About Me...I am a Kiwi – currently living in Doha, Qatar - a long way from home! I have taught in 8 countries and in doing so found my love for theatre. I love collaboration and creating original work with students on issues that matter. I am an experienced IB Theatre teacher and have taught MYP Drama for many years. I am involved in the curriculum review for IB Theatre.
I am also an ISTA artist and rep. |
My story ... |
My journey so far in life by a Drama teacher.
To be honest … I don’t know how the heck I got here … a full time drama teacher in Doha, Qatar with over 22 years’ experience teaching overseas! I have very few memories of elementary school except always being the narrator – because I read nicely! At high school I was not one of those drama geeks and I never got a lead role – mainly because I am an absolutely terrible singer and we always did a musical. A major turning point in my life however, was being an exchange student in Thailand for a year. Not only did this open up my eyes to the big, wide world but we also had to perform regularly. From silly skits in Thai, to Thai dancing, sword fighting or a wai (traditional Thai greeting) competition. I did it all, on stage, for literally thousands of screaming adoring Thai students! They loved me! Especially when my traditional costume fell down in the middle of the candle dance revealing my underwear! But I digress … So now I had a passion to see the world. But first I had to get some qualifications. I graduated with a BA in English Literature and as the song goes … “What do you do with a BA in English? … but go teaching. Well I loved the holidays so I thought why not! A couple of years teaching English in NZ and the wonderlust hit … so I headed off to London for a few years (as most young Kiwi’s do). Once there someone needed a Drama teacher and so threw me into it – after all anyone can teach Drama right? (oh and they are so wrong!) Anyway, I thought if they are going to pay me to play games and be creative all day long I had better get some qualifications and so I headed to evening school to do a Diploma in Drama Ed. at Central School of Speech and Drama. So now at least I had some paperwork to back up my claim to be a drama teacher. Back home for a stint and that itchy feeling hit again … this time I took off for the Philippines. Once I had a taste of international teaching there was no looking back … but there were so many more places to see in the world … so jobs in Thailand, Venezuela, Dubai, Romania and Qatar |