Mark Shryock teaches the values of American culture to second year interns at a medical college in Dhaka, Bangladesh prior to his time working at Crowder College. (Photo contributed)
James Walls
Campus News Editor
Crowder College welcomed Mark Shryock as the new English Language Institute (ELI) instructor this semester, taking the place of former instructor Rose Speck. Shryock, who spent eight years in Asia teaching, looks forward to working with the international students.
“I really wanted to work with international students,” said Shryock. “We moved back from Asia, my parents needed help and we’d been overseas for eight years, and I also wanted out of research institutes. I wanted something more service centered, and so Crowder just seemed like a perfect fit.”
Education and culture
Having a Bachelor’s degree in general studies with an emphasis on psychology, international studies and English, as well as a Master’s in humanities with an emphasis on writing and reform, Shryock says his education largely focuses on transformation and seeing the world through different eyes.
“Nothing, I mean nothing, allows you to see differently more than travel, and the second best thing to that is being around people who are traveling,” said Shryock. “When you’re around a different culture, you grow new eyes, you see the world differently.”
Mark Shryock teaches an ESL class on cooking spaghetti to a class of college students at Kangeung National University in Korea. (Photo contributed)
Having visited parts of Mexico, Canada, Europe and Asia, Shryock has seen a lot of the world. However, he says his travels are not merely for sightseeing, but are a learning experience about culture and himself.
“I think you travel more to learn about yourself, because one, travel drives you inward, and two, you learn about your own country,” Shryock said. “It helps any person when you travel see yourself differently, and see where you are from differently. It changes everything.”
Time at Crowder College
As far as his time spent at Crowder this semester, students in ELI say he is a good instructor.
“In Japan, usually our teacher is strong and we have to listen, and in class we cannot speak, just listen quietly,” said Yae Takahashi, a business management major. “But he [Shryock] is friendly, so we can speak our opinion, and we can discuss how to make our class our class.”
“He’s a great teacher,” said Paw Hsar, a general studies major. “He cheers us about ‘how’s life, don’t worry about anything that will make you think about negative things.’ He doesn’t want you to think about that, he always wants you to think about positive things.”
Further plans for ELI
Shryock has also stated that there are plans to start English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in McDonald County, with one course already in the works. This course, which is targeted to help students discover what their life direction is, is also aimed to help with retention.
“We know that passionate students tend to stay on course, and so we’re looking at possibly developing an ESL course that will address some of those issues and wrapping ESL around it. And this is a course that I’ve done previously in several other countries, and it’s worked very well, because students that are focusing on themselves and their passions and at the same time is learning ESL tend to learn it very fast, because they’re focused on what’s of interest to them.”
With this course already in development for Crowder, the ELI program is currently planning for more expansion to other areas off the Neosho campus.
Leave a Reply