Teacher of the Week: Mr. Dean
Platform Post Jeju has got the chance to meet Branksome’s Economics Teacher, Mr. Dean. If you ever get the chance to visit our campus, the teacher wearing a suit with a hat will be Mr. Dean!
Background info. (What did you before you came to BHA? Where are you from? Major in college, etc.)
“I am from the great state of Iowa. I majored in Secondary Education, History, and all Social Sciences, which includes Economics, Geography, Psychology, Sociology, and Politics. Before coming to BHA, I worked in Mexico at an IB school with Ms. Murphy.”
What were you like as a high school student?
“Both my parents were teachers at my high school. My father was a Drama teacher while my mother was a choir teacher. Having both my parents work at the same school as I did felt pleasant. As a student, I would say I had a lot of curiosity, which also got me in trouble at times. I never necessarily always focused on receiving the best grades as I had interests in a lot of different activities. I was in choir, school productions, the marching band, participated in speech contests, the basketball and football team. I may have not been the best at all of these but I loved participating and being a part of a team. Overall, high school was a positive place where I got to experience a wide range of activities.”
What brought you to BHA? Do you enjoy life here at Jeju, how long has it been since you lived in Jeju?
“This is my second year on the island. Jeju is a place where you are only five minutes away from experiencing beautiful nature. I love just how I can walk with my dog, Frida everyday. In the mornings, I would take Frida for a walk and bike to Osulloc and watch the sunrise and at night I would bike through the tangerine groves. I would say it is a once in a lifetime chance to experience this kind of lifestyle.
First of all, before coming to BHA I had never been to Asia nor have I ever experienced Asian culture. Before coming to Jeju, I was more than excited to get a grasp on Korea culture. Also, I thought working at a single sex school would be an interesting experience for myself as my mother also attended an all girl’s school.”
As a teacher in BHA, what do you think of BHA students?
“BHA students fascinate me for two main reasons. Firstly, all BHA students are enormously talented. As I walk around campus after school I would be able to see students playing badminton, making their own robot, etc. I get surprised at the amount of talent each student possesses. On top of their talent, students are also able to academically do extremely well in my Economic classes. Secondly, BHA students have a mentality that you cannot not always see in other schools. I see students making their decisions based on what they want to do instead of questioning and stressing about what they can do.”
As an Economics teacher, what do you love about your teaching area?
“As an Economics teacher, I view the world in an economic way. I love that Economics has the ability to take any type of situation, and you can always see an economic factor to it such as, gender equality and world hunger. Economics allows students to be in different perspectives to gain a deeper understanding of any situation.”
What is your goal as a teacher?
“Personally, this is the simplest way I would say this: My goal as a teacher is to get students to be successful by achieving their goal. I do not care if I agree or disagree with the student’s goals but whatever their goal is, it also becomes my goal. If a student wants to achieve a level 7, I would work with that student so they can achieve that goal.”
Do you have any future goals?
“I would consider myself as someone with many goals but that also means that my goal changes frequently. As of now, my goal is to design my own hats because I am bald and will be bald for the rest of my life. It’s one thing to buy a hat but another to design and to wear your own hat. Another goal of mine is to become a secret agent and an international man of mystery.”
Platform Post Jeju would like to greatly thank Mr. Dean for taking part in this week’s Teacher of the Week. Have a wonderful week everyone!