Marshall native, TAHS graduate earns distinguished teacher honor

Global awareness and a love for teaching took Shannon Tanghe from the rural southwest Minnesota area to more than 6,000 miles away in South Korea.

Recently, the Tracy Area High School graduate learned she would be receiving the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of English as a Second Language) Teacher of the Year Award, which is given to one teacher in the world annually.

TESOL recognizes the hard work and dedication required to be an outstanding teacher. The TESOL Teacher of the Year Award was created by TESOL and National Geographic Learning to recognize and honor exceptional English language teachers at all levels.

“When I found out that I was selected as the award winner, I was thrilled,” Tanghe said. “I really enjoy teaching and feel so honored to have been selected for doing something that I love.”

The actual awards ceremony will take place on April 7, in Baltimore, Maryland.

“I’m pretty proud of her,” Marshall native Greg Tanghe said of his daughter, Shannon. “She’s actually one of those people who goes above and beyond her duties. She’s an inspiring personality. And I’m not just saying that because I’m her father.”

Shannon Tanghe credits her parents and school teachers – from kindergarten through graduate school – for helping her see new possibilities in both herself and in education.

“Throughout my life, I think I have been very fortunate to have had fantastic opportunities to learn from some excellent teacher role models, beginning with my parents who were my first teachers and who have always encouraged me to follow my dreams and do what I love – even when that took me thousands of miles away,” Tanghe said. “And I’m grateful to all the teachers who have helped me throughout my own journey to become a teacher.”

Tanghe first came to South Korea as a volunteer teaching English at a summer camp for children. This was during her post-secondary career as a student at the University of Minnesota-Morris.

“I sometimes joke that I came here for six weeks and stayed for 16 years,” she said. “While I was a university student, I spent three summers teaching at the summer camp. I was majoring in elementary education at the time and found that I loved teaching English.”

After graduating from the U of M-Morris, Tanghe decided to spend a year teaching in Korea.

“I taught children the first year I was here and then I got an opportunity to get involved in teacher training and have been in teacher education or teaching at universities ever since,” she said. “I fell in love with Korea – the culture, the people – it really is a great place.”

Tanghe also had the opportunity to participate in some international teacher experiences in Cairo, Egypt, and Georgetown, Guyana, while she was a university student.

“Those really got me excited about the possibilities of exploring the world and teaching,” Tanghe said. “When I first moved to Korea, I imagined I would stay for a year or two and then move on to another country to teach there. But soon after moving here, though, I started dating a Korean man who I had met when we were teaching at the summer camp together.”

The rest, as they say, is history.

“I fell in love, got married and have been in Korea ever since,” Tanghe said. “Time flies and now we have three sons.”

Tanghe is quick to admit that the longer she teaches, the more she enjoys it. She said she feels fortunate to be involved in English language teaching, which nurtures the development of personal relationships with learners in ways that help both the teacher and learner to have reciprocal roles, where both learn and grow together.

“I really love my job,” she said. “I work in teacher education, teaching in a master’s degree program (MATESOL) near Seoul, South Korea. About 75 percent of our students are from South Korea and the rest come from all over the world – U.S., Canada, China, South Africa, New Zealand, the Philippines, Moldova, etc.”

Tanghe noted that the students in the courses are mostly in-service teachers who are furthering their own education while teaching.

“I love teaching teachers because teachers are so dedicated and really have such an enthusiasm for learning and value the whole education process,” Tanghe said.

Throughout her career, Tanghe has kept active in both international and local TESOL organizations. She’s a proud advocate of the phrase: “think global, act local.” Along with TESOL, Tanghe is a member of IAWE (International Association of World Englishes), Korean TESOL, KATE (Korean Association of Teachers of English), ALAK (Applied Linguistics Association of Korea) and KAME (Korean Association of Multicultural Education). She has also served on the Committee for Integration of Multiculturalism into Korean Public Middle Schools.

“In much of the world – and English language is no exception – there is a tendency to follow popular trends, sometimes without considering whether these really are the best for a particular situation,” Tanghe said. “Being aware of global ideas and theories related to teaching English is certainly valuable and strengthens teachers’ understandings.”

But even more valuable, Tanghe said, is the contextualized experiences teachers bring into their individual classroom.

“Valuing these local community and classroom experiences leads to insights that allow teachers to understand and embrace their own classrooms, creating spaces to effectively teach, as people without this understanding may not be able to,” Tanghe said.

Collaborations and partnerships are also highly regarded, according to Tanghe. Since completing her dissertation on collaborative co-teaching, she’s even more interested in the possibilities that exist within the concept of teacher collaboration.

“I have come to see collaboration as being central to education,” she said. “As the world continues to become more globalized, teacher education programs have a responsibility to be up- to-date, and effective collaborations and internationalizing teacher education programs are great ways to keep educators at the forefront of this globally-interconnected world.”

Tanghe said that being open-minded and open to new ideas is key.

“I think it is paramount to first consider what the learners need and then how you as a teacher can provide opportunities that may help learners to meet their needs,” Tanghe said. “Being open and willing to try and accept new ideas may allow possibilities that you would not have imagined.”

In South Korea, English education is taken very seriously, in part because of global implications.

“There is a strong focus on English education in Korea, as many see proficiency in the English language as crucial to staying competitive at the global level,” Tanghe said. “For high school and university students, high scores on English exams are often needed to get into desired universities and then to secure a job at top-tier companies. Both the Korean government and individual citizens continue to invest heavily – investing significant time, money and resources in English education in Korea.”

Consequently, teachers are well-respected in Korea. According to Tanghe, teachers have to pass a very difficult exam in order to be allowed to teach in the public school system.

“It’s so difficult that only around 5 percent pass the elementary school teacher exam,” she said. “Those who go into teaching really are at the top of their classes and take education seriously.”

Tanghe can attest to that personally, as she’s met many top-notch teachers during her career.

“The teachers I have met in my classes have been fantastic and a genuine pleasure to work with, warmly welcoming me into their classrooms and lives,” she said. “Being a teacher educator is amazing. And fellow faculty members and students alike continually inspire me to be a better teacher.”