. The feeling of pride is not just based on materialistic achievements.  I like to think that I have had some input into the lives of these young people no matter how small of insignificant. For mine this is the greatest satisfaction that can come from teaching.

For me to be proud of the achievements of a student I need to take great pride in the job that I am doing in the classroom. I am not one to be complacent in my role as an educator. I do not just turn up and go through the motions. This would be doing an incredible disservice to my students. I take pride in the way I present myself at school to fellow staff, students and the wider school community. I take pride in the preparation I do in order to meet the needs of the students. I take tremendous pride in the manner in which I communicate with the parents of the students I teach. I am upfront and honest with them from the outset of the school year.

Pride, therefore, is a two way concept. For me to be proud of the achievements of my students, both present and past, I need to take pride in the job that I am doing as educator.

Pride, it’s why I teach.

Ramblings About the Life of a Casual Teacher

I thought it was about time that I sat down and blogged again. I believe that there is much to tell and many observations that I want to share regarding my life as a casual teacher over the past two months.

Some facts and figures to commence:

· To this date (April 8) I have worked 44 days in eight different schools.
· I have taught everything from Year 11 Advanced Mathematics, Year 12 Family and Community Studies to Kindergarten Mathematics and Year 1 Literacy.
· I have been in the Independent, Catholic and State school systems.

Here are some random opinions and thoughts regarding the life of a casual teacher:

· Like any profession there are days when it absolutely stinks and days when you exult in an educational triumph.
· Some students like to think that you are a pushover as you are a casual. They have been sadly mistaken when it comes to my classroom management skills.
· In the same sense there are times when you feel like a ‘dogs body’, when you are made to do the menial tasks of which most staff members stay well clear.
· I treat every day like a job interview. Being professional in my manner, dress and dealings with both staff and students.
· I have certainly broadened my educational horizons which is certainly one positive to come out of casual teaching.
·  I miss the sense of pastoral care that exists with having a class of your own. You have one day, one lesson, in which to make a connection.
·   It has been wonderful recently for two weeks to have the one class for the entire time. I was able to really get to know the students, understand what their strengths and weaknesses were and therefore I was able to tailor work to meet the needs of the class.
·  Besides the three teaching days of week one there has only been two days of which I have not worked (one of which I was asked to work, but due to moving house, I was not able to teach). The one day where I did not work I absolutely hated as I knew I should be in a classroom or a school where I can make a difference.
·  A casual teacher is locked into the work set. If you don’t teach what is planned there is the chance that a particular school or class will not want you to teach again. There have been times where what I have taught has been plain, sterile and totally uninspiring for the students. I know there are ways that I can make this work far more interesting but I don’t want to take the risk of angering the teacher by not doing what is set. There has been two days where work has not been set and I have loved teaching lessons which I know are both educational and that the students will enjoy. This was also the case with the 2 weeks I have recently spent with the one class. The teacher left a loose outline of topics that needed to be covered and I used this for the basis of the lessons that I planned.
·  I am greatly missing the professional discourse that comes from being a casual teacher. There have been few professional conversations. Maybe it is my paranoia but there often seems to be an attitude from some staff at schools where I teach that obviously there is a reason I am doing casual teaching so there is no need to engage in professional discussions. Thankfully Twitter and Google Reader (unfortunately soon to be extinct) have assisted me in continuing to engage in professional conversations and readings that keep me abreast of what the latest thinking is and actions are in regards to the world of education.
·  It is difficult building relationships with staff as a casual teacher, particularly in my situation where I am new to town. I know very few people. It is an uncomfortable feeling sitting alone in the staff common room waiting for someone to enter into a conversation. Once again the recent two week stint at the one school was superb. I felt comfortable around the staff and became confident enough to initiate banter.
·  The positive comments and feedback have been wonderful and have spurred me on in the knowledge that others are noticing the efforts that I am making in the classroom. My goal was always to be the first person that a school called whenever they needed a casual teacher and I like to think that I have achieved this with a few schools.
·  It has been flattering on days when more than one school has called. It is nice to know that you are in demand, but I have already come to understand that you take the first job that comes your way.
·  One teacher once commented to me that they looked through the window into a class on one occasion and they noticed that I was actually teaching. My jaw nearly dropped. This is what I am employed to do! I am a teacher not a baby sitter or supervisor and wherever possible I am going to teach. Of course Year 11 Advanced mathematics was an area where I was more supervising rather than teaching.
·  I have benefited professionally from the people I have met, the advice they have given and insights offered into schools in the city and what I need to do in order to gain a job in this system.
·  I would suggest that all teachers have a go at casual teaching. What it does is broaden horizons, sharpen skills and snaps you out of any complacency that you may have once had as a full time teacher.
·  I have been very conscious not to go in all guns blazing so to speak particularly with interactions with other staff members. I am experienced but I certainly don’t know it all. My tactic has been often to look, listen and then contribute where I believe it is appropriate.
·  Kids are kids no matter where they attend school. I taught a day in a school in the lowest socio-economic area in the city. People were warning me that this school had a bad reputation.  I had a great day at this school. I found the staff were incredibly dedicated and the students no different to any others I have taught this term.  They have the same strengths and weaknesses, needs and desires as all other children.

I think that is probably about all of the impressions that I have to share at the moment. I hope that the world of casual teaching is something that I am not too familiar with in the future as I strive to find a permanent position in which I can make a difference.