Many Hats of a Consultant: Local Support

Continuing with our series on the Many Hats of a Consultant, this blog post focuses on those who serve as local support to families in their role as an education consultant. Here we interview Bethany Moore who represents this group well as she serves with her agency’s team in Istanbul and throughout the region.

I have been in education for almost 20 years. My career began as an elementary teacher in the US. I loved teaching and knew that I wanted to work with children overseas at some point. In 2005, God opened the door for me to teach MKs in Central Asia. I taught there for two years and then returned to the States to work on a Master’s degree in Curriculum Development. In 2005, I returned to the same school to serve as the principal and continued to teach part-time while serving as the administrator of the school. I really loved working in administration. In 2014, I was asked to move to Turkey to serve as the Educational Consultant for my organization. I have now been living in Istanbul, Turkey for three and a half years in this role. It is an honor to be able to work with MKs and support their parents as they serve throughout Central Asia. My passion is supporting, resourcing, and advising M families so that our MKs might thrive on the field.

What services does your role include in terms of education, MK care, etc.?

I work with families throughout Central Asia, but on a weekly basis with the families in my city. My first point of contact is to connect with them once my organization approves their appointment to the field. We discuss their child(ren)’s ages and what they envision for their education on the field, after talking about some of the options in their country of service. Then, if they choose to put their child(ren) in a local or international school, I connect with the school before they arrive and then in person with them, once they arrive. I will assist families in their homeschooling, sometimes teaching a subject or two to free up the parents a bit to do language and ministry. For families throughout my region, I also connect with them via Skype before coming to the field. I want to give them an idea of the educational options they will have for their children as well as assure them that I am available throughout their overseas career to support them in any way possible with their child’s education. Probably the most often questions I get are issues dealing with learning or behavioral challenges (ADHD, Autism, or struggles in a specific subject).

How much, if any, travel do you do every year?

I travel about  5 to 7 weeks out of the year to work with our families in various capacities.  Sometimes it is to spend a week with a family whose child is having a particularly difficult time in school or maybe a parent who is struggling with their homeschooling routine. Other times, I am traveling to conferences where I am meeting individually with as many families as possible over a meal and usually testing children as well. In the near future, I will be visiting a country where we have had not had families in a long time, to see what kinds of educational options are available to them there.

What advantages are there in working with families from within the context of the team?

There is a great advantage to working with families within the context of team. Within a team, families have the extra support of other families who have usually been there longer than they have. They can point them in the right direction for available resources, often before I can, especially if it is a team in a country where I have not lived. A support network is already in place which is so valuable to new folks!

What challenges are there for you in trying to serve families from within their team?

There are other challenges that may arise when serving families from within a team.  I have dealt with families whose children are not getting along with the other children on the team and this can be especially difficult. Many times these children are going to the same school or homeschooling together and these differences have to be worked through. Teams work much like families. Unity and harmony is so very important.  Another struggle might be that a team leader is not seeing eye-to-eye with the needs of a family or child on their team. In that case, I may serve as a mediator coming in with a professional perspective to help the family and team leader work together.

What advice would you offer someone new in a similar role?

The advice I would offer someone in a similar role is to network! I think that this can be one of the most valuable tools we have as educators in this role. Get to know the leaders of the countries you serve within your organization, as they probably have knowledge of resources you aren’t aware of. Find other educational leaders who serve the area. One way to start in that direction is to visit the other international or MK schools in the area or at least touch base through email or Skype. Make yourself available, as much as possible, to attend meetings, conferences, etc which can help you strengthen your knowledge base and pool of resources for the families in your area. Don’t hesitate to ask a lot of questions and be quick to admit when you don’t have the answers, but assure them that you will seek them out!

© 2012-2023 PACE
All rights reserved