Biography

For sixteen years I taught in the mainstream classroom in Newcastle, Australia. During this time I actively pursued professional development opportunities to ensure that I was keeping abreast of the latest pedagogical and theoretical practices so that I could integrate engaging and authentic teaching and learning experiences in my classroom.

I was fortunate to always work with a dynamic and collaborative group of educators who were willing to take risks and trial new programs from IWB’s to introducing languages. In Australia, the mainstream teaching is an expert at multi-tasking, and it is vital that we pursue professional development so that we can deliver programs that equip students to be globally responsible 21st century citizens.

In the year 2000, I decided to return to the classroom to embark on a MA Educ. and I too became a lifelong learner as I am still studying today. With a specialization in Sociology and Drama, I wrote and published two children’s musicals and then moved into the field of Sociology and it’s relationship with education.

This lead to further study in “Teaching Asian Studies” and becoming involved with AETA (Asian Education Teachers Association), an organisation run by teachers interested in promoting the inclusion of an Asian perspective in teaching. My interest expanded outside the classroom and led me to take teachers on professional development trip house building with Tabitha in Cambodia. Realizing that I had a passion for global issues and developing countries I decided to embark on a volunteer teacher-training program with Hagar in Cambodia during my summer vacation in 2006. I developed a fascination for language teaching and working with NGO’s even though the hours were tediously long, the resources minimal the rewards and memories are lifelong.

Opportunities do not always present themselves in one’s lifetime but one Sunday lunch I was fortunate to sit next to an acquaintance at lunch who offered me a chance to design and implement an academic writing course for Lao agriculture students with funding from ACIAR a government project that aims to improve the well being of people in developing countries and Australia through international collaboration in research and education. This opportunity allowed me to showcase my creative talents through the publication of a textbook developed from many valuable hours spent in an isolated classroom outside Vientiane.

Returning to my home in Australia after my brief working sojourns in Asia it did not take long for me to realize that I needed to update professionally and move globally. After completing a MAL I took up my first overseas teaching position at Yokohama International School in Japan. Here, at YIS like-minded global educators and students surrounded me all “walking the talk” through their involvement in global projects. At YIS, I had the valuable experience of developing and implementing an EAP programme for high school students.

After two years an opportunity presented itself again and I was fortunate to take on Head of EAL at Sinarmas World Academy in Indonesia. It has been an exciting past year as we working to establish a new department, developing resources for an IT centred learning approach as we equip students to become successful lifelong learners who are inspired through my teaching to make a difference in our every changing world.