An Avondale University 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 from July 20 to 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. Mr Thompson played in the Beulah brass band, including at a funeral, and harvested cassava and kumara with the students on the college farm.
Mr Thompson 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 Avondale’s Ministry Of Teaching Overseas (MOTO), which offers students professional experience in another culture. Dr Jason Hinze loves his role as coordinator and as a lecturer in the School of Education and 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.”
Mr Thompson 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.”
Since 2007, MOTO has provided almost 400 students with the opportunity to gain professional experience in diverse cultures. Now on its 24th trip, MOTO has sent students to destinations such as Cambodia, India, Nepal, Tonga and Darwin during the COVID-19 pandemic.
