Alissa Morgan

English teacher

"I would definitely recommend teaching! It makes life interesting. What are the highlights of teaching? Getting students through their first year of assessment with the NCEA, that was great. When a student walks out of class and says, “thank you for teaching me.” It’s also a real ‘wow’ when students want to go further with something that we’ve talked about in class. You know they’ve listened and are keen to know more.”

Alissa Morgan knew early on that she wanted to be a teacher and nothing, it seemed, was going to stand in her way.

Born and raised in Stokes Valley, Alissa said teaching was something she decided upon in the fourth form. ‘It was intentional. Teaching was my focus and there was never any deviating from that goal,’ said the former Taita College student who returned to that school last year to teach English.

So clear was her career path that Alissa went straight from Taita College to Victoria University and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and sociology. From there she headed to Whitireia Polytechnic for a year of teacher training.

Of Rarotongan descent, Alissa was also the recipient of a TeachNZ Pacific Island graduate scholarship worth $10,000. The scholarships are available to graduates with a degree, who are intending to teach.

Throughout her time at university, she coached Taita College netball and basketball teams and kept in close contact with staff, many of whom became good friends. After graduating from teacher training, she was offered a fulltime job at the college.

Looking back she says she really loved her school days and there were tons of inspirational teachers. One teacher in particular stood out for Alissa – Trevor Williams – Head of the English department. ‘He’s been there for 30 years and even taught my parents,’ laughs Alissa.

‘Trevor won the national excellence teacher award. He really was one of my biggest inspirations. I was always an above average English student, but in my bursary year I got 43 percent in my internal exams. I realised I was going to have to do some work to get my marks up. He was absolutely amazing. He did lots of work with me and I ended up getting an A pass in English that was the second highest mark in the school.’

Alissa maintains that the key to teaching English effectively to students is to make it relevant to their lives. ‘You show them the power of language. I am lucky because we have a very structured English department and that combined with the flexibility of the classroom, means my classes are very focused and fun. I use word games and lots of creative ways to teach English.’

She says she has high expectations of students. " I guess that’s because I am a young teacher and I don’t take any nonsense – there isn’t a huge age difference and in many ways I have a lot in common with my students."

Despite the long hours, Alissa, who rarely gets home from school before 7pm, says the job has its rewards. Alissa says that working with a supportive team is also an added bonus of the job.

"I have absolutely wonderful teaching colleagues. We are lucky as we have a really great staff for social support which is as important as professional support. You need to unwind with like-minded people who understand what you are talking about."