Teacher: Ms. Öman

Subject: Mathematics

In February, I interviewed Ms. Öman, to give students and parents an insight into what kind of mathematics teacher they have the pleasure of working with. As I interviewed Christine, I came to know a lot more about her as a person and it created a clear and fascinating image about the person she is.

Ms. Öman (full name Christine Marie Joséphine Öman), is turning 44 this year, and was born in the northeast of France near the German border. When she grew up in France, she spoke fluent French and German, then moved to London at the age of 23. She stayed there for almost 4 years and then moved to Sweden, Stockholm. The cause of her moving around meant that English and Swedish took over and she lost some of her ability to speak German. However, she can still understand the language perfectly.

She studied a lot of subjects but her speciality is obviously Mathematics. She also studied physics, chemistry, astrophysics and the formation and evolution of the planet earth. She comes from a family of 7 children (2 boys and 5 girls), with her being the youngest of all. When she was a young adult, she wanted to join the navy but was underaged (17 years old), so she needed the permission (signature) of her parents. However, her mum didn’t sign and therefore she couldn’t join the navy. At the navy she wanted to work with radars and mathematical solutions. Instead, she went to study mathematics in Strasbourg.

Ms. Öman is a loud, and happy person (like her father). “I don’t need much to be happy” she said.  As she spoke about her father, I already knew the answer to the question of who her role model was. Her own dad, who I believe has a similar personality to Ms. Öman.

Ms. Öman loves reading books and knitting. Her favourite books are from the author Ken Follett who has just written a trilogy about the first world war until now. She also adores the novel called “ The Pillars of the earth”. In the music industry, she likes the artists Queen and Pavarotti but also likes to listen to Bach. Ms. Öman’s favourite movies are the Big Blue, Brave Heart and Rob Roy.

When I asked her how students can impress her, she replied saying that all the students have already done that. She said: “I rarely see anyone arguing or fighting. You have all a very mature approach, and I am impressed by how the students are accepting and respectful towards each other”.

On Ms. Öman’s bucket list is travelling the world, specifically Japan and China as the way of living is completely different there. Her favourite cities are London, because of the shows and bookstores, Stockholm because it is close to nature and Berlin because of its history.

Ms. Öman loves the job she is doing right now. She works in the Annexe C, working there for the administration and gets to teach Mathematics mainly to the IB students. She said: “I don’t see any other reason for me to stop doing the job I am currently doing.”

Christine has worked at SIS for 15 years and is definitely a valuable person for SIS.