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Service learning trip convicts Scott to become a teacher
A teacher education student who did not want to teach would now like to do so in Tonga after completing a service learning trip to the Pacific island country.
Scott Thompson joined 22 of his classmates to complete a placement at Beulah College, Beulah Primary School and Hilliard Memorial School over semester break—the Nuku’alofa-based Seventh-day Adventist schools hosted the students July 20-August 10. He felt nervous before the placement—his first and, having been homeschooled, his first experience in a classroom. But he finished his first lesson with “a smile on my face. I enjoyed it and I felt the students did, too.”
Developing a bond with the students outside of class helped. Scott played in the Beulah brass band, including at a funeral, and harvested kasava and kumara with the students on the college farm.
Scott is completing a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching only because a specialisation in music as part of the degree is less expensive than completing a Bachelor of Music. But now he is feeling much more enthusiastic about becoming a teacher. The reason for the “mind shift”? “I saw the students grow. I saw the difference teachers can make in their lives. I saw teaching as an act of service not just as a job. This will be meaningful work.”
The placement is part of Ministry Of Teaching Overseas (MOTO), which offers students professional experience in another culture. Dr Jason Hinze love his role as coordinator and as a lecturer in the School of Education an Science because “I have the opportunity to help our students discover the joy of service. When they see teaching as an opportunity to serve the world and reveal the character of God, they become unstoppable.”
Scott would like to teach in Tonga. He has a connection to the country: grandfather Ken Aveling-Rowe served as deputy principal at Beulah in the mid-1990s. “While I didn’t want to complete a placement, I thought Tonga would be a great place to learn more about my family heritage and about another culture and to be a blessing to others. I think I received the greater blessing.”
MOTO is leaving a legacy. This is the 24th trip. Almost 400 students have participated since 2007, with Cambodia, Darwin (during COVID), India, Nepal and Tonga as previous destinations.
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