Cameron is originally from Newcastle, Australia where he began his teaching career twenty years ago. Since then, he has worked in the UK, Bangladesh, Colombia, China and now South Korea. Having worked in IB schools since 2010, Cameron joined Dwight Seoul due to its excellent reputation as one of the top IB schools in Asia.
1. What is your role at Dwight Seoul?
I’m the Upper School Principal
2. What made you decide to work in an education setting? And what is your philosophy?
I originally became a teacher because I wanted to follow my passions for Literature and History. I soon realised that I also loved sharing these with others. I believe education should be collaborative and inquiry based so that students can learn the skills they need to be successful life-long learners.
3. What do you like the most about working at Dwight?
Our students! Each one of them is unique but so important to our community.
4. What are your interests and or hobbies?
I love playing sports including all types of football – especially Australian Rules Football. I will be cheering on the Sydney Swans in the AFL Grand Final this weekend! Cricket is my other great sporting passion. I also really enjoy music and love listening to and playing Rock and Heavy Metal on the drums.
5. Who inspires you and how?
I am continually inspired by the staff and students here at Dwight Seoul. Seeing what our students are able to create and the ideas they are able to discuss with each other in classes is very inspiring. Watching our staff teach their lessons and using a variety of different strategies to support the students’ inquiry and collaboration is extremely exciting and is a great way to keep learning from each other.
6. What is the best book or production that you have read, watched, or listened to lately?
I recently read the novel Boy Swallows Universe by Australian author Trent Dalton and thought it was a great read. Professionally, I have been enjoying reading the book Collaborative Professionalism: When Teaching Together Means Learning for All by A. Hargreaves and M.T. O’Connor. Collaboration is so important for any organisation and this is especially true of education and schools.
7. What global challenge would you like to see tackled and how do you see yourself contributing to the positive change that you desire? Or, what one particular social issue calls out to you and why? How do you see yourself contributing to making an impact/being the solution?
As a Language and Literature teacher, I feel that media literacy is one of the most important skills our students need to develop. This is especially true in a world where social media is so prevalent in their lives and they are constantly bombarded with misinformation. By teaching students media literacy skills – especially how to evaluate the veracity of claims made in the media – we are setting them up to make a difference in their communities.
8. What is one fun fact about you that others may not know or may surprise them?
Something that many people may not know about me is that I captained the Colombian cricket team at the South American Cricket Championships in 2015 in Santiago, Chile.
9. Why would you tell a prospective family to choose Dwight Seoul?
Because they would be joining the most caring school community in Seoul while receiving an academically rigorous IB education that teaches them to become lifelong learners.
