At VUS, the dream to go further is not only for students but also for teachers and teaching assistants. They are the ones who create value every day, while also learning and growing through many challenges.
Teaching assistants, Vietnamese teachers, and expat teachers at VUS each have their own journey and challenges. What unites them is the spirit of learning, patience, and love for their students, which turns individuals into one strong team and builds a supportive and inspiring educational environment
Let the VUS Pride and Joy series take you closer to our teaching staff’s stories and journeys.
Table of Contents
Shaping Education with VUS: Vision, Mission and Core Values
VUS carries the mission of empowering young generations in Vietnam to confidently connect with the world through a solid language foundation, global mindset, outstanding skills, and rich life values.
Guided by its vision of becoming the leading international-standard education system in Vietnam, VUS aims to equip young learners with global knowledge and values to be fully prepared for integration into an interconnected world.
VUS remains steadfast in its core values:
At VUS we believe in the value of the business, in our own abilities and skills, striving to succeed in both our work and daily life.
At VUS, we foster respect, understanding, proactiveness, and service to create lasting value for students, partners, community, and ourselves.
At VUS we nurture and promote the strengths of diversity and teamwork to achieve sustainable goals for the organization and ourselves.
At VUS we aim to constantly learn and develop ourselves and are determined to overcome challenges, thereby steadily conquering new goals.
At VUS, our core values are not distant concepts but guiding lights. They shine through every lesson, every collaboration, and every step of our journey of growth. All of this is carried forward with one shared promise for the future:
“Empowering aspirations, together!”
Confidence
Confidence is not built on individual effort alone, but through the support of VUS and its dedicated staff – who are always ready to help remove long-standing worries, enabling every member, from teaching assistants to Vietnamese and expatriate teachers, to move forward with strength and certainty.
This collective support can be clearly seen through the real experiences of our staff. For instance, Tran Thuy Quynh, a teaching assistant (TA) at VUS Nguyen Chi Thanh, shared:
“When I first started working at VUS, I received assistance from many different departments, but the support from the Teacher Care (TC) personnel was by far the most helpful. With the constant guidance and explanation from them, my ambiguity about my new job was cleared out and I better grasped what steps to take to perform effectively.”
For teacher Ho Phuong Nguyet Anh, the support of the TC staff stood out in the way they prepared materials with care, saved her precious time, and allowed lessons to flow with ease. She shared:
“The teaching supplements are always neatly arranged by the TC staff and are very easy to find. These great people help make learning more fun for the children, and at the same time more convenient for teachers because we can have something to use right away instead of having to prepare by ourselves. Other equipment at the campus, in general, is convenient and modern, especially the printer as I use it every day to print lessons for the class right at my campus.”
In addition to teaching materials and facilities, modern equipment also plays a vital role in enhancing classroom activities. Teacher Michael Karl-Heinz Kohlmeyer highlighted this by saying:
“The equipment is satisfactory and helps a lot with the younger classes. I would say that I use sporty games the most like basketball, golf and bowling. In this ever changing world, perhaps new technologies could be incorporated more. The use of tablets with the younger kids has been a great success for me.”
Caring
Care is not only shown in the lessons but also in every moment of listening, supporting and growing together..
Thanks to VUS’s thoughtful preparation, teaching assistants always have the right tools at hand to support the classroom. This makes their work smoother, the lessons more engaging, and students’ joy even greater.
Teaching Assistant Nguyen Le Xuan Tu shared:
“All the teaching supplements are well prepared in advance all the time and everything is available, from tape to sticky balls to teddy bears. These objects are very helpful in classroom activities because the children really love playing and learning with them. Other equipment, such as computers or projectors, are high-quality and really help make my work become easier.”
With a caring spirit, Operation Executive (OE) and Center Manager (CM) staff go beyond preparing or reminding us about materials, playing a vital role in creating a seamless learning environment.
Their attention and support ensure teachers feel looked after and classrooms run smoothly. Teacher Ta Thi Thu Thao from VUS Tay Ninh reflected on this experience:
“The OE staff always looks out for me by proactively checking on me before classes to see if the schedule is up to date or if I have enough teaching materials. Every time I’m busy, the CM always aids in finding substitutions so I don’t have to worry about not being able to come to classes. Everyone here is very friendly and supportive to each other, we often gather around and chat about work while having lunch together.”
The culture of caring extends equally to expatriate teachers, who are warmly welcomed and supported as they adapt to life in Vietnam. Through initiatives like the Buddy Program, new teachers find not only colleagues but companions. Teacher Lily Maya Whitlock described her own journey:
“One thing I find very great about the coworkers here is that everyone is very supportive and there’s no one rude at all. When I first came to Vietnam and joined VUS, I had a hard time due to cultural differences in a new country.
However, I received massive support from other expat teachers, they helped me get used to my new life in Vietnam because they were in the same situation and they knew what I was going through.
Also, when someone’s birthday comes, teachers will gather in a large staff room and have a celebration together, even new expat teachers can have a chance too. That really makes me feel like everyone at my campus is always together.”
Collaborative
At VUS, cooperation is the thread that weaves Vietnamese teachers, foreign teachers, teaching assistants, and administrative staff into one strong team. Different in backgrounds yet united in spirit, they share the same mission: to create classes that are not only effective but also truly inspiring.
Ms Genevieve Roxanne Oliver shared about the valuable moment when working at VUS campus:
“The staff and teachers are always willing to help no matter what! They always respond and listen to my requests, there’s great communication! I receive amazing support from Teacher Care (TC) or Teaching Quality Manager (TQM) staff! They are always a helpful message or phone call away! On a scale from 1 to 5, I would rate it 5.”
Just as expatriate teachers feel the unwavering support from VUS staff, teaching assistants find themselves growing through collaboration with their colleagues in the classroom. From his own experience, Phan Dinh Khoi teaching assistant said:
“Back when I was working at Phan Xich Long campus, there was a difficult situation where a student in my class was a little stubborn and didn’t want to study. In order to explain and convince him to be willing to learn again, I had to work with the teacher.
Not only did we have to collaborate to solve the case at hand, but I also got the opportunity to advance my knowledge of teaching owing to his insightful sharing. I still keep in touch with him to this day, and it was a wonderful recollection from my time at VUS.”
Beyond problem-solving and professional growth, collaboration at VUS fosters deep bonds among colleagues. Teacher Nguyen Duy Khang reflected on this sense of connection when he transitioned between campuses:
“When I was about to move from Nguyen Duy Trinh to To Ngoc Van campus, there was a farewell party at my old campus. That day, the teaching assistants, the teachers and Ms. TQM sat together to talk and take pictures. Before that, everyone had asked me to stay and keep working there, but because of the circumstances, I had to move. Every time I look back, I feel that everyone at my old campus was very attached to each other and the farewell party that day was very memorable for me.”
Aspirational
At VUS, being aspirational comes from a genuine love for a dynamic, supportive workplace and outstanding benefits for the VUS community. This spirit inspires every member to grow together at a place proudly recognized as one of the “Best Companies to Work for in Asia” in 2021 and 2023.
These values are best reflected in the heartfelt words of VUS staff. For Vo Quang Minh teaching assistant:
“Ever since I was still a student at VUS, my love for teaching nurtured a dream to become a member of this big family in the role of teaching staff. Now that my dream has come true, I feel very happy as I can work at VUS, a professional working environment with many experienced teachers and staff who are always willing to share their knowledge and help me out anytime I need it.”
VUS also often organizes training workshops that help teachers improve their teaching skills and set new goals to achieve. Through these workshops, the aspirational spirit is encouraged and shared among all teachers.
Nguyen Thuy Bao Hang teacher thinks that:
“The training workshops at VUS are very practical for me as a teacher because the hosts usually put what has just been instructed into use by organizing demo activities. Instead of giving only theory, the hosts really put their hearts in demonstrating the real life situations, pointing out problems that might occur and how to solve them. I learned a lot of useful insights during these sessions and that really helped me develop my skills later.”
Furthermore, Mr Peter-John Van Der Vyver also opened up, saying that:
“When I first came to Vietnam, I was very nervous as things were quite difficult for me. But the general support of VUS during my onboarding process soon made me feel a sense of belonging as if I was a part of the family. VUS provided me with free personal development support with their workshops which covered training for new books and courses. Thanks to that, I was no longer scared of any new adventures as I was fully prepared.”
In conclusion, every teacher at VUS teaches with confidence, strengthened by a caring spirit and meaningful collaboration with colleagues. Together, these values nurture an aspirational mindset that inspires them to keep growing and shining throughout their teaching journey.
Are you impressed by the working environment and atmosphere at VUS? Learn more about us – VUS is always ready to welcome you!
