About Me....
Professionally....
Education is a career change for me, having spent most of my prior life in government and business. Sports is something that I have been active in all my life - participating, coaching, and teaching. This course proved a great opportunity to combine more professional sports qualifications within my Master studies.
Embarking upon a teaching career has not been without its ups and downs; I actually matriculated for a Post-Graduate Degree in Education (PGDE) in Hong Kong 5 years ago, but personal circumstances prevented me from going forward with it then. Had I done that, I would have already completed my teaching certification and it is open to question whether I would have entered this program.
In addition, a background in government and business, doing an online program, combined with an outlook and experiences colored by more than 20 years living in Asia, all presented challenges for a US-based course. Most of my time overseas has been in Asia, the majority of it in Hong Kong and China but also Taiwan, Singapore, and Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I have traveled extensively in the region (and especially China.) I speak and read Mandarin Chinese, a legacy of my time with the US Foreign Service, but after 20 years doing China work (plus other factors) education drew me in. As I look toward my education career, I firmly believe that the above life and work experiences will help me bring diverse perspectives in my teaching practice.
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With experience in the Asian education system, and also seeing the trend toward the IB degree in international education, my goals now remain those that they were in the beginning of this course: to work and develop the skills that will allow me to bring more Western teaching and learning practices into Asia, to be able to apply these to the trends in international education toward the IB degree, and to stimulate critical thinking abilities. The breadth of this program, even with its US-orientation, will hold me in good stead in that respect.
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And personally....
As I mentioned I also love sports, especially diving and water sports, and over the past few years much of my 'teaching' and 'educational' work has been working with children and adults in Learn to Swim (LTS) programs. I do volunteer swim coaching as well with a local charity that brings swimming classes to foreign domestic workers (FDWs) and underprivileged children, as I believe I have a responsibility to give back with the skills and knowledge and opportunities that I have. This same philosophy drives my teaching practice.
Otherwise, you will also see the two most important people in my life in these photos - my two children. He's 14, so getting a photo with dad is proving ever more difficult, while she is 10 and of course still daddy's girl - for a little while still at least!
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