About Joy Dirks

A teacher in Surrey who loves this work

Joy lives and teaches in Surrey, in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. She built her teaching around newcomers who are working hard to build a life in Canada while they study for an important test. Many of her students study in a second or third language, study late at night after work, and study with worry about what test day will bring. Joy plans for all of that. She speaks slowly and clearly, she explains each idea more than once and in more than one way, and she checks that students truly understand before she moves on.

Her classroom manner is warm and steady. No question is treated as too small, and no student is made to feel behind. Joy believes that people learn best when they feel welcome and respected, and former students often say that her calm manner helped them as much as the facts themselves.

A former citizenship judge who swore in new citizens

Before teaching, Joy served as a Canadian citizenship judge. Citizenship judges preside at citizenship ceremonies, welcome new citizens on behalf of Canada, and lead the taking of the oath of citizenship. Joy stood in that role many times. She swore in new citizens, she shook their hands, and she heard their stories on one of the most important days of their lives.

Those ceremonies taught Joy what the test means to the people who write it. For many newcomers, citizenship is the end of a long journey and the start of full belonging in Canada. Joy also saw how nervous many people feel before the test, and how much clear teaching can help. When she left the judge role and returned to teaching, she chose to teach the one subject she knew from both sides of the table, the Discover Canada study guide and the test that comes from it.

Hundreds of students taught with care

Over the years Joy has taught hundreds of students. She has taught lively group classes for community groups and settlement groups, where learners help one another and build confidence together. She has also taught students one on one in the past, sitting with a single learner and shaping the lesson around the chapters that learner found hardest. That wide teaching history shapes this course today. The lessons answer the questions students ask most, the flashcards hold the facts students mix up most, and the practice questions follow the style students meet on the real test.

Today Joy teaches through group classes for organizations and through the Online Program, which lets learners across Canada study the same material at their own pace. Her past teaching in groups and one on one lives on in the way she writes and explains, with attention to the single learner who may be studying alone at a kitchen table late at night.

• Hundreds of students taught in Surrey and across Canada
• Group classes taught for organizations and community groups
• Past one on one teaching that shaped the lessons and flashcards
• All levels of English welcomed and supported

Why Joy teaches the guide the way she does

The official study guide is called Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. It is free from the Government of Canada, and every question on the citizenship test comes from it. The guide is rich and full, with history and geography and government and symbols and stories of remarkable Canadians. It can also feel long and dense, above all for readers whose English is still growing.

Joy teaches the guide the way a good teacher teaches any big subject. She breaks the guide into small chapters and short lessons. She tells the story behind the facts, because a story is easier to remember than a list alone. She uses flashcards for names and dates and capital cities that need repetition. She gives a quiz at the end of every chapter, so students learn what they know and what needs more work while there is still time to study. And she returns often to the hardest parts, such as the history of Canada, until the facts feel familiar.

Above all, Joy teaches in plain language. She avoids fancy words when a simple word will do. She explains new words when she must use them. She believes that citizenship study should build knowledge and confidence at the same time, and that a student who understands Canada will remember Canada far longer than a student who only memorized lines for a test.

• Small lessons that build one chapter at a time
• Stories that help facts stick in memory
• Flashcards for names and dates and places
• Practice questions in the style of the real test
• Plain language in every lesson

Teaching only, with a clear focus

Joy teaches one thing and teaches it well, the content of the Discover Canada guide. She does not give advice about citizenship applications, and she does not act as an immigration consultant. Students who need help with an application should speak with a licensed immigration consultant or a lawyer. Joy stays with teaching, and that clear focus is part of why her students trust her.

You can read more study notes from Joy on the Canada Blog, learn about citizenship classes in Surrey and the Lower Mainland, or start learning right away in the online course.