Here Jenny Stones, English Subject Leader talks about cross cultural collaboration, meeting parent needs, and the challenges and opportunities of developing a fusion of Western and Chinese pedagogies.

Moving to China during the height of COVID was a pretty bold move. What was your inspiration?

The bold move was moving to Russia after being a teacher for 13 years in the UK. When the opportunity arose to move to China, having spent two years in Russia I thought, why not!

Jenny, seen here enjoying the Northern Lights in the Murmansk region, worked as Deputy Head of School in Russia for two years before moving to China in 2021.

What have you learnt about collaborating across cultures through your time in Russia and now China?

I really enjoy meeting new people, and learning about the norms and values of others. Part of this has been learning that it is important to take into account cultural variation when it comes to education and national curriculums. I have had to adapt my perception of pedagogy and expectations of education to meet the needs of very different communities.

A big part of Jenny’s job is taking into consideration the needs of all stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers and school administrators.

By speaking to local people and other teachers cross-collaboratively I am always enriching my own knowledge. That’s what I felt in Russia, and that’s what I feel here.

What are some of the challenges of developing and implementing a fusion of Western and Chinese pedagogies?

The challenge for teachers trained in a Western context is that Chinese children learn differently. They prefer lessons as lectures, reading for information and completing textbooks. Teachers from the UK often use a range of strategies to cater for different learning styles, have very creative approaches and enjoy a lot more hands on practical teaching. Not all children in China enjoy that, or are used to it, or can adapt to that.

Small changes to the learning environment, including flexible seating and supportive working walls, lead to positive outcomes and pupil progress. An example of flexible seating is seen here in a class taught by Natasa Francis, head of Grade 1 -3 English at Hangzhou Dipont School of Arts and Sciences.

The challenge for a teacher can be that mind shift from working as creatively as they did before to working in a more structured style. The challenge is to come up with a new, innovative way of teaching, using a textbook, while integrating their own personality into that.

Parents in China can be particularly attentive about learning outcomes for their children. How does this factor in to your work?

You need to try to explain to parents that teaching is a reflective and reactive process. By having clear learning objectives and rigorous assessment procedures, you are teaching the whole child, not just a curriculum. Being clear and transparent about what is being taught, how it is assessed and what will be done to help children progress allows parents to trust the process. They need to know that their child is a part of that process and will get there eventually.

Visiting schools to discuss and strategize ways to support students using the new curriculum while earning the trust of their parents has been a significant part of the CCC’s team work over the past six months.

Here in China we’ve got children at different levels of English, and parents with high expectations. They want their child in the top set. However,  if they don’t have the language ability and you put them in the top set, they can’t actually access the content.

The solution is to create a rigorous, effective curriculum that can be understood by prospective parents. This is what can gain their trust. A written framework that explains what to expect is important in that process.

How do you see the effect of this curriculum project on student well-being?

I can’t speak for all parents, but most parents who send their children to private schools are wanting the best outcomes for their children and, in some cases, children are being pushed far too much. The government is trying to stop this pressure on children by putting policies in place to improve pupil well-being. That includes the closure of many after school cram centres, for example.

In some of our schools, we set pupils and in some there are mixed ability classes. Setting is a contentious issue. Depending on which side of the fence you sit, it can be successful or the opposite.

Observing classes, such as this example from Hangzhou Dipont School of Arts and Sciences, helps Jenny’s team to notice and integrate the ideas, skills and techniques of Dipont teachers into the curricula they are developing.

What can you do to best manage your classes if there are these differences in language ability?

In the UK, setting children is rare, because you end up with a class of children who are low ability or disruptive. With this in mind, you try and distribute children evenly. In China you often find that children have got very different language abilities in one class. In this case it’s not that you are separating pupils because of their cognitive ability. Instead, there’s a need to organize your lessons based on ability to access the curriculum. Academic language that is pitched too high can move some pupils forward while holding others back – a balance is needed.

Close attention to individual student needs, and embedding the capacity to adjust curriculum delivery to accommodate variance in English ability, has been a delicate but vital part of the curriculum development process.

You need to support students in their learning by making sure that they’ve got the language foundation they need. In a lot of ways this lies at the heart of our work. How can we improve the communicative ability of our children so that they make the most progress with the curriculum?

How do you go about encouraging teachers to use the new curriculum?

We spent a lot of time in schools prior to the writing of the schemes of work. This was when we were getting to understand everybody, so we could try to meet everyone’s needs. The launch was just before the start of this academic year. Now we are going into schools to do follow up observations and check on how the curriculum is being used.

Leanne Grundy, Director of Education for the Dipont Schools Programme, leads a teacher workshop at Wuxi Dipont School of Arts and Science.

We came away from our first visit really positive. When we first introduced this idea of working from a textbook, we were met with a lot of resistance. But the feedback that we’ve had is that there are creative opportunities in the enrichment that we have provided. We have also been told that the new schemes of work are exciting for the children. It gives the children a formula that they can trust and feel safe using.

As we work closely with schools, we encourage feedback and integrate the professional experience and suggestions of teachers. This way we keep improving on our work – making it fit for purpose. That’s what our team is all about: going in and finding out what’s needed.

What would you say to encourage other curriculum experts to join your team?

I really like it here. I enjoy working with my colleagues. They are always willing to help, and we support each other. I’m working with Chinese, English, Canadians, and people from all around the world. The scope of the collaboration is tremendous. It’s a great environment to work on a project as challenging and impactful as ours.

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Background

For over 15 years, Dipont Education has delivered specialized curriculum through a network of High School Programs in over twenty cities across China. These programs deliver courses ranging from IGCSE, A-level,US College board Advanced Placement program and IBDP.

The AQM (Physics) role is based in Dipont’s Shanghai head office but will operate with a company-wide responsibility, especially with regards to your subject specialism. You will work with a likeminded team of professionals with a variety of subject specialisms to collectively support and develop pedagogy as well as being one of two experts in your own area.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Assurance
You will undertake early probation and full lesson observations to ensure consistent quality of teaching and learning across all centers.

Resource Management
You will manage teaching and learning resources across the Dipont Schools Program for Grades 1-9 Science. This includes creating, monitoring, and assessing teaching resources, textbooks, lesson plans, and a professional development framework for teachers.

Professional Development
You will keep up to date with current educational developments specific to your physics in general pedagogy, and in education technology. You will share your insights through regular Continued Professional Development (CPD) sessions with teachers, as well as providing one on one support for teachers as required.

Curriculum Support
You will prepare, collect, standardize, and coordinate a bank of subject resources, making these readily available for staff to use in all centers. You will lead a select group of teachers chosen from our partner schools meeting twice a year face to face to help facilitate this.

Partner Relations
You will offer support and advice to Center Principals if they have concerns about subject teachers. You will also be prepared to provide emergency cover as needed. Such cover will not normally extend continuously beyond five teaching days.

About you

• Teaching certification/qualifications
  
• Experience teaching a minimum of one externally examined syllabus in Physics, either Cambridge, IB, or Advanced Placement.
  
• Academic management experience strongly preferred
  
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work in a cross-cultural environment
  
• Adaptable, resourceful and able to travel extensively.

About Dipont

Dipont Education has been at the vanguard of international education in China for more than thirty years. We employ over 400 expat teachers and have more than 6,000 students enrolled in our high school programs, partnered with some of the best schools in the country

The post Academic Quality Manager (Physics) appeared first on Dipont Education.

To celebrate the occasion, an event was held at the school that reflected on a decade of success for the IB curriculum center. At the event, Yao Ruidan, center director, and Sasi Antony, center principal, both spoke about the center’s history and reflected on its many achievements.

Front and center of the celebration, however, were past and present students. Over the past 10 years, hundreds of students have studied the IB Diploma Program, excelling across all subjects. Graduates have gone on to study at leading universities around the world and to have highly successful careers.

In order to reward students for their outstanding performances, the school presented various awards. Among them, the highest honor was the Principal’s Award that recognized exceptional academic achievement combined with remarkable conduct outside of the classroom.

Winning students received a carefully designed trophy that featured crystal and jade elements to represent the pure hearts of students combined with the humility and nobleness of Chinese intellectuals.

In addition, the Silver Award was presented to teachers who had worked in the IB center for five years or more, while outstanding teachers from the last academic year were also recognized.

Xu Xiangdong, principal of the High School Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was a pioneer in the introduction of international courses into traditional top-performing high schools in China. In collaboration with Dipont, the school set up the IB program in 2011 with the aim of offering students academic courses that adequately prepared them for study overseas.

At the event, Principal Xu shared his vision for the next 10 years, saying that he hoped the center maintained its original mission and that it continued to create new, exciting chapters in its history. “Educators are not for the past nor the present, but for the future,” he said.

A decade of growth

The IB center opened in 2011 with a first cohort of 65 students. That first class graduated from the IB Diploma Program in 2014 with outstanding results (particularly for a new IB center), with an overall average of 32 points and final results over the IB world averages in nearly every subject. This increased to an average of 33 points with the 2015 graduates.

The center has built on that success and currently has almost 300 students over three year groups.

First-year pre-IB students take four Cambridge IGCSE-level subjects. These courses provide a solid, internationally recognized foundation for IBDP study. In the second and third years, students pursue the IB Diploma Program, taking six main subjects across a range of disciplines, three at higher level and three at standard level. On top of this demanding course load, they must also tackle a year-long, 4,000-word Extended Essay, 18 months of CAS (Creativity-Activity-Service) work, and the challenging Theory of Knowledge course.

IB courses are taught by a combination of Chinese and expatriate teachers. Student destinations for further study remain focused on the US, UK and Canada, with some students opting for top universities in Australia and Europe. Admissions offers over the past decade have been impressive, including Cambridge, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Emory, several schools in the UC system, and many top American Liberal Arts colleges.

Partnering with renowned high schools in China, Dipont provides complete management support in the operation of international programs. These are delivered through specialized curriculum centers within each partner school and.

Vacancies for experienced subject teachers are available across our network, visit our vacancies section for more information. 

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