By Rebecca Lomax, Ph.D.
Glynn Morgan spent 44 years teaching in
schools all over the world, sometimes in very difficult
circumstances, and now he has retired – almost – in Chiang
Mai. I write “almost” because his volunteer life is almost
as active as his professional life was.
He was born and educated in South Africa. Off
to boarding school at a very early age, he found a talent and a
love that would last a lifetime – music. He was forced to sing
in his school’s choir at the tender age of nine, and
thoroughly dislike it. He complained to his father, but in the
way of fathers of that time, found little sympathy. By the time
piano became a part of his curriculum, he found that he was
beginning to enjoy music and understand it better. When he
reached senior school, he had established a strong music
tradition in his life and added the study of the organ to his
resum้. “HMS Pinafore” was his school’s choice of
performances that year, a comic opera in which W. S. Gilbert
satirized the snobbery and hypocrisy of the social system of his
day. It was even funnier when performed by the all-boys musical
troupe. Glynn found himself in the female part of Cousin #13 in
the chorus. He continued dramatic and musical performances
throughout his university days, and then was tapped by every
schoolmaster to lead or assist the schools’ musical department
in productions. Music remains a very important part of Glynn’s
life. You may remember his solo performance – in German - at
the Chiang Mai Choral Society International’s Christmas
performance last year.
Glynn married after completing his education
and the new family went off to Rhodesia to teach in the public
schools there. Glynn was a science teacher; his wife taught
music. Three daughters were born to the family. But Rhodesia was
entering a period of political change. In 1965, it unilaterally
declared itself independent from Great Britain, and became, in
essence, an illegal country. The rest of the world, except South
Africa, Switzerland and Portugal, sided with Great Britain, and
residents of Rhodesia were prohibited from traveling outside of
those few countries. For a small land-locked country, Rhodesia
became extraordinarily self-sufficient. It maintained its
infrastructure; it fed itself and even exported agricultural
products. But as time went on, and the country made the
transition in leadership to that of Mugabe, long-quiet tensions
were felt. At first, there was hope and optimism. The transition
did not produce racial violence. Life seemed to be going on
quite nicely. The educational system prior to this transition
had been good, with all children having access to a primary
education that produced English-speaking students. Then a North
Korean woman became the de facto Minister of Education, and
teachers suddenly became “comrades”. Gradually all of the
systems in the country collapsed.
Glynn visited Australia, seeking safer
pastures for his family. Just as he returned home, he received
an offer from a school in Albury to teach physics. There was no
decision to be made. The family was allowed to take $1,000 with
them to Australia. Money and property left behind were lost
forever. Although everybody assimilated well into Australia,
Glynn’s marriage broke up a few years after the move. The
children were essentially grown, so he took advantage of another
educational challenge and moved to Sydney as an administrator in
a private school. The students in the school were privileged,
and the parents were protective. Glynn laughingly says that a
“no” from him was a signal for protracted negotiations from
the parents. But it was a good experience, despite removing him
from direct contact with the students. As time went on, he
sought other international opportunities, and moved to Papua New
Guinea to teach, then, having already stepped off of Australia,
he chose an assignment in Central America. El Salvador was not
the safest place to live, but Glynn stayed there and taught
until he reached the retirement age of 65. But he wasn’t done
yet.
He looked around at volunteer opportunities
that didn’t discriminate against retired people. Ageism had
been rearing its ugly head for a few years, but he had a lot to
offer and he wasn’t ready to just watch the world go by. He
decided to look at how he could help a group that matches up
qualified teachers with schools that teach the international
baccalaureate program. Search Associates is one of the larger
placement organizations, placing about a thousand teachers a
year all over the world. Glynn liked what he learned about them,
and he liked the people who ran the Chiang Mai branch. So he
retired to Chiang Mai and offered his services. He finds great
satisfaction in the small tasks that go into matching a teacher
with a job, and loves spending time corresponding with
applicants in Turkey, the U.S., South America, Great Britain. He
remembers the excitement and challenges of international
teaching positions.
But that isn’t all he does. He’s only
been in Thailand about a year, so he’s still exploring the
country. He’s happy here. He plays tennis and squash; he
sings. The Chiang Mai Choral Society International benefits from
his training and his beautiful baritone voice. But his musical
talent isn’t the only talent he brings to the group. He’s
also a linguist, speaking multiple languages, so may sing in
German or Spanish as well as English. And he’s working on
Thai, although, like most western people, he finds it a
“challenge”.
We moved to another topic. There is no
shortage of anecdotal evidence that many scientists and
mathematicians are also gifted musicians. Glynn is both a
science teacher and a musician. We agreed that if music fosters
anything, it is most likely mathematical reasoning. And
mathematical reasoning is the scientific method that all of us
learn about in secondary school biology. Do musicians not use
the same skills? When I left Glynn Morgan I had a new
appreciation of the complex skills involved in education. I look
forward to meeting him again.
