Meet Joyce Lau
Please introduce yourself!
I’m a Quebec-certified Kindergarten and Elementary teacher. I taught English reading and ESL for the last five years in Taiwan. Aside from traveling and trying new foods, I love to cook and spend my days exploring with friends, adding restaurants to our Google Maps to try next time. I guess before being an international teacher, I was an international learner first. Growing up in international schools, I have always been inspired by the teachers I had who traveled the world and were eager to share their experiences beyond subject knowledge.
What excites you about the world of international education? How has ISS supported you in this journey?
What excites me most about international education is the opportunity to explore different cultures and education systems while also realizing how similar certain things are, regardless of where you are in the world.
At the heart of it, educators everywhere care deeply about their students and creating meaningful learning experiences. International schools also bring together competent and talented professionals you might never otherwise meet from around the world, which makes the professional community incredibly inspiring.
I also felt the ISS job fair really set me up for success, not only through their profile system but by providing ample information beforehand so candidates could prepare themselves for the best possible outcome.
What’s next for you?
Right now, I’m looking forward to the next step in my international teaching journey. I’m hoping to step into a homeroom position where I can put my IB PYP certification into practice, continuing to grow as an educator and building a strong classroom community with my students.
As I move forward, I’m also excited about being able to share the experience of iinternational education with my daughter, allowing her to grow up experiencing different cultures and communities around
the world.
Any advice you would share with potential international educators?
One of the most special things about international education is how unexpectedly connected the world can become. You often cross paths with people in surprising ways. I ended up working with the principal from my own high school years, later on the other side of the world. Experiences like that remind me how the international school community is really small and interconnected.
