That tenure came to a natural end in November 2023, when Pheasant decided to return to his roots while broadening his horizons.
“I have been studying drama and how to use it for a variety of applications for a long time.
“I did my PhD at the University of Sydney, which took about 10 years to complete. I am a teacher by profession. I was a high school English teacher and worked teaching English all over the world.
“When I returned to Australia after various assignments in the US, Japan and the Netherlands, I thought I should focus my PhD on using process drama to teach English,” he says. pie news.
Two years ago, while still performing his duties as CEO of NEAS, he earned a graduate degree in counseling, and is currently pursuing a master's degree in counseling, delving deeply into a variety of therapies, primarily psychodrama.
In addition to entering the education consulting field, Pheasant will now focus on mental health. This, he argues, will link very effectively with the international education sector.
“My new business is using psychodrama and other techniques to help people work through trauma or any type of problem, get career counseling and feel more confident,” he says.
Pheasant's aim is to help schools and organizations in the sector with the mental health of their students in a variety of ways, as well as to help staff equip themselves with the mental strength to help their students and help themselves.
“Last year at NEAS, we ran a very large program looking at trauma-informed education in English language teaching, which was an online course. We have collaborated with the Ukrainian Ambassador to launch a series of training courses for Ukrainian English teachers.
“Through this project, I became aware of the different traumas that people are experiencing, big traumas like the Ukrainian teacher in Ukraine. But so too are the traumas we face in general and the problems they face as a result.”
The Australian ELICOS sector is beginning to blossom once again following a very challenging pandemic period. But it also came with challenges, Pheasant says.
“One of the factors is that we struggle to find qualified teachers, but we are also bringing in students from all kinds of different countries and backgrounds, some from very serious backgrounds, like Ukrainians. It includes.”
Mental health and wellbeing are therefore very important issues for ELICOS in Australia.
“There is an increasing need for teachers to really recognize what their students are bringing to the classroom and what they themselves are bringing to the classroom.”
Although companies have a legal responsibility to look after the mental health of their employees, it is the larger organizations that will benefit most from new legislation recently introduced.
“We have employee assistance programs in place and access to mental health services is very good.
“But in Australia, English schools are often a bit smaller and don’t have as many resources as larger universities. They don’t have the means to look at employee assistance programs,” he explains.
His focus is not limited to language schools. He will also collaborate with individuals in the field.
“I will work to support LGBTQ+ professionals in the field and their colleagues to have the confidence to advance into management and explore professional development in the context of sexual orientation.
“There is an increasing need for teachers to really recognize what their students are bringing to the classroom.”
“I’m definitely bringing my lived experience to that as well. It's a great way for me to contribute. “What’s interesting to me is that many people in the community feel this shame through coming out and their childhood experiences.”
Sometimes, he goes on to explain, childhood experiences can lead to perfectionism and overperformance in the teenage years.
“They either overcompensate or try really hard to prove themselves and end up being very successful, but then they wake up in their 40s and what happens now?”
Having run a successful NEAS operation for seven years and knowing the ins and outs of the sector, he is excited about this new approach to helping the sector thrive.
“I’m really curious about how I can support people in this field through the training I’ve received, not just as individuals, but also in mental health services for executives, students, teachers and entire organizations.”