Now that Katie's had a taste of travel she's never looking back!
Katie Elsick attended AIM Overseas' Teacher Education and Practice program in the USA while she was a student at Charles Sturt University. Now working as a secondary school teacher, Katie found some time in-between report-writing to talk to us about the transition from uni to full-time work and how AIM Overseas' course has strengthened her desire to work overseas.
Hi Katie, tell me a little about yourself what you're doing these days.
Originally from Bathurst, I have recently graduated from Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga Campus and have been posted at Mudgee High School as an English and History Teacher. At CSU, I completed my Bachelor Teaching (secondary)/ Bachelor Arts double degree and fulfilled my practicum requirements at Murrumburrah High, Kildare Catholic School, Yanco Agricultural High School (where I also completed my internship), as well as a week-long internship at the Carolina International School in North Carolina, USA. I have always had a passion about history and reading any book within my reach. When I started to apply for universities, I only applied at one and in only one course. I was accepted into CSU through their early enrolment program and haven’t looked back!
How are you finding your new role and the transition from uni to full-time work? Honestly, I am still waiting for it to all hit me in the face, so to speak. During our last year at uni, we had first year out teachers some in and talk to us about it was like once we stepped out the front gates of university holding our pieces of paper. Generally, we were informed that you are constantly tired and that it can feel like you are always working and that your social life can sometimes become a thing of the past.
I have yet to experience this. I have a full time job that isn’t just nine to five, a new car, a house, I pay all my own bills and insurances and I have moved into a community where I know no one, despite the fact it is only an hour and a half away from where I grew up. But then I realise that it probably has something to do with the fact that I really do love my job. I am doing what I enjoy doing: reading, researching, being creative and having random but insightful discussions with a broad range of people every day. Fortunately I also get paid to do it all!
Yeah, there are some rather intense times, like our school was recently broken into and my
classroom was one of the ones that were trashed, posters I had painted for the kids were ruined,
our TV was thrown down stair and textbooks torn to pieces. But that is not something I am going to dwell on, there are so many other aspects of teaching that override these lapses in judgement.
Compared to my university days, where I had face-to-face classes maybe fifteen hours a week, at the maximum, working full time is vastly different. But I don’t mind and I look forward to the next 30-40 years of my future as a teacher.
Tell me a little bit about the AIM Overseas Teachers Education and Practice course you did last year.
I am one of the many recipients of a DET Teacher Education Scholarship, which entailed the DET paying my HECS for my course, providing me with money each semester for equipment and for a guaranteed full time position in a DET school for three years at the conclusion of my course. This was fantastic, but unfortunately I was unable to study overseas for any part of my course. When my friend stumbled across the AIM website and pointed me in that direction, I was rather cautious at first; but once I confirmed it with my university and the DET I was over the moon!
I applied for the Teacher Education Program, which was the first of its kind with UNCC [University of North Carolina, Charlotte], which would allow me to study overseas during my university holidays, therefore not interfering with my course. America is one place I have always wanted to travel to and attend school there. I had applied and went through a school exchange program during high school but had to pull out at the last minute due to family illness, so this was my chance.
This course lasted for three weeks in Charlotte North Carolina. For the first week we attending
seminars and sessions led by the university lecturers, educational board members, other pre-service teachers etc. During these sessions, we discovered much about the American education system and how it has evolved, about issues that face urban schools and students, what challenges they face as well as looking at various teaching methods. During my studies at CSU, we used a lot of textbooks that used American research, and seeing it in practice was brilliant.
The second week saw us moving around the Charlotte and Mecklenberg and surrounding counties, visiting an array of schools - charter schools, religious and public schools, elementary, middle, high schools and a community college. During these visits we were given tours of the school, discussed the student population and what was taught at each school.
During our third and final week we were at Carolina International Day School for a week-long
internship. We were each assigned to a teacher who we followed and assisted in daily tasks. I was
assigned to the only English teacher, whose name was also Katie, and sat in on all her classes and assisted teaching when requested and then on the final day I taught each class unassisted. It was such an invaluable experience, and I will never forget it.
Throughout the program we were taken to a variety of social activities, many with other
international students studying at UNCC. We went line dancing, a dorm gathering, went to an ice hockey game, basketball game, coffee sessions, shopping trips, amongst many other things.
How has doing the course affected your life since coming back? Since returning from the States, I have continued my research on teaching overseas, building my
knowledge of teaching from a broad range of teaching sources as well as adjusting my preconceptions of America (which existed thanks to the media). I have firsthand experience of international education and I don’t think I will ever look back, as clichéd as that is to say.
Do you still keep in touch with people you met through the program? Yes, I have two of the organisers, Maureen and Jessica from UNCC as friends on Facebook, as well as our driver and Southern Friend, Matt. I returned to the States for two months at the end of last year and unfortunately was unable to visit Charlotte due to weather, but I kept them posted of my whereabouts. The lecturers and other educators all provided us with their contact details for the future and
encouraged us to keep in contact.
Do you see yourself teaching in the US or anywhere else abroad in the future? Yes. I honestly believe that I will always travel and teach, whether it would be for a term, semester, a year or eight. I want to experience the world and not only on a superficial ‘touristy’ level, but I want to develop an understanding and empathy of the cultures and societies that create our world. My first taste of international travel was when I was 16, when I went to Japan with my school. I don’t think that I am able to live in Australia and teach for the rest of my career when I know and have experienced life beyond the boarder.
What would you say to a student thinking about doing this course? Do it. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Not only do you get to travel to an amazing country,
but you get to experience it and learn from it in a way that will benefit you immensely socially,
professionally and intellectually when you return. The teachers, lecturers, students (of a broad
selection), hotel staff and many others are all people who will go out of their way to make this trip something to remember. Take the chance to expand your knowledge and understanding, to increase your perspective on international education training and practice. As a teacher you need to prepare students for their future outside of school, so why not give yourself one of the best tools out there - experience.
Thanks Katie!
Katie and the other AIM Overseasers about to watch a hockey game
Katie standing outside one of the schools she visited as part of the program
The Americans certainly don't disappoint when it comes to fast food! Katie confirms that this veggie burger was one of the best meals she had in the US.
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