The DDP teacher is responsible for guiding students in the development of their own curriculum. They will need to form partnerships with local businesses and facilitate student learning that is self-directed within the Dual Degree Program (DDP) at Tianyi AP Center. You will work with the Center Principal to adapt, design, and implement DDP curriculum from the United States by Shattuck St. Mary’s accredited program. Personal creativity will be important as you contribute directly to the success of this cutting-edge and prestigious initiative.

More details on the role can be found here.

Background

The international center was established in 2009 and enjoys a harmonious and supportive relationship with the larger campus. This is a destination workplace for teachers looking to develop their intercultural awareness and experience of the cutting-edge curriculum.

Salary and benefits

• Competitive salary levels
• Accommodation allowance
• Annual return airfare and bonus
• Worldwide medical cover
• High disposable income

About the school

Location
Centrally located in Jiangsu Province, Wuxi is only 45 minutes from the mega-city of Shanghai to the east, and Nanjing to the west. The school campus is very attractive, with botanical gardens and sections of bamboo woodland.

Curriculum
The Dual Diploma Program (DDP) is an innovative, student-centered course designed and implemented in partnership with the prestigious Shattuck-St Mary’s school in the US. The Digital Media teacher will work within the framework of the DDP to teach theoretical and practical concepts, strategies, and techniques associated with the fields of audio, video, technology, and film.

Teachers and Staff
The education team at Wuxi Tianyi is among the most stable in Dipont’s high school program network. You will experience a supportive and extremely collegial atmosphere working here.

Wuxi campus

About you

• Able to engage and challenge high-performing students.
• Recognized teaching qualification preferred.
• Experience teaching digital production, including photography, graphic design, film production, editing, and visual communication strategies.
• Knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Animate, Photoshop, InDesign, Audition, and Dream Weaver.
• Knowledge of fundamental principles and current industry standards in mass communications and mass media production. Industry background is a plus.
• Ability to help students explore related careers and provide career guidance.
• Responsible for teaching theoretical and practical concepts, strategies, and techniques associated with the fields of audio, video, technology, and film.

About Dipont

Dipont Education has been at the forefront of international education in China for over 30 years, managing high school programs within some of the most highly regarded schools in the country. We currently employ over 400 expatriate educators and have more than 6,000 students enrolled.

Professional development begins with thorough and supportive orientation for new staff and continues as ongoing contact with experts in the field. Internal career path opportunities are open to capable and high-performing staff, with the potential to move into curricula or program management roles.

*We are committed to a thorough and complete check of the credentials of all those employed to work with children in our organization.

The post Dual Degree Program teacher appeared first on Dipont Education.

In this role, you will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the high school, ensuring a safe and supportive learning environment for our students. You will work closely with teachers, staff, and parents to promote academic excellence and student success.

Background

The Dipont high school program at Wuxi No. 1 School was established in 2008 and currently has over 400 students enrolled. Our goal is to develop in our students a balance between academic and extracurricular interests so that they are prepared for the demands of the 21st century.

Salary and benefits

About the School

Location
The school is located close to the center of Wuxi city, yet retains a natural ambience. Wuxi itself is a delightful city to live and work in, as it combines the amenities of a big city while maintaining a community vibe.

 Curriculum
In addition to our A-level program, students participate in a wide range of extra-curricular activities while also being encouraged to work with NGOs, research institutes, charities and businesses to extend their academic and personal interests and potential.

Teachers and Staff
Our faculty includes teachers from all over the world, and this provides the school with a truly international environment. Our philosophy is one of shared experience and collaboration so that all staff feel a part of team success.

About you

The post Secondary School Principal (A-level) appeared first on Dipont Education.

About you

• Able to engage and challenge high performing students.
• Recognized teaching qualification.
• Experience as an English Teacher (A-level) at high school level.
• Well-developed subject knowledge.

About Dipont

Dipont Education has been at the forefront of international education in China for over 30 years, managing high school programs within some of the most highly regarded schools in the country. We currently employ over 400 expatriate educators and have more than 6,000 students enrolled.

Professional development begins with thorough and supportive orientation for new staff. It continues with ongoing contact with experts in the field. Internal career path opportunities are open to capable and high performing staff. This includes the potential to move into curricula or program management roles.

The post English/ESL Teacher appeared first on Dipont Education.

In this interview, Harry talks about teacher training, the induction process, and what makes Hangzhou DSAS a great place to develop and grow your education career.

1. What are some features of the school that make it unique?

The International School is easily one of the warmest environments I’ve worked in. Our staff have plenty of time to plan and deliver their lessons, which means we have high quality learning happening right across the school.

We’ve got very small class sizes with, on average, about 10 students per class. As a result of this smaller community, we have a very close relationship with our parents. Teachers know them by name and communicate with them on a regular basis.

This intimacy, warmth and congeniality is a palpable feeling that you can feel in your interactions with people.

This is also reflected in the student work that is displayed on walls in staff offices, classrooms, and corridors. We have a genuinely pleasant environment in which to work here.

2. In terms of teacher training, what are some areas that you find teachers need the most help with?

An area that keeps coming up is EAL provision. As we are a bilingual school, the level of English is quite diverse. While we have a big chunk of native level speakers, we also have students whose English is less advanced.

A big part of the professional life of our teachers is getting better at helping those students with the language support they need. This is an area that we continue to place time and attention on.

Finally, we have a twilight session program. During the first couple of weeks, when you are hearing about systems and policies, it can be quite overwhelming. For this reason, we have optional sessions that new teachers can attend in the latter two thirds of the first semester.

Staff can come and sit in on a very informal 45-minute presentation about the systems and operations that we have in the school. This is designed to consolidate any new information or instructions that new teachers may have missed out on in those opening couple of weeks.

4. How do you transition from induction to professional development? 

During the first half of semester, the focus for new staff, from their leadership, should be to not burden them with too much scrutiny or punitive monitoring.

Of course, if there is a major red flag, you can’t just sweep it under the table. But our teaching cohort is very solid this year – we are lucky to have some superb teachers here both in the International section and also in the school as a whole.

The approach that I advocate is to give new teachers every opportunity to get their feet under the table, to feel comfortable and at home. More often than not, that will be the biggest conduit to helping them do well in the classroom.

It is not always easy to transition into a new position in a school. Parents often compare the incoming teacher to the previous teacher, and sometimes that can create unreasonable expectations.

We want new teachers to feel supported by their managers through challenges like this. That can be a powerful message for the rest of the staff, and really permeate the culture of the school.

Feeling trusted and supported can really help teachers to adapt to their new work environment in the best possible way.

5. Why should a teacher in China choose to move to Hangzhou to work at Hangzhou Dipont School of Arts and Science?

Hangzhou itself is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in China. In addition to this, our campus is young enough to still feel state of the art.

Another advantage is our relative maturity. As we enter our fifth year, we’ve gone through those teething problems that a lot of the new startup schools often have. We have gotten to the stage where we have established practices, and established routines.

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

The staff and school community here is very warm and congenial. Many of our expat staff have not been home for the best part of three years. As a leadership team, and as a school, to try to fill that void a little bit.

Hangzhou Dipont School of Arts and Science has a comprehensive welfare program. This includes flexible half days a couple of times a semester. We also have a social calendar that has two social functions for the whole staff to attend every month.

We are always trying to create the feeling of “a home away from home” as best we can.

Finally, continuing education is an important part of the school’s culture. I’m just about to finish an NPQH, which the school have supported me in. Other people in the school are doing Masters or PGCEs. In many cases that have been assisted financially in completing these courses.

We invite great teachers to join us, and we want them to grow with us. We want them to enjoy working at this wonderful school, and become the best they can be with us.

The post Professional Life at Kings appeared first on Dipont Education.

Ahead of presenting at the Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science Online Recruitment Open Day on Saturday, November 5 , we spoke with Amy about how early years education can change the world for the better.

1. What first attracted you to the field of early years education?

I studied to be a music teacher and, during my studies, I had an experience that really shaped my future direction.

I had a placement in an outreach program for young offenders. That was challenging, inspiring, and also a little confronting.

It was inspiring because there was just so much talent and energy in the room. But it was also confronting to be working with these young lads, 18-21 year olds, and realizing that my music class really wasn’t going to make a big difference to them, to their lives, and to the world.

They enjoyed the class, but there was little chance that it was going to make a real difference to the cycle of reoffending and bad choices that had put these unfortunate guys in this position.

That is really what turned me on to early year’s education. I did some research and realized that it’s in the early years that important skills like self-regulation really develop.

If you can help children to understand who they are and what their strengths are, and how they can understand themselves and others better, then you can really make a huge difference to their lives and improve their chances of success in adulthood.

2. Is self-regulation just about stopping yourself from doing bad things, or is there more to it than that?

It is a lot more than that. It includes how you think about yourself, how you manage yourself, and how you control yourself.

You might have to perform a task that you don’t like. How do you apply yourself to tasks like that? Can you say to yourself, “Come on, let’s just do this, it needs to be done”? Sometimes you’ve got choices, and sometimes you haven’t got choices.

Another example is when you are placed in situations that you don’t like. Are you able to get yourself out of it? Do you throw a tantrum, or are you able to control your response?

Self-regulation means something different in every space, and in every different age phase.

A lot of our high school students are good examples of what happens when good habits of self-regulation have been instilled at a young age.

Often if they do well on exams, it’s not just because they’re naturally wildly gifted. It’s because they work hard and manage how much time they spend on their study.

Self-regulation just trickles up into so many things.

In every six months of your life, it will be relevant in a very different way. You develop the foundation for this in your early years.

3. How does working in early years here compare to working in early years in the UK?

I think early years programs here are often a lot bigger, particularly if you’re in a local environment. Our early years department here has 300 students, which is way more than you would expect to find in the UK.

The best part about that is that our building is so beautifully designed that you almost don’t notice that there are so many kids in it.

There are also about 50% of parents who are really fixated on the academic assessment of their children, and then you’ve got the parents who are just like, well, it’s just playing, and it really doesn’t matter.

I think that’s more common in parents in the UK. They tend to be more relaxed about it. The ideal is somewhere in between, with parents realizing the importance of early year’s education while at the same time not being so over-zealous about strictly academic results.

Looking ahead, China is working hard to incorporate more experiential learning and active learning in schools, which is great.

It’s about students from a young age learning about working together and controlling their own destiny. These are exciting times to be working in early year’s education in China.

4. What are the characteristics you need to be a successful early years teacher at Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science? 

I think you need to have a fairly open mind. I don’t think there’s anybody in our school who is doing everything the way that they would have done it in a previous environment.

We are not here to colonize as international teachers. Neither are we here to do things exactly the same way that a large majority of local kindergartens would do it.

What we do as a department is find the approach that we think is developmentally appropriate for our students. That takes a lot of conversation.

People don’t always agree with each other, but it’s really interesting to watch people have these conversations, then step away from them, and then go back to them with a totally different mindset about the issue.

5. What do you find most satisfying about your work?

I think hearing that kids you taught before are going well. It’s great to see that what you are doing is making a difference.

I recently had a grandmother of one of my former students call me to say that her granddaughter got Star of the Week. She was really excited about that. It was just so nice that she thought to share her excitement with me.

I’ve also been contacted with news that a former student had been successful at a high school fencing tournament, or big life events like the first day of university. When parents share these important moments with you, you realise how much your work is valued by them. More than that, though, you realise the difference your efforts have made to improving your student’s lives.

As an early year’s teacher, it’s important to try and find meaningful ways to connect with the whole school. We do what we do so that everything that comes later is easier for these children.  I think that’s just really fulfilling.

You see our students having a great time. You see their parents feeling comfortable and safe. And then you watch them go on in their studies and continue to have a great time. That’s all you need, isn’t it?

The post Exciting Times for Early Years appeared first on Dipont Education.

Background

The Dipont high school program at Wuxi No. 1 School was established in 2008 and currently has over 400 students enrolled. Our goal is to develop in our students a balance between academic and extracurricular interests so that they are prepared for the demands of the 21st century.

Salary and benefits

About the School

Location
The school is located close to the center of Wuxi city, yet retains a natural ambience. Wuxi itself is a delightful city to live and work in, as it combines the amenities of a big city while maintaining a community vibe.

 Curriculum
In addition to our A-level program, students participate in a wide range of extra-curricular activities while also being encouraged to work with NGOs, research institutes, charities and businesses to extend their academic and personal interests and potential.

Teachers and Staff
Our faculty includes teachers from all over the world, and this provides the school with a truly international environment. Our philosophy is one of shared experience and collaboration so that all staff feel a part of team success.

Students at the Dipont High School Programme at Wuxi No. 1 High School are among the best in Jiangsu Province.

About you

The post Physics Teacher (A-level) appeared first on Dipont Education.

Here Nuala reflects on her time working with Dipont, including her experience of 21^st– century learning, harmonious bilingual education, and shaping the future of student well-being in China.

What has been the most memorable thing for you about working for Dipont?

Dipont has contributed a lot to my educational development and growth, so it is hard to choose what to mention. I joined the company in 2017, and I have never looked back. Dipont has a very ‘can do’ approach. The company acknowledges the value of trying new ideas and thoughts and learning from mistakes to move forwards.

My experience has included teacher training, curriculum writing, textbook writing, developing and delivering professional development, academic quality management, coaching and mentoring.

If I must choose one experience to highlight, it was developing and creating a teacher training course for bilingual teachers. I felt this particular aspect of my work was the most rewarding. I also developed strong friendships with the very first cohort of teacher trainees.

Which achievements are you most proud of from your time with Dipont?

Working with teachers in Dipont’s Independent schools, building strong relationships and working collaboratively with teams to view teaching and learning from different perspectives.

I truly enjoyed sharing early learning theories and approaches with new early years teachers. It was enlightening and encouraging to see teachers embrace theories of play, child development, SEN and observe them applying these theories through the early year’s national standards.

It is always encouraging when your audience takes the time to send an email of appreciation as well as photographs to show how they apply the theory in their learning environments. Those occasions make me proud and make the job worthwhile, but even more so when it is clear that the children benefit most from the experiences.

What challenges do you see in creating a harmonious bilingual working environment in schools?

Most parents want their children to engage in learning a new language. The challenge can be finding the balance between the use of the native language and the new language. The learner’s mother tongue and local culture have to be valued.

Language and communication are strongly linked with identity and emotional development. For this to happen, there must be mutual respect between all parties. Supporting the native language through communication and literacy development is essential for academic achievement. Sharing thoughts and school policy on the bilingual approach can help diminish challenges as they arise.

How has Dipont changed over the last five years?

There is more of an understanding and recognition of the importance of developing 21^st Century skills such as collaboration, cooperation, creativity, questioning, use of technology, active and project-based learning.

I’ve always felt that Dipont is a pioneer in the field of education in China, introducing these skills through its teacher training, support in schools and provision of high-quality professional development. We are now reaping the benefits if the training we started five years ago. That has been very satisfying.

What progress have you made regarding student well-being and pastoral care in the past five years?

Firstly, I believe that kindness, understanding and passion for your learners are essential. When working with people of all ages, we do not know what emotions, troubles, and burdens they bring to school daily. Therefore, I believe that PSHE (Personal Social Health Economics) education should weave into every aspect of our daily teaching.

We need to allow learners opportunities to share, discuss, collaborate and cooperate, but we also need to develop their sense of empathy and teach both teacher and learner to empathise. Teaching is no longer about purely academic achievement. It is about viewing all aspects of learning holistically. This approach helps children to experience joy in learning.

All our teachers are required to undertake safeguarding training. Our teachers are fantastic at coming up with innovative and caring ways to care for our learners’ wellbeing in safe, warm, caring, and holistic environments, both indoors and outdoors. Some examples include

• Development of sensory gardens
• Friend spot in the playground- a child, can go here if looking for a friend with whom to play.
• A reflection area- a quiet space to calm down, be quiet, be reflective.
• A safe environment for letting off steam

I know we’ve made a difference when I see a four-year-old child approaching another child and wiping away their tears.

What would you say to encourage a professional educator like yourself to leave their home country, journey to China, and work for Dipont?

You are better equipped to educate learners about various cultures when you have truly experienced a culture by living within it. By sharing cultural experiences, children learn about diversity and become culturally aware, have better social skills, increase confidence and are often more accepting of people who are different from themselves.

China is a beautiful place in which to work. Dipont offers various opportunities for those willing to embrace all that China and its learners have to offer. Come with an open mind and a willingness to make a difference, and you will be enriched by the experience.

The post Education in China: Five years at the frontline appeared first on Dipont Education.

In the past three years there has been a huge decline in the ESL private education market in China. COVID, policy change, and general economic shrinkage have placed enormous pressure on this once lucrative and booming industry. As a result, a lot of ESL teachers are facing the end of their China dreams.

Photo by Tom Parsons on Unsplash

At the same time many international and bilingual schools in China are now filling the last of their vacancies for an August 2022 start.

Here are some tips on making the leap from training centers to the big league.

1. Align with your subject knowledge

If economics was not your major at university, don’t apply for an economics teaching job. You do not want the stress of trying to learn the topic between classes. Like a predator’s instinct to smell fear on the hunted, most students can detect a knowledge gap within the first 15 minutes of a course. A bitter victory it would be to bluff your way into such a classroom.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

You will need subject knowledge. What was your major? Literature, History, and, to a lesser extent, Political Science are fields that are applicable to an English subject teaching role, and should be highlighted in your CV.

Look into options to undertake a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education), which effectively upgrades your qualifications to be classroom ready. Enrolling in a PGCE will also demonstrate your commitment to career development.

2. Emphasize your unique strengths

You may have been an awesome ESL teacher, but there are a lot of awesome ex-ESL teachers flooding the market these days. What makes you stand out from the crowd? Brushing up your CV is an opportunity to reflect on your achievements and your growth, and also to articulate the benefits you can bring to a new employer.

Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash

What is it about your classroom management style that supports autonomous, student-centered learning? Have you any experince with safe-guarding protocols? What have you learnt about the unique perspective of Chinese learners? What experience do you have with cross-cultural communication? Have you ever organized an extra-curricular activity? What made it great? What did you learn from it?

3. Be prepared to move

Back in the day you could throw a rock* in downtown Shanghai and it would bounce off a couple of ESL schools before hitting the ground. There were a lot of training centers. The daily commute was a breeze. You could live in the thick of the CBD, taking your pick of workplaces. It was easy to find a job.

Photo by Alessio Lin on Unsplash

These days it is not so easy. You may need to change cities to find a position that matches your qualifications. This is not to say that any reputable school will accept inadequately skilled teachers, but there is a greater likelihood of being accepted into a non-ESL academic role away from the extremely competitive job market in top tier cities.

If you have the ability, the determination, and the willingness to grow, a second or third tier would be the ideal place to launch your career renaissance.

*note that this is a metaphorical rock. It is never a good idea to throw stones in the inner city.

4. Prepare a killer demo lesson

You may not always have the opportunity to use it, but preparing a demo lesson is a good way to focus your intent and refine your pitch for the job. In addition, many classes are being taught online these days, albeit temporarily, so preparing a great demo lesson in this format could make a huge difference to your application.

Photo by Tumisu on Pixabay

You should aim for a snapshot of your teaching persona that highlights your mastery of the medium as well as your comfort in the subject area. The question for your audience is: Is this person able to deliver a curriculum with confidence and discernment? Charisma is not king in this situation.

5. Persevere or perish

Failure is inevitable on the road to change, but the road is long and forgiving if you give yourself the chance. Every application is an opportunity to hone your message. Every interview is a chance to practice delivering your brand to the market.

Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

China has always been a land of opportunity for teachers. The difference now is that the stakes are higher, and the rewards are greater. The end of your ESL days need not be the end of your China life. You could make it the start of your education career.

Dipont Education has had a few last minute positions open up for teachers currently residing in China for an August 2022 start. Now is the time to get started on your career revival.

The post Time for your career revival appeared first on Dipont Education.

Here she talks about what makes Zhenhai a great place to live and work. Tanya also shares her vison for creating a holistic learning environment.

1. What is life like in Zhenhai?

It is very peaceful. It’s got that small town vibe, even though it’s a fairly big district. What struck me when I first arrived was how quiet the streets are, with these big overhanging trees lining the roads, and nice, shaded walkways.

I would say it’s not for people who like the hustle and bustle of the big city but, even so, there is a subway line about 20 minutes walk from the school that can take you into Ningbo in about 40 minutes.

And it’s getting closer and closer. When I first arrived (in 2018) the nearest subway station was a 15 minute taxi ride away!

2. What has been your experience of working as a teacher at Zhenhai?

It has been very positive. The Center Principal when I arrived was very enthusiastic and supportive, and he was very engaged with the students. We are a small staff. Next year we will have 14 expat teachers, so there is definitely a community vibe to the team.

The school itself has about 200 students, so it’s not a huge school by any means. The advantage is that you can engage easily with the students, and get to know them quite well.

Another advantage of this relatively small size is that, if you have an idea for an activity or an initiative, you can get the support to see the idea into action.

Making changes is not always easy, but I found that if you can prove that you are willing to work hard and get things going then, gradually, you can get there.

3. What is an example of a new initiative that you have been able to implement?

I had an idea about getting more culture into the school, something in addition to the usual sports and clubs. So I started with the idea of a Thanksgiving Day event, which was popular.

Although it is American, I knew from experience at other schools that it was familiar to everyone, so it would be a good starting point.

The next direction I can see it taking is building a calendar of cultural events that really expresses the great cultural diversity we have within the teaching team. We’ve got teachers from all over the world, from places like Ghana, Kenya, USA, the UK, Malaysia and Pakistan, so through these cultural sharing events we really can give our students a unique international insight.

Events like these can also provide students with the opportunity to develop leadership skills, which we can then refer to when writing recommendation letters for them. Real life skills like organizing events, planning, implementation, reviewing and cleaning up afterwards, all serve to make the school more colorful, and the education we provide more holistic.

4. How has the transition to the Center Principal role been for you?

I have always felt that working in a school is more than just arriving at 7:15 and leaving at 4:30. For me what is important is the whole school life.

Education doesn’t end at the doorway to the classroom, or start and end when the bell rings. I am really passionate about education outside the classroom.

I have only recently been promoted to the role of Center Principal. In fact, today is my first officual day! My path to this role really started when I was promoted to the position of Dean of Students, last year.

In that position I was doing pretty much what I had been doing anyway, but with a recognized title. This gave me that bit of authority to organize things more effectively, and also to communicate more directly with the management team.

5. How have you grown professionally in your time at Zhenhai?

Besides the professional development courses offered by Dipont, such as the marking course that I took last year, I have grown a lot in my career. There are a lot of opportunities available, and you can get the support that you need if you persist and persevere. It takes ambition and dedication. What is important is that, in Zhenhai, your ambition is recognized.

For example, the Dean of Students role wasn’t even a role that existed at our school. It was a role that was created in recognition of what I had been doing. It gave me the opportunity to transition into the position I have now.

I am really excited about the coming academic year, and what our great team at Zhenhai can achieve together.

The post Holistic Education at Zhenhai High appeared first on Dipont Education.