The Panther Nation Long Talk: Mr. Barker

The Long Talk offers a chance to sit down with the various personalities in the ISB community and get to know them a little bit better.  Mr. Matt Berker the new learning support teacher in the High School. He sat down with PantherNation to share a bit about himself.

Where did you grow up and what made you want to become a teacher?

I grew up in the town of Ipswich, which is in the United Kingdom. It’s about one hour northeast of London. I grew up in the 1970s, which seems like a long time ago.  Throughout my childhood, I wanted to be a surgeon and perform operations. But then I realized that I wasn’t good at chemistry, so I had a change of heart. I had always wanted to do a job where I can help people, so teaching seemed like the obvious next choice for me. I am so glad that ended up becoming a teacher. It is an amazing job!

What position did you have previous to coming to ISB?

Before I came here, I was worked as a learning support teacher at Yokohama International School in Japan. Before that, I was working as a learning support teacher in Discovery college Hong Kong. And before that, I was working at a school in Wimbledon, London.

Why did you choose to come to ISB?

I came to ISB for many reasons. ISB has an excellent reputation so when I was offered the job I decided to take it as I would continue to learn and grow as a teacher. I also really enjoyed the job interviews I had for this role. I had a strong feeling that ISB has great teachers and students. This is definitely true and I am so pleased that I am now actually working here. I also think the learning hub is an excellent resource for students and it is great to come to work here every day. I also really enjoy Thailand; the people, the places, the food, the culture, everything! It’s so exciting to finally get to live here. 

Who were your favorite authors and books when you were in High School?

Steven king’s horror novels. I guess I liked quite dark novels! (Not anymore though – I avoid anything related to the horror genre!).

If you could give some advice to your High School self, what would it be?

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Believe in yourself and what you can achieve. There is a whole world out there for you to explore so start saying ‘yes’ to opportunities you are given.