August: Work

My sabbatical is primarily focused on work with SEAMEO RETRAC, which is located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, District 1. After almost a year of discussions with Dean My (Foreign Languages Department), we initially agreed that I would work 15 hours per week, to include subbing when needed. My contract outlines 5 areas:

1. Teacher and staff trainings
2. ELT quarterly newsletters (writing and proofing)
3. Editing/proofing online documents
4. Student workshops and extra-curricular activities (i.e. English Speaking Club & Sharing Sessions)
5. Teaching

Once I arrived at SEAMEO, Dean My explained that they have little funds for anything other than teaching. Although they believe deeply in professional development, they cannot afford to contract me for much other than direct work in the classroom. Therefore, we had to alter my contract because I am travelling too much to teach regular classes each week (at least until January). Now I will receive an extremely low monthly honorarium that has me spending 12 hours per week on items #1-4 above. If I sub, I will get paid about $20 per hour on a separate contract. Interesting…..pretty much the opposite of what I am used to for professional compensation!

Currently, My is my supervisor, but she has a medical issue and will need to retire soon. She is placing me under 3 other directors: Mr. Bao, Ms. Hien, Ms. Trang. I also work with their assistants: Ms. Linh, Mr. Phuong, and Ms. Ahn.

Dean My is a good supervisor. She has worked at SEAMEO for 16 years, usually 10:30-8pm Monday-Friday, with weekends thrown in for teacher observations. She travels to the provinces almost weekly to train primary and secondary teachers. She has welcomed me to her office and given me a desk and computer while at SEAMEO. I have much more to add about what I am learning from SEAMEO, but I will post those specifics later. Here are some initial pictures of my new work world.