Way back in 2005, skater Danny Way jumped the Great Wall of China… on his second attempt. The first ended up with a broken ankle. The next day, he back on the board and nailed it. Welcome to China!
Now we’re a few months into our new life in Beijing, I feel like we’re sticking the landing. As we roll into the winter break, it’s time to decompress and reflect on the move: country, school & role!
New Life
When we decided to leave wonderful Japan, we didn’t imagine at first that we’d be in Beijing. It has so far surpassed our expectations of quality of life, ease of access and yes, cleanliness of air. Of course there are bad days, but #BeijingBlue has been very common and it is a nice place to live. Public transport is cheap and easy, technology like WeChat makes everything much easier than in the past and there is a buzz of life here.
New School
As a family in international education, the list of schools we would have chosen was very short. It needed to be a great place to work, live and learn and we need to be able to survive on the single contract. WAB has so far been a fun experience, the new role is interesting and the kids love the school. There is a lot going on with the FLoW21 work, the day-to-day learning and getting settled in, but the welcome has been hugely warming and we are all enjoying it so far. Fingers crossed it keeps being a positive experience!
New Role
When I resigned from my last role (as whole-school leadership – a whole other post), the goal was to get back into the science lab and get teaching again. As high school learning & tech coach here at WAB, I have a science class and a mentor group alongside my main role of supporting teaching and learning with pedagogy and tech integration. It has been really enjoyable so far and I have a lot to learn about a new school, its culture, people and tech tools.
It’s an exciting time for the school’s development and with that comes the opportunity to support teaching and learning in positive ways. I am putting a lot of my effort into listening and building bridges. It is great to be able to work with a team of others within our section and across the school, and to build supporting resources for teachers and students. I love creative work in education and there is plenty of scope for that here. I can put skills and tools I’ve developed over the years to work in a setting where there is support for development and the freedom to try new things. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
New Challenges
Of course, huge life changes generate new challenges. It is suddenly very cold (though our house is much warmer than in Japan), and we have a new language to learn. We’re finding our way around and learning from the little “teachable moments” of being in China after Japan and Indonesia. The kids have a new type of freedom, a bus run and a lot of agency. We have a preteen in a connected world and a learning more about that as we go along. Life stuff is different here – banking, bills and the like – but so far has been easier than Japan. China is more techy and access is more fluid than we expected and are used to.
Working in EdTech in China is… interesting. There is a lot of great stuff being done, and we have access to more than I expected, though we do come across issues with the great firewall. It has taken longer than I expected to leave behind who I was before to become who am I now, but in the last month or so the fog has lifted and I can see more clearly where I can make a difference, without worrying too much about issues beyond my control. On the other hand, there is great technical support here at the school and beyond, and it seems schools work well together on the shared challenges of the GFW.
New Experiences
One of the reasons international educators do what we do is for life experiences – for ourselves and our kids. Embracing the change – the new place, people, school and systems – is certainly giving us some new experiences to enjoy and to learn from!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Wayfinder Learning Lab - Stephen Taylor 
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