The International Teacher: When Travel and Teaching go Hand in Hand

Episode 97: The International Teacher: when travel and teaching go hand in hand

Rita Felder teaches in an International School in Korea. What’s it like? How did she prepare to teach students who speak English as a second language? She also shares why the summer is not just a time of rest for a teacher.

Show Notes

Have you created unique interesting, action-packed drama lesson plans for your classes? Theatrefolk is looking for you.

Episode Transcript

Welcome to TFP – The Theatrefolk Podcast – the place to be for Drama teachers, Drama students, theatre educators everywhere. I’m Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk.

Hello, I hope you’re well. Thanks for listening.

This is Episode 97 and you can catch the links for this episode in the show notes at theatrefolk.com/episode97.

Okay. Welcome all! I hope you’re kicking your summer off to a great start.

We are absolutely here at Theatrefolk Global Headquarters. Craig and I live quite near to Lake Erie and we have about a seven-minute walk to the left and to the right of us to hit water. If we’re feeling beachy, we go right. If we’re feeling like sitting on a patio, we go left and we hit our local waterfront watering hole. It’s not fancy but, you know, you can’t beat the view. It is just so relaxing to sit and stare at the water. It’s my favorite thing being close to water.

So, we are starting off in our summer fun with a couple of weeks of teacher interviews. I asked teachers the question, “What do you do for summer vacation?” and I think some of you are going to be shocked, some of you won’t be surprised at all, and some of you, you’re going to get out your pens and paper and write down these – these are great ideas of how to plan out your summer.

So, we’re going to kick it off with an “extendamix” though. Rita Felder, she teaches in Korea, so I got up at 6:00 am to interview her which was my fault, totally, because I screwed up the time difference. And before she fills us in on what she does during the summer, you’re going to hear what it’s like to teach in an international school.

Okay. Let’s find out!

Lindsay: All right. Hello, Rita!

Rita: Hi!

Lindsay: Hi! I’m really happy to talk to you. When I put out this call for teachers to talk about what they do on their summer vacation, you gladly raised your hand. Thank you very much.

Rita: Yeah, you’re welcome.

Lindsay: And I just want to tell everyone I’m talking to teacher Rita Felder.

Rita, tell everybody where you are right now.

Rita: Right now, I’m on very windy Jeju Island in South Korea.

Lindsay: So, we were just talking about how your internet connection in South Korea is very good and it’s fascinating to me that I’m here in teeny tiny town Ontario and then you’re on the other side of the world. I think that’s very, very cool.

Rita: Yes, it is.

Lindsay: So, how long have you been a teacher?

Rita: I’ve been a teacher for about ten years now.

Lindsay: Yeah?

Rita: Yeah. I had two main areas – Drama and Theatre, and also I’m a foreign language teacher so I always taught German and French for a number of years as well.

Lindsay: Cool! Now, is the school that you’re at, is that an international school?

Rita: It is, yes.

Lindsay: And why did you choose there? Where are you from originally?

Rita: It’s a bit of a long story. I’m half Swiss and I’m half Australian. So, I spent half my life in Switzerland and half my life in Australia. And then, I thought this was a nice in-between step, but I’m actually heading back to Switzerland later this year.

Lindsay: To teach?

Rita: To teach at an international school, yes.

Lindsay: And why did you choose Drama? Like, why was that something that you wanted to do? Why Drama and education?

Rita: Good question. When I was in Australia, I guess I should say I did most of my primary school – I did all of my primary schooling in Switzerland – and Drama isn’t one of the subjects offered in a public school there. When I first went to Australia and suddenly I was introduced to this subject called Drama, I thought, “Oh, my goodness, this is where I belong,” and I ended up getting involved in a lot of amateur theatre companies in the city that I grew up in.

When I was doing various different theatre productions there, I noticed that a lot of the people involved in the theatre company were actually Drama teachers and also English teachers. I guess what I really liked or what inspired me was that these were people who were obviously very passionate about theatre, but were also teaching it on a daily basis. And then, I thought, “Well, here’s a nice balance between having, I guess, a fairly stable job, but also being able to pursue that very strong hobby.”

Lindsay: Ah, that was going to be my next question. Like, why the teaching aspect? Isn’t that so funny how those things can inspire you and just sort of hold onto you? And then, change your life and direct your career!

Rita: Absolutely. I had to ask myself a lot of questions. I was like, “Well, what do I enjoy doing? Who do I enjoy working with? And what do I enjoy myself but what do I also enjoy helping other people do as well?” and I think that, in that regard, being a Drama teacher is quite rewarding because it’s something that I love doing, but I also love seeing other people enjoy the subject as well.

Lindsay: And what is it like to teach at an international school?

Rita: Yeah. Well, this is actually my first international school so I can’t really compare it to many others. But what I do love about being at an international school is that you meet people from all over the place. So, the colleagues that I meet have taught in many different countries and have really interesting life and career paths.

I really love the travel aspect. So, I guess we all here have the commonality that we love travel. And so, you know, even long weekends or short breaks, people will head off to Japan or head off to Seoul and just go and fly up there to see a show or something like that. So, yeah, definitely the travel aspect and just also meeting the different people from all places, all corners of the earth.

Lindsay: Of the globe.

Rita: Yeah.

Lindsay: What is the primary nationality of the students that you teach? Is it Korean? Is it American? Where do they come from?

Rita: Yeah. Well, at this school, at this point, it is predominantly Korean. We also have some students from Japan, and we have a student some Ireland, and we have a few students from China as well.

Lindsay: Okay. So, here’s my naïve question. Are you teaching them Drama in English or Korean?

Rita: Yes, it’s in English instruction. So, I teach in English, yeah.

Lindsay: So, for a lot of them, it’s English as a second language?

Rita: Yes, it is, absolutely. And, I guess, for me, as a language teacher as well, I have been able to use some of my – I guess – language teacher skills along the way which has been helpful.

Lindsay: Okay. So, now I’m fascinated – well , I am always fascinated. But what’s it like to convey principles of Drama like blocking and tableau – or just character development – to someone who has that language barrier?

Rita: Look, when I first came here, I didn’t actually know what the students’ level of English was going to be. And so, when I came and I started the Drama program here, I had my own plan in my head of what I was going to do in grade seven, grade eight, grade nine, and grade ten, and I actually taught Junior Kindy and all of the junior school at that point as well.

And so, I thought in my head that, you know, by grade ten I was going to do some Shakespeare and by grade nine I was going to do this and that, and it did really change in that first few lessons that I had. I thought, “Okay. I’m really going to have to change this entire program,” and not just because of the language piece at the beginning, but also because about a good 97 percent of my students had never done Drama before.

And so, even students who were in grade ten had never done Drama. And so, I thought, “Well, I can’t throw you into Shakespeare now. I would like to actually teach you some of the basics and get you a bit more confident and comfortable starting from scratch, really,” and even to then touch on some of the elements of Drama, and also with our students, being comfortable with raising your hand and volunteering, you know, those were things that we had to first build.

Lindsay: One of the major tenets of Drama is that we try things and that maybe it doesn’t work. In terms of creativity, the only way to really embrace creativity is to try and to fail and then to try again. What’s that concept like in a country where it’s very, very academic? It’s very academic, right? Is that right?

Rita: Yeah, yeah, it is. Look, I think that’s another reason why I really like the IB system at international schools. It’s the idea of the learner profile. And one of the characteristics that we try to foster is the idea of risk-taking and reflecting. And so, we’ll often use that, you know, and the kids now will be at the stage where they’ll go, “Oh, I’m being a risk-taker because I’m volunteering for this,” or, “I’m going to try this out and therefore…”

So, that had to be practiced and, I guess, built up over time. But you’re right. It’s not something that just happened on the first day.

Lindsay: Have you done plays with these students yet?

Rita: Yeah, we have. We’ve done, like, even for, you know, Christmas celebrations. We’ve done short plays. We did a version of The Gift of the Magi last Christmas which was really, really nice. I was running – along with a couple of colleagues as well – a co-curricular Drama club and we did some scene work and short versions of plays. And we also this year did our very first musical, too.

Lindsay: Awesome!

Rita: Yeah!

Lindsay: What was it like for them to perform for the first time?

Rita: I think what was quite interesting, when they first stepped into the Drama classroom – I remember this really vividly – you know, they’d look around and they saw that there weren’t really any tables and there weren’t really any chairs. And I said to them, you know, “What do you think we’re going to be doing here?” and they kind of associated Drama with what they know as Korean Drama – what they watch on television. It was just funny having that conversation.

So, I guess, you know, next to everything else, we were also talking about, “Well, what is Drama class? What is that? What does that look like? What does collaboration look like in this classroom as opposed to another subject area?” And I think that the girls – on many occasions – have felt an immense sense of pride when they have performed.

For example, one really treasured moment last year when we did our Christmas concert and the students performed a short played called Over the Wall. When the kids performed that, after we finished, I went to meet with them in the black box theatre and they were so excited. They picked me up off the floor and threw me in the air and caught me. So, it was such a lovely, lovely moment.

And even with the school musical this year as well, you could just see their excitement and the way that it just formed new friendships and made a lot of the kids come out of their shells, perhaps for the first time. It was really special.

Lindsay: Wow! And how special to be there and to see that! It must have been just amazing.

Okay. For anybody out there who might be thinking about applying to go to teach in an international school, what would be the biggest piece of advice that you could give someone who might be thinking of teaching overseas?

Rita: You mean in terms of looking for teaching positions?

Lindsay: How about what was the thing that surprised you most that you didn’t expect?

Rita: I wasn’t really familiar with Korean culture. Obviously, this is going to be different for every person.

Lindsay: I think that’s a good one. Like, just being aware of what goes on in the country that you go to. Like, was there anything that you had to adapt in your Drama curriculum to reflect the Korean culture?

Rita: Well, one thing which was really nice – and yeah, you’re right – is that, for example, being here on Jeju Island, there are a lot of beautiful folk stories. And so, in grade seven, when I wanted to do a story-telling unit, instead of perhaps drawing on my European influences of fairy tales and stories or Australian stories, I was able to get the kids to help me explore some of the Korean stories as well – obviously, stories that I may not necessarily be able to access because I don’t speak Korean. And so, I think, for them to be able to share elements of their culture through the medium of Drama was really special – for me too because it meant that I got to see this rich culture from a different side.

But what also just popped into my head is, if  I were to go to another country which I am later on this year, I definitely think it’s worth really exploring all the theatre opportunities around you because, like, for example, in Seoul, it’s got such a vivid arts scene and I didn’t know about that when I first arrived. And it took a few months to get in contact with different people and to network and to see, well, what is on? And is there something I can either take my students to or is there a workshop I can organize with someone who’s flying through South Korea?

So, I think, definitely exploring outside the school wall opportunities is really valuable.

Lindsay: Absolutely. Did you meet any resistance to teaching Drama from some students or from any administration? Was there any resistance? Well, obviously not because the program was there.

Rita: Yeah.

Lindsay: But, because it was new, was there any resistance?

Rita: No, I wouldn’t there was resistance – definitely not from the school itself.

Lindsay: You were there!

Rita: Yes, but also being an IB school, you know, Theatre is part of the curriculum and I think most people would need to see the value of te performing arts. We have a very strong music department as well and we have excellent facilities when it comes to, you know, our black box theatres and our auditorium and things like that.

I guess one of the things, if I could have my time here again, and if I could speak Korean – and this is a big “if” – I would love to be able to have the opportunity to, I guess, introduce parents to the subject a bit more. I had ideas at the beginning that, you know, I would do presentations where I might have a translator who would then tell the parent body about what Drama is and what it means rather than just having to read the information from a handbook.

But what we had instead, we had open days and we had parents coming through and students sort of leading them through the campus and introduce parents to the subject a little bit that way. And many of the parents afterwards made it very clear to me that they didn’t actually know what the subject entailed and were really supportive of it. But, I guess, you know, there’s always more that you can do. There’s always parents that you wouldn’t have met and who don’t necessarily understand how the program runs from beginning to end – like, you know, starting in grade seven all the way to DP.

Lindsay: It’s a pretty preconceived notion that teachers don’t do anything over their summer vacations – that it’s just party time for all – and this is something that I really wanted to sort of ask teachers. Like, what do you do during the summer and how do you spend that time?

So, what do you do?

Rita: Okay. Well, I did have a pretty special summer last summer. So, I wouldn’t say that my last summer was necessarily what I do every summer, but I will tell you what I do most summers as well.

Last summer, I was really lucky. I got to spend some time in Europe and in the US as well. So, what I did last summer was I spent a few days in London and, on my way to LA, I spent about eight days in New York. One of the reasons why I went to New York was because I’d never been to Broadway before and so I really wanted to experience that. And, of course, when I was in London, I went and saw a number of shows on West End.

So, I felt really, really lucky because I didn’t think that I would ever, you know, see West End and Broadway in the same trip, but I saw a ton of shows. I saw so many shows! Sometimes I even decided to go and see two shows in one day because I thought, “Well, look, I’m probably not going to be here for a little while so I really want to make the most of this.” And, I guess, the good thing for me is going to see a show is a little bit like PD because I walk away with so many ideas, I walk away feeling inspired and refreshed, and I enjoy it. So, of course, I’m now paying back for this trip. So, I saw lots of different shows.

What I also love to do during the holiday breaks is doing some kind of class – perhaps something that I hadn’t done before. So, when I was in New York, I just decided to do a singing workshop with a friend who is a professional singer and I also was really lucky I got to spend a couple of days on a set of a crime drama — just watching the way that that was filmed and meeting some of the actors and things like that. It’s not just perhaps what you would call proper traditional PD, but the stories that I was able to share with my students and the personal kind of appreciation for all the things related to performing arts were really strengthened during this trip as well. So, that was one thing that I really enjoyed.

Also, part of my last summer holiday is I ended up going to Singapore for a diploma program theatre workshop. So, during that workshop, I was able to share a lot of resources, make new contacts with DP teachers who are in Asia as well.

Lindsay: Just what’s DP?

Rita: Oh, it’s the Diploma Program. So, it’s grade eleven and twelve theatre students. And that was invaluable for me this year. You know, whenever I had questions, I could just flick people an email, and often it’s people who are in very similar situations as yourself and so it just makes things so much easier.

And one of the other things that I often do on my holiday – apart from relaxing and catching up with friends and all those good things, I can’t forget to mention that – is to organize my digital library as well because I find that, during the school term, I come across a lot of different resources or I spend a couple of hours looking for things and then suddenly, you know, you click on one website and then all of a sudden you’ve spent two hours looking for resources, but actually going through that an organizing it and going, “Hey, I found this, and this is actually going to really be useful for my first unit next year so I’m going to put it in this folder over here so that I know where to look for it later.” So, getting organized with that sort of stuff.

Lindsay: That’s the period you’re going to have time that you can organize things.

Why is continual learning so important?

Rita: Because I think, with something like Theatre and story-telling, it’s something that’s always changing in a sense. I guess, for me, it’s always about telling stories – that’s what I think about Theatre and Drama – but the way that you tell those stories is always going to change. People are always going to try new things and I think that, for a Theatre teacher to explore different, to look at different shows, to see what people are doing, to participate in a workshop yourself, if you don’t do those things then I think you’re always going to do things the same way that you’ve done them before.

And so, for me to go to Broadway, for example, I remember I went to see a musical there – Avenue Q – now, I’ve seen this show probably a good three times already. But every time that I go and see it again, I see different things. I notice different things. One cool thing was I actually went to see Avenue Q in Seoul, probably about four months after I went to see it on Broadway. And what was really interesting there was, like, even in the same show, things were done differently, you know, to accommodate the particular audience that they were performing to.

And so, I think professional learning for any teacher is important. But, for me as a Theatre teacher, yeah, it makes me feel refreshed.

Lindsay: That is a perfect example of it brings it right back around to we try and maybe we fail, we try again; that there is no one right answer in Drama and there’s no one right way to interpret things, and that’s so hard for students – and I think that’s across the board. It doesn’t matter where they are, students are very focused on two plus two equals four and it’s hard to get them to try and interpret differently.

Rita: Yeah, absolutely. And I think the focus then becomes not so much about trying to get the right answer but it’s trying to be able to teach students the skills of explaining their opinion. So, you know, if you liked something, well, why did you like it? Or if you chose to do it this way or if you chose to interpret it this way, why did you interpret it this way? And why is that different from the way that the person next to you has interpreted it? So, giving them the language and the skills to analyze and justify in that regard too.

Lindsay: And that’s going to serve them wherever they go.

Rita: Yeah.

Lindsay: Awesome!

Rita, this has been lovely. I really appreciate that you sat down where you are and just had a little talk with us about teaching and what you do.

Rita: Yeah, no worries. Thank you so much.

Lindsay: Have a lovely day. You’re at the end of your day, right?

Rita: Pretty much, yes.

Lindsay: You’re at the end of your day and we’re just beginning and that sounds good to me. Thank you very much.

Rita: Have a lovely day. Bye-bye.

Thank you, Rita!

I still find that amazing that I was in Ontario, Canada, and she was in Korea, and there wasn’t a blip or a fuzzy connection or anything. Okay, technology! I think that’s pretty good.

So, before we go, let’s do some THEATREFOLK NEWS.

Teachers! We want your lesson plans! We want to pay you for your lesson plans!

So, are you one of those teachers who loves to create your own programs? Teach lessons in your own way? We here at Theatrefolk are looking to build a library of lesson plans just for Drama teachers – just for you – middle school and high school.

Share your expertise with us and with Drama teachers around the world. Go to the show notes. Click the link in the show notes. That’s theatrefolk.com/episode97 to learn more.

Share what you know. Get paid for it. We would love to hear from you.

Finally, where, oh, where can you find this wonderful podcast?

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And that’s where we’re going to end. Take care, my friends. Take care.

Music credit: ”Ave” by Alex (feat. Morusque) is licensed under a Creative Commons license.