I was a LOTE (Language Other Than English) teacher of Indonesian for a number of years. I am currently the ICT teacher / coordinator at Foster Primary School in rural Victoria Australia. I am not teaching LOTE at the moment but I am still actively involved in the LOTE Network for the region and am an ICT consultant for the area. I am interested in how to use ICT in a LOTE classroom and aim to help teachers use the latest technologies.
I still uphold my philosophy about teaching an Asian language to the children in our region and it is based on the premise that most of the children in this area are isolated geographically and culturally. With South-East Asia being our nearest region, a popular holiday destination and offering employment opportunities, it seems to me that Indonesian is more relevant to our community than many other languages. I believe that having an understanding of different cultures, outlooks and beliefs foster an understanding and tolerance of others.