UDIS attracts many applicants each year who are recruited to the school based on their experience, expertise, knowledge and fit with the core values of the school. In line with our school mission statement, we have a commitment to recruiting staff who are internationally minded and who embody the values of lifelong learners. This ensures we hire the best educators we can to work with the learners at the school.
The diversity of our teachers is important to help teach our learners about international mindedness. We can prepare our learners to be global citizens by exposing them to people from different cultures and social groups. This is important because it will help our learners be able to work with diverse groups of people in the future.
Chananchida (Dae) is our wonderful, new Preschool teacher. Dae has been with UDIS for over 5 years and joined us originally as a Teaching Assistant working with some of the best Early Years teachers we had at the school. Dae has both Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Humanities (English) and is a qualified teacher in Thailand having completed her Graduate of Teaching Diploma. Dae has a tremendous love for her learners and in Preschool works to settle them into school life and give them the skills they need to progress to K1.
Phibzia holds a Master’s Degree in Education (TEFL) from the National University of Laos. She has also completed a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) and an Advanced diploma in “Early Childhood Development” from ECD-Affiliated Edith Cowan University (Australia). She has 13 years of teaching experience around Asia and has training and experience in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP). Phibzia comes to us from a teaching position at Vientiane International School.
Phibzia has a passion and the energy for English language learning and teaching across all levels of students. She has been with the school for a number of years and brings an experienced, inquiry approach to our teaching in the Early Years.
Henry is a qualified teacher from Newcastle in the UK and has been teaching in primary schools since he graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University back in 2006. He has taught in a variety of countries including Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the UK. Henry has also gained his DELTA, CELTA and CELTA young learner extension which makes him extremely well qualified for the second language learners we have in Early Years. Teaching is something that he is incredibly passionate about and he still approaches the occupation with the same energy and enthusiasm he did when he first started teaching.
In his spare time, Henry enjoys listening to music, playing guitar (badly), cooking and reading. He loves sports although these days it’s more watching them than actually playing them. His favourites are cricket, rugby, boxing and Muay Thai and his goal in the near future is to learn how to sail.
Charlene (Charlie) is a passionate teacher from South Africa. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Foundation Phase Teaching and has been teaching Year 1 for the past four years. For Charlene, teaching is not just a job, but a craft that can be honed indefinitely, and therefore she sees herself as a lifelong learner committed to personal development, ongoing reflection and growth.
Charlie values inquiry-based learning and encourages her students to ask questions and explore. She is committed towards her students’ holistic development and sets up personalised learning goals with them. She prioritises building strong connections with her students and unlocking their love for learning.
In addition to her passion for teaching, Charlene is also an artist who enjoys various creative outlets such as painting, digital artwork and clay sculpting. She’s interested in wellness, nature, our planet Earth, and ways to sustain and care for it. When not in the classroom, Charlene loves to spend time with her husband and two cats. Charlene is thrilled to be joining the UDIS community as the new Year 1 teacher and is looking forward to the learning journey ahead.
Jessee is a fully trained teacher from Chicago in the United States. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Indiana Wesleyan University and he is completing a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the same university. He has been working in education for the past seven years in both the USA and Thailand.
Jessee’s passion has been a heartfelt commitment to helping mould the minds of young learners. Jessee likes to bring a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm to create a vibrant educational experience for his students.
Outside of the classroom Jessee is really interested in horticulture, coding and technology coupled with a love for the outdoors. Family is a cornerstone of his values and he has a young child while expecting his second child soon. He has a deep connection to the Udon Thani area as his wife and her wider family are from Nong Kai and Nongbua Lamphu.
Sara is our new Year 3 teacher and holds a PGCE from Newcastle University and a Masters in Science (Education) from the University of Edinburgh. Originally from Newcastle, Sara grew up in Wales and has since taught and lived all over the world, including Colombia and Vietnam. She has travelled extensively throughout Latin America, India and Southeast Asia, and is eager to continue exploring new cultures and languages. Sara can speak basic Spanish and hopes to pick up some Thai during her time at our school!
When she’s not in the classroom, Sara loves to cook, travel, practice yoga, and read. She is deeply passionate about education and believes in fostering resilient, curious, and independent learners who are ready to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the future. Her favourite subjects to teach are Science and English, and she enjoys finding creative ways to engage her students in hands-on learning experiences that help them develop a lifelong love of learning.
With her experience and passion for education, Sara is excited to join our team of dedicated educators and help our students grow and thrive both inside and outside of the classroom.
Katharina was born in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) but was fortunate enough to experience and live in different political systems and countries. Carrying the “Fernweh” gene, she has been able to travel extensively throughout Europe and nurture her love for languages. Katharina has studied in Germany and France. In her teaching career she has worked in the IB PYP in international schools in Germany and the United Arab Emirates for the past 15 years. She has extensive experience working with students of various cultural and academic backgrounds in all grades from 1-5. Katharina is trilingual and has a love for languages, she is very excited to learn Thai soon!
Katharina and her son Linus will join her husband Mr. Charles at UDIS. In her experience, building a partnership with students rather than deciding top-down, ensures a positive and successful learning time for everybody.
Katharina likes spending her free time with her family, reading, travelling, enjoying the outdoors or doing sports; she is especially passionate about horseback riding and horse racing.
John was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where it is usually cold, wet and windy and lived there for the first 16 years of his life before immigrating to Australia with his family. In Western Australia he was awarded a Bachelor of Education at Curtin University. John has taught in Australia, England, Turkey, Thailand, Qatar and Kuwait over three decades. During his time in these countries he has taught all grades of primary school.
John considers himself an open, creative and friendly teacher who is a keen advocate for the development of community within a school. John believes that students must be engaged, challenged and able to reflect independently and collaboratively about their learning.
John has worked at UDIS for four years and is looking forward to his next two years at the school. He is the Health and Safety coordinator at the school and is also the school’s Child Safeguarding Coordinator.
John is an active member of the Udon Thani community. He plays football with the local police officers and basketball with the UMT basketball team in town.
Thomas is a qualified teacher from the UK with a Primary Education degree from Canterbury Christ Church University. He also holds the Certificate in School Management and Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. With over 11 years of teaching and leadership experience, Thomas has worked in the UK, Kuwait, Thailand, Indonesia and Russia.
Thomas’ personal interests include performing arts, international cuisine and environmental science. He is fascinated with many aspects of culture such as music, literature and traditions. Thomas also enjoys incorporating digital technology as a tool for enhancing and showcasing the learning process.
Thomas is enthusiastic about language learning and specialised in second language acquisition of young learners. He also passionately believes in the PYP learning philosophy as it promotes student agency, essential skills to nurture engaged lifelong learners and increased local and global community awareness. He is committed to fostering a learning environment that reflects the interests of the learners and inspires an active and collaborative wider community.
Liza is a qualified teacher from the Phillipines holding a Diploma in Teacher Education and a Bachelors degree from the Philippines’ last ecological frontier, Palawan. She has also completed her 120-hour TEFL certification and her level 1 PYP training. Liza has worked in different roles including EAL teacher and Learning Support teacher at international schools in Bangkok including St Andrews International School (107 & Sathorn) and Rasami British International School.
Liza has been working as an EAL teacher for more than ten years and she has also gained a lot of experience supporting children with learning difficulties especially in Mathematics. Liza has also helped organised school events such as the World Education Games and Tournament of Minds to give learners an opportunity to demonstrate their collaboration and problem-solving skills in creative ways.
Gabriel is a qualified teacher from Brazil and holds a Bachelor’s and Postgraduate course in physical education from the University Center of Brasilia. He is a professional physical education and swimming teacher who has over 9 years experience teaching children. Recently, Gabriel is most proud of creating the first football team in his previous school and winning a regional tournament with his team and he is looking forward to repeating this with UDIS!. He has experience working with special needs students and has led intervention activities to pupils in previous schools, having achieved great results and benefits to his students.
Gabriel loves travelling and getting to know new cultures around the world. He loves learning new languages and is fluent in 3 different languages and wants to learn more! He is also a huge fan of photography and videography and loves to take pictures and fly his drone around.
Mark is a dual licensed teacher from America and began his teaching career in 2009. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Elementary Education with a specialisation in Special Education from William Paterson University. Mark has also achieved a Masters Degree in Literacy from the University of New England. He has attended additional postgraduate teaching courses at North Dakota State University. Mark has completed multiple PYP and MYP training courses as well as received his TEFL certificate. He has worked in both public and international school settings in the USA, China and Thailand and has taught children from Kindergarten up to Year 9.
Mark enjoys teaching in IB schools and uses a vast variety of technology platforms during teaching lessons to capture the minds of his students and to also build real world technology skills needed in today’s society and workplace.
Jay is a qualified teacher from Canada with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of King’s College, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Arts in Global History from Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. He has many years of success in teaching and coordinating IB subjects and programs with past roles as MYP Coordinator and Assistant DP Coordinator. He has previously worked at IB schools in Canada, Germany, and Antigua, as well as with the UN in Angola.
Jay is joined at UDIS by his wife Marie and daughter Simone. Outside of the classroom he loves to get involved with outdoor education, school trips, student exchanges, and athletics to help guide students to become active citizens, realise their holistic potential and to develop student leadership, engagement, and community involvement.
Thomas is a qualified teacher from the USA who has worked in public and private schools in Washington and New Mexico. This is his first overseas posting but he is also joined in Udon Thani with his wife who is working locally. Thomas has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and teacher training from New Mexico. His past experience has been working with learners in the Middle Years teaching mathematics and science and he has further experience working with learners needing additional support in mathematics.
Thomas is passionate about computer science and coding using Python, Javascript, HTML and CSS. He applies this experience in developing microcontrollers and robotics. He is also a confident public speaker.
Charles is an experienced pedagogical leader and teacher with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Waterloo in Canada. He also holds a Bachelor of Education from Trent University in Canada. He has 15 years of international teaching experience from schools in Saudi Arabia, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, and has served as a Head of Department and school leader in IB continuum schools for over 10 years. Most recently, he held the roles of IB Diploma Programme Coordinator and IB Career-related Programme Coordinator at an international school in Dubai.
Charles is a passionate advocate of the IB philosophy and has been an examiner in Biology for the IB since 2015 as well as a content developer of resources to be used by IB teachers. As a global citizen, he enjoys working in the international school setting and embraces innovative teaching approaches to develop inquiry skills in learners.
Diana is an educator with a Bachelor of Arts from the National University of Colombia, a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the U.K. and a Masters in Special Education and Inclusion from Montrer University in Mexico. She has more than 15 years of experience as an educator, with 10 of those in international schools in Colombia and has served as the Positive Behaviour Coordinator and Wellbeing Coordinator in middle and highschool levels. Most recently she has been working as Deputy Head of House promoting student wellbeing. Diana is passionate about and has been involved in fostering and sponsoring student leadership initiatives such as Student Prefects, Peer to Peer mentors, and student competitions. Diana is a passionate IB educator, who believes that the aim of education should be to help guide young people in order to build a “better and more peaceful world”.
Diana is joined by her husband Andrés, who is a Sound Engineer and daughter Isabella. Outside of the classroom she loves the outdoors, camping, exploring nature and was a scout leader for over 20 years. She also loves to learn about new cultures, their artistic representations, museums and heritage sites.
Lee comes from Manchester, England and graduated with a BSc (Hons) Degree in Health and Sports Studies, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in International Education from the University of Nottingham where he has also recently completed his Master’s in Education. He has been teaching in Thailand for the past 8 years. His most recent schools being Roong Aroon International School and Canadian International School of Thailand where he taught MYP and PYP Health and Physical Education. Lee values holistic education and believes in the idea that a personalised/ student-centered approach to teaching can bring out the best in his students.
Lee has competed in Muay Thai in both England and Thailand and has held extracurricular muay Thai clubs at previous schools. He was also a professional powerlifter in Thailand where he got first and second place in international competitions held in Bangkok in 2018 and 2019, respectively. He has an interest in many other sports such as badminton, jump rope, basketball and he is a certified swimming teacher. Outside of sports and physical activities, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, cryptocurrencies, gardening and he has a strong interest in Buddhist philosophy.
Sineenard (Nard) comes from Khon Kaen and holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Education from Rajabhat Institute of Suan Dusit in Bangkok. She also holds a Masters of Education from Khon Kaen University. She has over 18 years of experience teaching a range of subjects in Thai schools including Thai language, social studies, Thai history and computing. Nard is a patient, hard working teacher who is always willing to learn new things and pass those onto her students.
Kevin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Udon Thani Rajabhat University. He has been certified and involved in IB Primary Years and Middle Years programmes at Udon Thani International School for 5 years.
Kevin has worked to become principled, open-minded, and risk-taking in his current career as a teacher. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys reading and listening to podcasts about Thai and international literature, especially mythology.
This academic year, he will be the Primary Years and Middle Years specialist teacher in Thai Language and Literature for his 6th year at UDIS.
Hattaya (Doum) holds a Bachelor of Art in English from Udon Thani Rajabhat University and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from Santapol College. Doum is a Thai specialist teacher teaching Thai culture and language primarily to Early Years and Thai as an Additional Language (TAL) to Primary Years. She is familiar with a range of teaching strategies to differentiate her teaching to meet the Thai language needs of learners. Doum also brings a range of skills to the school and particularly enjoys drawing, Thai dance and handicrafts.
Sirikarn (Oil) is from Non Daeng in Nakhon Ratchasima. She completed her Bachelor of Arts (English) at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University and will complete her Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in June, 2023. She has also completed a 120 hours TEFL certificate. In addition to her native Thai, she also speaks English and Swedish. Oil has been a Teaching Assistant at UDIS for the last 4 years and will draw from that experience in her new role as a Thai language teacher.
Oil is enthusiastic and passionate about teaching and has helped primary years students in her home village. She has a love for cooking both Thai and International food. She enjoys watching international movies and loves her garden full of exotic plants. Oil is also a keen traveller and has lived in Europe and the Middle East.
Paul is a qualified teacher from Canada. He graduated with a Bachelor of Education from the University of Winnipeg (2014) and EAL certification from the same university in 2008. He has worked previously in Canada before moving to Thailand and teaching in a variety of international schools here. Paul has been working with kids in music for almost 20 years, loves to play his guitar and enjoys teaching singing and dancing to kids.
Paul has particular expertise in reggio inspired curriculum, the PYP and problem based learning. He has a strong track record of cultivating child-centred curriculum and student creativity. Pauls endeavours to be a warm and caring teacher who wants all students to be flourishing learners and he works hard to create a classroom environment that is exciting, supportive and adaptive to the various needs of his students.
222/2 Moo. 2 Mittrapab Road
Tumbonkudsra
Aumpearmuang
Udon Thani 41000
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