An Unknown Educator in Wagga

Next week sees me head out into the educational world of Wagga Wagga, tail firmly between my legs, in search of teaching work for 2013. It has been a very different, and humbling, experience to be without a teaching job at this stage of January. I have always prided myself on my ability to secure positions at good schools including securing a job directly out of university. This is a bizarre feeling. I did apply for a few positions in late in 2012 and was devastated to not have even been shortlisted for these jobs and to not have been given the opportunity to state in the interview process why I would have been more than capable.
So casual and relief teaching it is for me for the start of 2013. I am now faced with the dilemma that I am unknown in the schools of Wagga Wagga. I do not want to just be a name on a list that the relief teaching coordinator comes across once all other avenues have been explored. I want to be the first person called to come in and teach.
Next week I am planning on visiting a number of schools to make myself known. I want the powers that be at these schools to know that I have a passion for teaching, a desire to be in a classroom educating, collaborating, learning from and laughing with a group of students. If I didn't want to teach I would not be heading off to visit these schools next week.
What can I bring to a school?

• 20 years experience teaching in schools in New South Wales, Canberra, Melbourne and Hong Kong.
• Have achieved my Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Education and Master of Education.
• Initial degree was in the area of Middle School and therefore am qualified to teach in both primary and secondary schools.
• Have undertaken a number of leadership roles.
• Heavy involvement in extra curricular activities of school life.
• Involvement in the wider community through sport and church activities.
• A passion for education.
• A depth of knowledge of technology, curriculum and issues affecting schools today.
• A desire to be involved and contribute to the growth and development of a school.

I am truly hoping someone gives the opportunity in their school. I am confident that I will not let anyone down.

My Educational Philosophy

I am of the belief that it is important for an educator to evaluate why they are in the education business. Why do they teach? It is something that I like to re-evaluate annually adding or subtracting any points that I believe are now relevant or irrelevant.

I was first asked why I wanted to be a teacher in late 1988 when I went to an interview in order to gain entry to university to study education. I hurriedly came up with an answer in preparation for being asked this question. I thought to myself that I would like to teach in order to play a role in the future of the world. I know this sounds incredibly idealistic but 24 years later it is still something in which I truly believe.

In my final year of university we were asked to do an assessment piece by writing our educational philosophy.  I raised an objection to this with the lecturer. I enquired as to how we could be assesses on something which is a personal belief. I then asked the lecturer “To get a high mark on this task do we need to get our philosophy as close to yours as possible?”  To no one’s real surprise I did not excel in this task.

Anyhow in 2012 staff at my then school was asked to include an educational philosophy in our yearly program. Staff not familiar with this process were shown some examples and then we were sent away to write. I enjoyed this opportunity to further up date my beliefs. In the same we that we are continually updating how I teach I believe it is important to update why we teach. So this is what I wrote........

I like to think I provide a warm, caring yet challenging classroom environment for my students. I aim to challenge and set out to do so from the first day of the year. Going hand in hand with the challenge is complete support. Students are going to be far more receptive to being challenged if they know that they are being supported both at home and at school.

To illustrate this challenge and I support to students I use the analogy of learning to ride a bike. It is challenging the first time someone attempts to ride with no training wheels but there is always someone there to run alongside helping whenever it is required.

Students grow from being challenged. If there are not challenged they will not grow.

One of my class rules is to not accept mediocrity. This rule is reinforced to the students. This means that what I expect at all times is for the students to give their very best. If it is not their best they will be asked to resubmit the piece.

Literacy underpins almost everything we do at school. I openly encourage reading ensuring that all students read a novel every two weeks. My goal is for students to grow to love reading. I am always disappointed to discover that they do not read once they have finished in my class. Reading takes an individual places.

Technology plays a significant role in my teaching life. It is important that as an educator I keep abreast of the development in the ed tech world. The student’s of today are always eager to explore and experiment with technology and discover how it will enhance their lives both in and out of school. I like to harness this enthusiasm and use it in the classroom. The classroom of today is changing rapidly and I like to be a part of this change.

In the same sense as technology I am always open, and search for, for new ideas and innovation I can bring to the classroom. As an educator I tire and become bored with repeating the same unit year in year out. I like to find ways to vary and change the content and the manner in which it is delivered. 

Communication is essential for success in the classroom. On the first day of the year I begin communicating with the parent s of my students. It is vital they are aware of all that is occurring in the classroom. I ensure these lines of communication are kept open via face to face, email and phone class whenever it is required.

Homework is a non negotiable in my classroom. I realise it is an emotive topic but I am of the belief that doing homework establishes healthy habits that will be crucial in future education. Students still need the opportunity to relax and unwind but homework and reading need to be an important facet of their daily lives.

Behaviour management is an area which I believe is a strength of mine. I place high expectations on the behavioural standards of the students in my class. From the outset of the year the students are aware of what I expect in the area of behaviour and what the consequences are if these standards are not met.  I am of the belief that self discipline plays a large role in success any field but students at school may often need assistance in establishing this discipline.

The Importance of Puntonghua (Chinese)

One of the many items on my New Year’s Resolutions list is to learn more Chinese or Putonghua as it is called in its native tongue. I realise this may seem rather odd after having just left Hong Kong after eight years but it is something that I am now more determined than ever to achieve. As I do not have a permanent job I am determined to use what time I may have in order to better myself in a number of different ways both in my professional and personal life. Studying Chinese comes under the personal development as it is something that I have always wanted to accomplish.

For me Chinese is a language that is vital in the world today. One can open up so many avenues for themselves if they have a mastery of this dialect. On my first trip to China in January 1998 the group of educators I was travelling with had a meeting with Australia’s Consul-General in Shanghai. One piece of advice that he left us with was to “tell your student’s to learn Chinese”.

One of my previous schools I taught in had students in primary school learn French every second day. Whilst I believe it is healthy to learn any language, I was of the belief that Australian children are missing a golden opportunity if they are not studying an Asian language preferably Chinese, Japanese or Indonesian. It has been refreshing to see some Australian federal governments over the past 20 years focus heavily on Asia as they have seen the importance of establishing links to the continent. I was most impressed to have a Prime Minister in Kevin Rudd who was fluent in Chinese.

During my eight years in Hong Kong it was with interest that I viewed my school’s approach to Chinese. The powers that be at the school rightly understood the importance of studying the mother tongue of the mainland (it was of little use studying Cantonese, the language of Hong Kong, as it is only spoken in one city in the world). Unfortunately many students and some parents did not see the value in these Chinese lessons. All students in the primary school did Chinese lessons each day with classes being streamed from Year 2 onwards into background and non-background Chinese speaking students. Often it was the when the classes were split that issues arose with the non-background students. Some students became quickly disillusioned with the subject and often questioned the value of learning Chinese. Sadly some parents shared this belief and did not show any interest in the results and behaviour of their child in Chinese classes. This is a greatly misguided attitude. Often I would tell my students how lucky they were to be learning Chinese and to embrace each lesson.

The Year 4 students each year would travel to Shenzhen on a school trip whilst the Year 6 students would go to Beijing. One of the purposes of this trip was or the students to practice their Chinese language skills. One of the problems in a major world city like Beijing now is that nearly everywhere the students travelled in the city was that the locals they came across spoke highly passable English and there weren’t many opportunities to speak Chinese. I myself was amazed a few years ago in Shanghai when buying something at a 7-11 when I was asked by the girl behind the counter “Would I like a plastic bag for that?” in perfect English. Don’t worry though, for every local Chinese English speaker there would be thousands more who have no knowledge of the language.

One amusing anecdote is of a student of Australian background who during his 7 years in primary school in Hong Kong showed little interest, made little effort and behaved badly in Chinese classes. He was sent to boarding school in Australia in Year 7 where they studied Chinese. Suddenly he was thrust to the top of the class as he was the only student who had any background in the language. He applied himself fully and shone in all lessons as he took great pride in his ability. This story was shared to me by his parents when I came across them in Hong Kong. I in turn shared this story with the particular student’s Chinese teacher at his Hong Kong school who felt like tearing their hair out in frustration after battling with him for so long.

A more positive story was of another Australian girl who had the first 9 years of her education in Hong Kong before returning to Australia. I ran into her father who told me that she was continuing with the study of Chinese at her school in Sydney and each January she was going to Beijing to attend 2 weeks of intensive language lessons. Her plan when she finished school was to do a double major of Chinese/Economics at university. This was incredibly smart as she will open a world of opportunity for herself upon completion of her degrees.  This point I cannot reinforce enough. If you are a westerner who can speak Chinese there are so many doors and pathways that will open up for you.

Maybe I am too old for these pathways to open I just think it will be mighty cool to have a knowledge of Chinese. Whilst I can speak very basic, rudimentary Chinese there is so much more that I can master so I look forward to throwing myself headlong into this challenge.

Zai jian!

2013: A New Beginning

It is certainly about time that I sat down and blogged again. Call it a New Year’s resolution but I am determined to blog far more in 2013. I find blogging to be a very powerful tool not only for me but I was incredibly impressed by the blogging of my students in 2012.

So for my first blog of 2013 I thought I would blog about a new beginning.

My family and I have been back in Australia for 3 weeks now. I think the realisation that we are here in Wagga for good now has set in and I must say it is exciting.

After 24 hours back in Wagga I said to my wife as we were down at the local shops “What have we done? Am I mad leaving a great job in Hong Kong for no job in Wagga?” I think I am over that feeling now but I do have to stop comparing prices in Australia with prices in Hong Kong.

There is much I will miss about Hong Kong but it is time to look forward. I will never forget 8 amazing years in Asia’s world city but I now look to creating memorable moments in the Riverina’s largest city.

It hasn’t taken long for us to see in up close the real reasons why we came home.  Our children have delighted in the company of their cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. It has always been amazing coming home at Christmas for the past 7 years and spending so much time with our family. What is even more amazing at present is that this time with family will be year round from now on.

My children have loved being outside playing in the backyard until late into the evening until dusk. They love going to local parks, beaches in Sydney and the pool. These are things that Aussie kids delight in and I want my children to now really feel Australian not just a place where we come once a year.

We wait for the next stage of our Aussie lives to approach that is work for my wife and I and school for the kids. I am nervous for my daughter about starting school as she was very apprehensive about moving home. I know she will be fine but I wish she didn’t have to wait a few more weeks before school starts. My wife is very excited about starting her new audit manager role. As for me professionally there are challenges ahead which I look forward to embracing and showing schools in Wagga that I have a great deal to offer a school both in and out of the classroom.

Anyhow 2013 is here, a new beginning for the Spain family, but one which we are very excited about.

Incredible India

This term our Year 6 students are working on an Inquiry unit entitled Our Asian neighbours. The primary focus of this work is our trip to Beijing but also the four  year 6 teachers all choose an Asian country in which to conduct a series of lessons and all classes are rotated through each country.
This is fantastic as I get to indulge in my passion for India and share this passion with my students.
As far as I am concerned besides Australia there is no country like India. I am enthralled, enchanted and bewitched by this wondrous nation.
I first travelled to India in 2001 for my honeymoon (there was no tropical island for my wife and I). People thought we were crazy but we were so excited. My first impressions were staggering. I thought India would be a breeze. I had travelled to China twice and had spent two months in Africa so India would be fine. How wrong I was. I was not prepared for the mass of humanity that greeted us as we touched down at Mumbai airport late on a Sunday night and the next morning when we took a walk around the Colaba area of the city. We had to go and sit down in the foyer of the Taj Mahal hotel (of course we weren’t staying there. Our hotel had bed bugs) take a few deep breaths and then we threw ourselves head first into the maelstrom that is India. And loved every minute of it.
People said we were crazy in 2010 when we took our children to India. Many of these people had not been to India themselves. Our children loved it and I hope when they grow older they want to explore the country further.
I have had some amazing experiences in India; stood in the foothills of the Himalayas in Shimla, gazed at the majesty of the Taj Mahal, watched sacred Hindu rituals take place in the ghats of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges, went tiger trekking through Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, cruised the backwaters of Kerala on a houseboat, walked amongst tea plantations in Munnar, played cricket with locals in Lodhi Gardens in Delhi and eaten magnificent road side food in Jaipur. These are just a few of the magnificent happenings that have occurred. Of course I have seen the poverty on the streets, the madness on the roads and other stereotypes that people generally associate with India.
I love Indian food, movies and books. Eat chicken makhani, watch Monsoon Wedding and read Shantaram and Q and A.
Indian friends of mine laugh at the passion at which I speak of their country. Many are so thrilled that I speak so highly of India.
My description of India is that it is a billion people who want to be friend. The people on the streets may drive you crazy but they do not mean any harm. They ask questions and many try to sell you goods but I have never felt threatened in India. I also describe India as an attack on the senses. The things you see, smell and hear will amaze you but also has the power to horrify and disgust.
I wouldn’t advise anyone on the first overseas trip to go India. Try New Zealand first.  Work your way slowly into India.
With my students I try to introduce them to India by making tandoori chicken, watching Bollywood movies, role playing the caste system and investigating the procedures involved with an Indian wedding. Whilst undertaking these activities I ask the students why Indians like spicy food, what is the fascination of Bollywood movies by Indians? I want students to ask questions and investigate for themselves.

I would love my passion for India to rub off on my students so that at some stage in their life they want to go and explore this magical country.

See the World: It's an Incredible Place

Next week I get to indulge in one of my great passions in life: foreign travel.  My family and I are off to the Philippines for a week on the beach and I always get excited when visiting a foreign land. Yes, I have been to the Philippines before but it doesn’t matter. I am still looking forward to all that travel in a foreign country brings.

Compared to the students I teach (who are incredibly worldly 12 year olds) I was a late starter in the foreign travel department. In 1995, when I was 24, I spent the year travelling the world with a spot of working in London mixed in as well.  I had only ever been on a plane once in my life (when I was 17 I flew from my hometown of Cootamundra to Sydney 1 hour away on a small 12 seat plane). Before I left for my year away I wasn’t a very nice person in a few ways. I suppose I was a stereotypical person from a rural town in Australia; inward looking; redneck basically.

1995 changed my life. I came back a wiser, smarter person, thankful for what the world had given me. I embraced all that I came across loving each and every day. My feelings were summed up in a significant journal entry I wrote at Johannesburg Airport before boarding a flight back to Australia. Basically I surmised that the world was an amazing place, people need to see it if possible, we needed to protect and look after it and finally as Australians we don’t know how lucky we have it compared to other places.

1995 was spent in the US and Canada for 2 months, 6 months in Europe and 2 months in Africa. I had no desire to go to Asia. Since then the only travel that I have done (besides a 10 day trip to New Zealand in 1999 and a trip to England and Ireland in 2009) has been in Asia. Sure I have spent 8 years living in Hong Kong, right in the heart of Asia, but this continent is truly incredible.
I have been to 41 countries and as far as I am concerned that is not enough. My favourites in no particular order are: Ireland, Canada, India, China, South Africa, Jordan and Laos.

I have seen incredible sights and landmarks that I have read and dreamt about: climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower, kissed the Blarney Stone, marveled at the beauty of the Taj Mahal, trekked sections of the Great Wall of China, summited Table Mountain in Cape Town on foot, explored the ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Petra in Jordan, floated in the Dead Sea and chased lions through the Okavango Delta in Botswana. I know I am incredibly lucky.

It is fantastic to see my 9 year old daughter developing a passion for the world. It has been great taking my children to some unique places in the world and I hope when they grow the passion I have rubs off on them and they want to venture further out in the world on their own.
I love the excitement of travel. I get excited about going to airports, exchanging money finding hotels and great places to eat. The internet makes so many of these things easy. I already know where my family will be eating next Thursday night in Angeles City in the Philippines and what we need to avoid being scammed on the streets, then again this is all part of travel.

Fortunately I married someone who shares my love of travelling. There was no relaxing on a tropical island or by a beach for our honeymoon. Jen and I went to India for 5 weeks. It was the first time we had been overseas together. I thought it was going to be a breeze; I had been to China twice and also Africa. India would be fine. Yes it was and the country holds an incredibly special place in my heart, but nothing could prepare me for the mass of humanity that faces you when you arrive at Mumbai airport or walk the streets. On our first venture outside our hotel I was shaking with what we encountered. Once we went and sat down inside the Taj Mahal hotel (of course we weren’t staying there, our hotel had bed bugs) and calmed ourselves we were fine and loved every minute of it. I would seriously advise nobody to make India their first overseas venture. Try New Zealand or Canada first. India is an amazing attack on your senses, where 1 billion people want to be your friend. In 2010 it was great being able to take our children to India (although many said we were insane).

 

Travel enriches the mind, body and spirit. The world is an amazing place. See it if you can.

Going Home

After 8 fantastic years in Hong Kong the Spain family is going home. It was a difficult decision to make but we are pleased with the choice we have made. In December we relocate from Hong Kong, Asia’s world city, to Wagga Wagga, the capital of the Riverina.

A number of people have said that we are crazy, why would you want to leave Hong Kong they have asked. We have asked ourselves this question and we are happy with our answers.

The time is right, we are going for family reasons, we want our children to grow up in an Aussie environment, I want to be able to have chicken schnitzel and sausages from Woolworths for lunch. (Well maybe the last reasons aren’t that important but I am still looking forward to them anyhow).

Hong Kong has never been ‘home’. It has been an incredibly fun, rewarding, exciting and enriching place, but never home. I was warned by my principal at my previous school to ‘not get stuck in Hong Kong’. By this he meant he meant to not get enchanted by what can be a relatively comfortable lifestyle. My family has been incredibly lucky to have an amazing helper (maid) who lives with us, is amazing with our children and looks after the cooking and cleaning in our household in a superb manner. This is easy to get used to. The 16% tax rate is very nice thank you and a relatively safe city to boot. The travel we have done since we have been in Hong Kong has been a highlight. I fully expect to ‘rack’ my passport when I return to Wagga Wagga but I am OK with this. In a future blog entry I will elaborate more about what a special place Hong Kong has been).

When we moved to Hong Kong we were always going to move back to Melbourne which is where we lived before moving here. After a few years here I started to think about moving to Wagga Wagga to be closer to family. My wife was hesitant at first. She wanted the bright lights of a big city again. The passing of her father changed her mind. She wants to be near her mother. My parents are an hour away by car. I have missed too many family events since I have been in Hong Kong. I want to go to more family celebrations. A population change of 7,000,000 to 70,000. I am more than happy with that.

I want to spend weekends transporting my children between sporting venues and friend’s places. I want to wake up and look at clear skies (the pollution level in Hong Kong seems to be getting worse. As is my hay fever. I want my children to go to Catholic schools. I want to read a daily paper with a large sports section and spend hours on the weekends dissecting newspapers. I want to explore Australia. I have been to 41 countries but never to South Australia, the Northern Territory or seen the Great Barrier Reef. I want to be able to take my children to sporting events. I want to encourage the Aussies kids that I will teach to go out and explore the world; and then realise how lucky we have it in Australia. I want to challenge myself in a new educational environment. I believe I have a great to offer a prospective school and I would relish that opportunity.  

There is a lot more that I could write about why I am going home. I am happy with the decision and excited about what lies ahead. Sure there are elements that scare me (I haven’t found a job yet) but I want to tackle these things head on and embrace what lies ahead for my family in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.