The Merits of Sharing: A Successful Professional Development Exchange and Close Encounter with Chinese Parents

Last week, I was asked to lead a two-hour professional development discussion with the teachers of Wahaha Bilingual School.  Given that the school’s focus is international in scope, I decided to talk a bit about how to create meaningful, immersive, international experiences for your students without leaving the walls of the classroom.  So we talked about the SISTERS program and how to use harness technology in order to connect with the outside world.  As we discussed this, I was quite cognizant of the fact that Wahaha is unique in that its teachers DO, in fact, have a much greater ability to engage with the internet that most of the schools in Hangzhou.  The teachers had a lot of wonderful questions and I even connected with a 4^th grade teacher who is eager to perhaps develop a connection with our new 5^th grade at Dana Hall! 

We also talked a good deal about the 21^st century learner and how researchers and those in the field of education are defining him/her.  The teachers were anxious to understand how to develop curricula that would foster greater collaboration and critical thinking skills, while also expressing the need to adhere to tradition.  Hmmmm….sounds a lot like what we talk about in our own professional development discussions at home.  (*Image borrowed from albany.edu)

On Thursday, four of us—two from Dana Hall, one from BB&N and one from Concord Academy—were invited to sit on a panel to answer parent concerns and questions about what the American independent school experience is like for international students.  Now remember that these are the parents of children in grades K-4!  Despite the fact that we were talking in two different languages, with the help of a patient translator, we were able to engage in some truly thoughtful dialogue. Each day I am presented with moments that allow me to get a better sense of the world from which my Chinese students are coming from.  I am recognizing that although I’d like to think that I have a solid and empathetic understanding of my Chinese students’ family lives and cultural values, I have so, so much more to learn.  Presently, I am reading the book, Blindspot, which discusses in depth, the hidden biases that even well-intentioned people have towards others.  The longer I am here, the more I am able to recognize my own biases, which of course, has caused me to second guess many of my past interactions with my Asian students, in particular.  I am hopeful that when I return, I will be able to better recognize these unconscious biases when they arise so that I can be a more compassionate, understanding and inclusive teacher.