Interviewer: Mahmoud Mansi

I started as a career in a nursing home as I had then realised I was happier giving support to those in need…

Sandra Cailliau

1)        HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Sandra, clearly you have lots of passion and energy to give. You have worked several jobs, can you give us a brief on them and how each job affected you?

Sandra Cailliau: Well when my parents got divorced I was studying English and Spanish at University as I always had a passion for foreign languages… Unfortunately, I had to stop in order to get a job to leave the nest that was no longer. I started as a sales manager in a Men’s clothing shop that was owned by one of my parents’ friend. He took me under his wings and told me everything I needed to know to be the best of his apprentices… I needed a job and took it as a chance to be independent… The best of memories being when I served English tourists and being able to use the skills I had acquired during my school times. Selling wasn’t my thing, but I always enjoyed seeing my clients happy about the choices I made for them, especially for the grooms to be! It’s only later that I realised that the majority of men had no confidence when it came to choose clothing and that my part was important. I left some years later to continue on sales management but in Charles De Gaulle’s airport, working in a duty free shop was the logical career evolution, using both sales and languages’ skills. Another job opportunity came up and I ended up selling advertisement for a radio station, this is when I realised that I was enjoying creating scenarios for my clients, but still, didn’t like the selling part of it. I actually left because I wasn’t selling enough! (laughs)

Ended up working as a bilingual receptionist and discovered I had some abilities in bringing people together when facing difficult situations. Then fell in love with an English man who later brought me back with him in England. New life, new job opportunity… I started as a career in a nursing home as I had then realised I was happier giving support to those in need. I discovered later that my heart was too sensitive and suffered great deal with the “letting go” of patients passing away. It didn’t take me long before I realised that the only positive last option for my overall experiences and wishes was in “teaching”.

Sandra, before being a Teacher 🙂

2)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: How did you start your path as a teacher? And why did you choose this path?

Sandra Cailliau: I started as a teaching assistant in French courses, working in a school called “Europa Centre”, specialised in teaching modern languages. The Centre had recreated a whole village in a huge building, it was like being in a Theatre where we could all practise role plays using our knowledge of the studied language. I knew then that it was the right job for me simply because I enjoyed it. Finally sharing and bringing something as important as “knowledge”. It simply relied on my ability to create, to explain in the best possible and logical way and then to share with enjoyment.

3)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What were your first challenges as a teacher?

Sandra Cailliau: What was and still is… Kid’s Behaviour!

My childhood was surrounded by the artistic mind of my father and the loving heart of my mother, all this allowing me to express freely in all ways but the fact that I was a shy child never really brought any behaving problems in their life. My father’s ideology was always relying on that very true freedom of expression, especially for a child as he suffered a great deal of violence brought by discipline in his own childhood.

So you can imagine how hard it was for me to deal with certain types of violence in some kid’s behaviour that I first wanted to understand and analyse in order to improve the exchange I experienced with them.

4)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Being a visual artist, does this help you affect the students in a different way?

Sandra Cailliau: Honestly… I’m still unsure about it, simply because I don’t consider myself as being a visual artist. I’m passionate about visual art and still learning in my free time. Trust me, it’s a long and scary process. I get lost so easily into it… I believe we all have our own ways in seeing and as I respect everyone’s abilities and avoid comparing one to another, I actually found out that it is better to suggest than show. Through learning more about myself when expressing in visual art, I feel I may actually only show mirrors to those who are willing to seek deeper… Not even sure this answer makes any sense to you (laughs).

5)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Who is the teacher that mostly affected your life when you were a student? Why?

Sandra Cailliau: I think her name was Miss Renoir, she was my French tutor at secondary school. I had the bad habit of skipping school when I felt down with my own questioning about existence or frustrated for not being fully understood by others. Although she appeared as being very strict, she surprised me one day when I got caught skipping and that I finally had to admit that I was imitating my parents’ signature on homemade letters to excuse my absences… She took that teacher’s precious time between courses to try to understand my questioning. And If I do recall well, she might have been the only one who ever told me that I had a holistic ability and that I should express dreams and visions as much as I could in every possible ways.

6)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Do you face any conflicts with parents?

Sandra Cailliau: I never had the unfortunate experience and I’m very thankful about it. I always try to find the best solutions regarding some learning difficulties and take the time to talk about it with the parents. For me, it’s more about praising my students’ abilities and supporting their feelings when they feel lost… What every parent should do with kids in fact. (wink emotion)

7)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What teaching method do you use?

Sandra Cailliau: Student-Centered method mainly, although teaching languages requires the knowledge of grammar. I always explain to my students that grammar is the key to the understanding of every language’s mechanism. I often compare it to math’s. As we use theorems for math’s, we use grammar rules for words, so once they’ve fully digested the theorem, we can finally brainstorm together!

8)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What was the most difficult question you were asked in the interview before they hired you?

Sandra Cailliau: My boss made me feel welcomed from the second I entered her office. It was more like she already knew why I was here. There was no difficult questions asked but still, talking about my private life and the events that had brought me there came as a real struggle to me.

9)         HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Do you have any criticism regarding the educational system?

Sandra Cailliau: We have known each other virtually for a while now and you should know the word “Criticism” makes me cringe… as well as “judgement”… All my life I’ve tried to be as neutral as possible in everything I do simply because of a famous philosophical quote; “I know  that I know nothing”. In other words who am I to criticize if I don’t hold all the right answers? There’s one thing that I’m sure about though because it simply breaks my heart: I’ve been witnessing more and more cries of despair from my pupils when it comes to work as a team… They seem so lost when I ask them to work with one another on a task as competitiveness has been so present in their school time. That outrageous pressure to get results and these marks given to increase their self-values… All children should be rewarded; even those considered as weak in knowledge or those considered trouble makers… I found out that some artists who are worldwide recognized these days didn’t have the best records when it comes to school marks! I wish the educational system was built on one common and unique base: “Everyone’s ability is unique and should be rewarded as so”.

Sandra Cailliau’s Photography at Kenya: “My Heart goes to Them… All… We went to see them and they came to see us 3 weeks later… The Centre was created thanks to a Church that gave them the land to create protection and care… Some have both their parents but too poor to take care of them, others have single mum… and others are Orphans… I loved them all as much as if they were my own…”

10)       HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What are your ideas regarding a better world of education?

Sandra Cailliau: Every child should be observed when working and creating; their motivation should be tracked also depending on the tasks they’ve been given. I’ve seen so many kids developing skills in what they love the most in the blink of an eye and even their own parents didn’t have a clue about these abilities! Freedom of choices and encouragement should be primal to a teacher. I never blame kids who just don’t like speaking English when coming to my class and always try to let them express in the way they want to in order to allow them to create whatever they want during the time spent in my class. Teachers should be allowed some time to speak privately to every child to get to know their secret wishes as every child doesn’t always have the chance to express what they truly feel inside… And if they just don’t know yet, help them find it because it simply means they have been unselfish and are still under their parents’ wishes and values’ pressure. We never know all the artists hidden behind those children’s eyes…

11) HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What is your advice to the Middle-Eastern business environment?

Sandra Cailliau: Simply invest in those who truly care about their children’s future; those who are connected to a better world’s vision and look for solutions in accordance with nature and peace.

HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Thank you so much Sandra for sharing your story, experience and passion with us. Thank you for making the world a better place.