By Candice Boyle
FOUR City of Maribyrnong teachers traded the Melbourne winter for the 45-degree heat of the Middle East last week.
The teachers were chosen from a large field of applicants for a three-year assignment at an elite United Arab Emirates school.
Erin Ripley, Emma Crew, Sally Curwood and Thomas O’Connor have this week joined 19 other Victorian teachers at Sharjah, the first international school based extensively on the Victorian education system.
Ms Crew, a former Gilmore Girls College teacher, said she was excited by the prospect of delivering the Victorian curriculum in a state-of-the-art school.
“It will give us a chance to explore the teaching methods that the Victorian system is promoting but doesn’t always have enough money to really put into action,” she said.
The school was designed by Victorian architects at the request of the ruler of Sharjah and by 2010 will cater for 2600 students.
When the school opens next month it is expected 60 per cent of the students will be local children and 40 per cent expatriate children, with a vision to attract more expatriate children by the end of the year.
Mr O’Connor, who previously taught at Caroline Chisholm, said his children would be among the expatriates to attend the school as part of a package offered to teachers and their families.
It won’t be the first time the O’Connor children have attended school in the UAE. They were previously taught the British school system while Mr O’Connor was on a three-year assignment working with the UAE Government.
Mr O’Connor said it was not surprising six of the teachers chosen to assist with the education reform were from schools in the West.
“It (working in the West) really prepares you for working anywhere on the planet. The multicultural experience requires different teaching styles,” he said.
Ms Ripley said working with international students at Maribyrnong College had also helped prepare her for the assignment.
“I am really looking forward to working with like-minded colleagues, people that say yes, people that are innovative, and ready to put new things into place,” she said.
Each of the teachers attended intensive training last month to prepare them for the challenges they may encounter while establishing their new lives in the Middle East.
Ms Crew, whose husband is from the Middle East, said the training provided an opportunity to bond with other teachers.
“We are prepared to really immerse ourselves in that culture and learn something new,” she said.
Despite the physical distance, each of the teachers will keep in contact with their former students via the internet, and look forward to the possibility of setting up cultural exchange programs between the schools.
