Carly Swisher ’14, Teaching Internationally in China
By Annalynn Mueller, senior English Major
November 4, 2024
Pictured Above: Carly Swisher demonstrating an extreme reading game for students
Although Carly Swisher did not plan on pursuing a degree in English when she came to SOU, she ended up falling in love with the English major. Shortly after declaring her major, Carly began to explore how to share her love of literature with others through teaching. She observed many local middle and highschool classrooms and volunteered with Head Start as an assistant teacher. When she first found out about the possibilities of international teaching at a job fair, “it seemed like the perfect fit.”
Carly began figuring out what she needed to do to become qualified to teach internationally. She applied for the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at SOU before graduating, but ended up taking a couple of years off to pursue her passions of working with horses: “ I am really glad I did this; I didn’t necessarily know it at the time, but I needed a few years to mature as a person and recover from academic burnout before going through the demands of grad school.” Once she came back to the MAT program, she “truly felt ready for the next chapter.”
“Ultimately, I love literature and when I found a way to make a career out of it with teaching, I went for it.”
– Carly Swisher
Carly completed SOU’s two-year MAT program in Language Arts and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). The program was demanding on its own, but Carly was also working full-time throughout her MAT degree. During the second year, she was hired as a 6th-grade English teacher on an emergency teaching license. (Emergency licenses are granted to teachers who plan to complete a licensure program and then apply for a regular license.) For Carly, this “was truly a trial by fire experience. [She] learned a ton and was grateful for the support [she] had from both SOU and [Scenic Middle] school.” Looking back, Carly reflected that this was the right option for her because it allowed her to take what she was learning and “apply it the next day in a real-life situation. After graduating from SOU with a Masters of Arts degree in teaching in 2018, Carly was hired back at her school in Central Point and worked there for three years.
Pictured Above: Carly exploring the beautiful China countryside
During COVID, Carly moved to Montana and worked some seasonal jobs before being hired as a high school English teacher. Although the transition from teaching 6th grade to teaching high school was challenging, Carly “learned a ton and became a better teacher.” She was able to coach the track-and-field and ski team, while also pursuing her personal passions of thru-hiking and adventuring.
“The academic expectations are high for me as a subject teacher and I have had to really rely on my English degree.”
– Carly Swisher
After two years of teaching in Montana, Carly had enough experience to start applying to international schools. She was hired to teach Language and Literature at an international school in China, alongside her wife who works there as a school counselor, where they have been for the past two years. Carly’s classis based on an IB language and literature model, which is not that different from English language arts classrooms in the US, but focuses on teaching a “combination of literary works (novels, dramas, graphic novels, poetry) and ‘non-literary’ (art, film, opinion pieces, political cartoons, blogs).” Carly “loves “the freedom of getting to choose from a variety of text types.” She teaches a unit where students analyze The Twilight Zone to “learn to analyze film techniques, how language is used to convey meaning in the scripts, and discuss surprisingly relevant social issues in the series.” Having so much freedom in curriculum allows Carly many unique opportunities in her teaching. The work that Carly does in the classroom feels particularly impactful as she believes that teaching literature is “the entry point to vital skills for functioning in a society–critical thinking, seeing things from different perspectives, developing empathy for others.”
Pictured Above: Carly and her wife hiking in China
“I like being able to choose texts that explore perspectives and introduce kids to ideas they may not hold themselves.”
– Carly Swisher
Carly says that “kids are kids everywhere,” but there are many differences from her experience teaching in the States. Working at an international school has allowed her to teach in a diverse classroom, with students from all over the world. The biggest day-to-day difference is that Carly has fewer behavioral issues in China than she did in the US, which allows her to “spend more time on learning and activities and less on classroom management.” Carly has also noticed that she gets more respect as a teacher in China than in the US, is able to pursue more professional development opportunities, has a more relaxed coaching experience, and lives in more financial freedom.
The move outside of teaching has been pretty smooth. Carly has found community with other trail runners and has been surprised by how easy it is to find vegan food. Her biggest challenge is being far away from friends and family.
Right now, Carly is teaching 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th grade. Although each has its perks, she has an affinity for 7th grade: “It’s a perfect combo of wanting to learn and wanting to be silly.” Despite the grade level, Carly’s favorite part of teaching is working with youth, and the reason she stayed through challenging years .Like many other educators navigating the last several years, Carly has found the increase in school violence, challenges of the pandemic, the growing disdain for teachers to be particularly challenging. However, “the kids make [her] laugh,” she loves getting to know students and that makes the challenges of the job worth it.
Pictured Above: Carly showing her silly personality while traveling around China
She encourages new teachers to reach out to find a community, as teaching can feel isolating at times. When asked what advice to give to prospective teachers, Carly recommends observing in schools and acknowledging that all schools are different. She advises future international teachers to “not take short-cuts and to get home-country experience teaching before looking internationally.”
“[Teaching] is not an easy path, but if you love working with kids and you love the subject, I think it’s a good one. I can’t think of anything I would rather do, at least right now.”
– Carly Swisher
Carly plans to continue teaching internationally, thru-hiking in the summers, and maybe taking a year off for more grand adventures.
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Interested in being featured on the English Program blog? Or know someone who is interested? Contact English Program blogger Annalynn Mueller at muellera1@sou.edu .
Learn more about SOU’s English Programs:
English Home Page | English BA/BS | English Minor | TESOL Certificate Program
