Hong Kong, Oman, Mexico...all present
Globetrotting past inspires new career
A globetrotting Perthshire teacher is continuing to educate children from around the world after she created her own online tutoring service.
Shona Moncrieff ( 51) has been hosting one-to-one school lessons with children in Mexico, Hong Kong and Oman from the comfort of her home in St Fillans.
The former Morrison’s Academy pupil launched ‘ATutor’ at the start of February having previously taught in places such as Qatar, Africa and Malaysia in a career spanning over 20 years.
An idea brought about by her housebound situation during lockdown, Shona balances her globetrotting teaching with her Masters degree studies in counselling at Abertay University.
Shona, whose family originate from Crieff, spent the first four years of her life in Africa before growing up in The Bahamas due to her father’s career in the oil industry.
And her life of teaching and living abroad inspired her to reach out and support children thousands of miles away.
“Since 2005 I have been teaching in the classroom internationally,” she said.
“I was in Doha for two years and then Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Africa - kind of all over.
“I think it is really based in the fact we travelled as kids and I feel like more of a global citizen.
“It was the best thing I ever did, to be able to travel the world while you’re teaching.
“At this time everybody has had to try and be a little bit creative and make things happen.
“So with the situation with Covid it was my mum who said to me ‘why not offer tutoring services online?’
“I know how it works and people can still be safe in their own homes.
“My training is Montessori and we are trained in the same core subjects as the British National Curriculum and CofE.
“However, it is far more philosophy-based in concept and a more nurturing and childled approach similar to IB/PYP.
“The child has more autonomy in their learning, so they choose what to learn.
“The fundamentals here are the same as they have always been classed in the British National Curriculum.
“At the moment I am teaching a bit of everything.”
Shona has pupils from many parts of the world attending her one-to-one sessions - with one of the main challenges being the time difference.
“There has been a great response and I got a lot of parents really quickly,” she said.
“The ages I have are all different, from P1 to helping with essay study at Nat5 level, and from all different countries with a real mixture of near and far away.
“At the moment I have got eight regulars and three of them are from Muscat in Oman, one of them is from Hong Kong, one is in Mexico.
“I have been really lucky with the time differences so far but it gets confusing sometimes.
“I have got it down to a fine art now where I can start my morning really early because most of the countries I am talking about are much further ahead.
“So most of my work is done in the morning then I have got the evenings to get my Masters reading done.
“And then there are a number in the UK at all different ages.”
Shona believes that one-toone tutor sessions can offer more personal support.
“I often found that towards the end of my teaching days my tutoring was much more focussed on the kids having a rough time at school,” she said.
“Talking more about the troubles with the way they felt at school and not feeling able to ask questions to the teacher.
“You can never replace being at school, but some kids thrive in the classroom environment and some less so and need a bit more confidence.
“Although it is one- to- one online you can still be nurturing and still be academic and give the emotional support they need.”