HeyMath! Consultant: Matthew
What's the work like?
For me, I was attracted by the opportunity to work alongside teachers from India, Singapore and the US, effectively teaching without needing to control a class of kids. A year in India was an added bonus! So, because the work interests me so much, I shall write about that experience first.
At the office, we all enjoy our work and respect each other's.. The structure of the work here means you deal with all aspects of maths as you knew it back in secondary school. Actually, not quite as you knew it - the different styles of Singapore, India and US education provide plenty of surprises, insights and opportunities for your own experiences to be valued. "I'd never thought of it like that before!"
I'm primarily involved in the voice-enabling of lessons, which is one of the company's big drives this year. Imagine you're explaining to a first-year student how to find the area of a triangle. There's already a well thought-out animated lesson on the topic, and you add a friendly, confident, encouraging mathematician's voice to it. So far in the voice-enabling alone I've encountered parallel lines, decimals, quadrilaterals, constructions, fractions and circles.
The exciting challenge which underlies everything is to put yourself in the mind of a student and present things in the clearest, most consistent method you can.
Is Chennai the place for you?
Well, apparently this is a very cold winter, after an unusually long wet season. That means I can wear long-sleeves without overheating. I've yet to experience the summer...
Chennai has a very large population, and there really are people everywhere. The driving style, the crowded buses, the pavement stalls everywhere, the children on the beach, the autorickshaws - I guess these are things you either love or hate, and I do both!
As a Christian, I've been able to find a church, where I am welcomed, supported and valued and there's an active youth section. Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are all obviously represented. There are many church-buildings and mosques. Hindu temples, gods and shrines are on roadsides everywhere.
The city is large and can be difficult to find your way around, but it's worth exploring it a bit - I went all-night carol singing and, travelling around by coach, we saw many diverse localities and living conditions.
You can spend your weekends and holidays travelling around India or, if you avoid worrying about 'making the most' of your time here you can enjoy a simple, unstressed approach to life, away from the busy-ness of home. I've found a lot of time to read, to think, to pray and to join in with and enjoy whatever novelty comes up.
The pay is sufficient to live here, depending on your lifestyle I suppose, because everything is so cheap in India.
The things I most appreciate are:
- Cheap dinners at nice restaurants.
- A comfortable apartment, with a lady to clean it and wash clothes.
- Being able to leave my work behind in the office.
- Mahabalipuram, a quieter, cleaner, coastal village for a weekend break.
- The relief from the pressure to live like everyone else - I couldn't hide in the crowd here if I tried!
- Cheap buses
- Cheap letters home
