Overcoming Fear Leads To Teaching Dream For Eduardo Aguila

"The first time I stepped into a New Zealand classroom as a teacher, my anxiety levels were very high, just because I didn’t know how to deal with multicultural students. However, they are really accepting of my teaching style and we now all get along nicely."

For Eduardo "Paolo" Aguilar, studying the Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Professional Studies - Adult Teaching at New Zealand’s Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology has not only reignited his love of teaching but given his family a new life and taken his self-confidence from strength to strength.

"I was a computing and software teacher in the Philippines for seven years before I took a break from teaching."

"Toi Ohomai gave me the spark to rekindle my passion. I took up this postgraduate diploma, to learn the skills needed to continue on with my teaching. Their supportive tutors have provided me with that knowledge."

Finding his lessons immensely helpful, Paolo says the computing degree he earned in the Philippines was purely technical, making his New Zealand-based studies his first formal teacher training.

"This programme has taught me different teaching theories which have validated my current teaching philosophy. I am lucky, Toi Ohomai really has given me my dream come true."

Now chosen to teach a level 6 course on project management at Toi Ohomai, Paolo is excited to have also been selected to teach system designs for the institute over the summer.

"I am enjoying teaching here very much. The staff here are really nice and have helped me adjust to a multi-cultural environment, as opposed to the homogeneous set of students I had back in the Philippines."

With his wife now employed at a local rest home, their 6-year-old son enjoying school and their 3-year-old daughter even learning to bond with different cultures, the Aguilar family’s experience has been a unifying one. 

"Learning new stuff is the theme of our family. When we get home at the end of the day, we all share our stories of what is new over dinner, and we share these back home through Facebook and email. It is pretty cool."