Careers in Education

Gweneth Bruey

French teacher
North Salem High School
Salem, Oregon

Accolades:
Elected to the Executive Board of the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching
State officer of the Oregon Association for Teachers of French

Education:
Bachelor of Arts, 2004, French and Art History, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Certificat en Français Langue Seconde, 2004, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Master of Education, 2005, Teaching and Learning, Middle and Secondary, University of Oregon

For Gweneth Bruey, choosing a teaching career was a natural progression of her personal interests. “We gravitate towards what we are good at and are happy doing, and that is what teaching is for me,” she says. “It is always challenging, forcing me to be creative, and I feel good making connections with students and bringing them into contact with cultures that they may have never even heard of.” Starting as a junior counselor at her local Girl Scout camp, Bruey taught and tutored in math, French, and oboe through high school and college.

Bruey chose the University of Oregon for her education degree because she wanted to complete a certification program that required an academic major in the subject she wanted to teach.  “I felt it was so important that teachers be knowledgeable in their content area, rather than having an undergraduate degree in teaching,” she says. “The UO's coursework helped me to further my knowledge base about teaching and current trends in the profession.”

Discovering your own teaching style comes with experience, says Bruey. Maintaining an informal but polite classroom atmosphere has worked well for her. She advises new teachers to keep learning and expanding their interest areas in order to avoid a lack of inspiration. “Reach out in your school and districts to collaborate with other teachers, since when we isolate ourselves we tend to burn out,” she says. And don’t forget to recreate! “You need a life outside of teaching in order to be a complete person and bring the most to your students.”