A spirit of adventure and interest in Asian culture sent a School District 43 art teacher abroad to teach in international schools.
And now, 12 years later, Daun Yorke is about to take on her most demanding position yet as principal at the Xi'an Hi-Tech International School in central China.
"It's another challenge for me and working with teachers is something I've done since my days at SFU," said Yorke in a Skype interview.
As she recalled her years when she worked as a faculty associate with SFU's professional development program and as an art teacher at Moody middle, then a junior high school, and at Centennial, Yorke said she is taking many of those experiences with her into her new job.
For example, international schools are now moving towards the kind of personalized inquiry based learning that is now in B.C. schools and Yorke plans to work with her staff on creative ways to instruct students where teachers are guides on the side instead of strict authoritarians at the front of the class.
"There's a huge movement in international education in China, it's one of the fastest growing regions for the International Baccalaureate. They're interested in the western style education, moving away from rote learning, and looking more into an inquiry based approached."
As in B.C., students at her new school will use laptops and though China is behind a firewall where Google and social media are denied, WeChat is commonly used and there are other workarounds that allow staff and students to communicate via the internet.
Xi'an is the home of the Terracotta Army, a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China and, with a population of about five million, is neither as large nor as cosmopolitan as Shanghai or Beijing.
It's more of a "small town," said Yorke, who said she likes the leafy streets and her three bedroom apartment will be within walking distance of the school.
She expects the winter to be long but there will be breaks where she can visit her daughter Naomi, a former Tri-City News columnist and Terry Fox student, who is living in Korea and teaching art and earning her yoga teacher certification.
Currently, Yorke is taking a break in Hawaii, visiting her parents, after recently leading workshops in China for teachers working with the IB program, and using Skype to interview teachers for the 229-student program at Xi-an Hi-Tech which is expected to expand to 1,400 students after a move to a new building.
Most of the students are the children of foreign workers and English will be the spoken language, although a second language for many of the students.
With many young teachers having a tough time getting full-time contracts, Yorke recommends international education because it offers a rich cultural experience, comradeship and a global view.
On the downside, there is no pension and you can't earn seniority, but housing is paid for and good savers can make a reasonable living. As well, the experience working with English as an Additional Language students is invaluable when looking for jobs back home.
"The international experience is a good opportunity for young teachers," Yorke said. "It really opens your world."
