https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow A summary of my teaching experience and personal growth at the Shanghai United International School as a History Teacher and Head of Department for Middle School en-us 2023-01-16 10:06:38 UTC 2025-10-13 08:30:56 UTC hello@padlet.com lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446646650 Four years ago, I undertook the greatest adventure of my teaching career and decided to teach in Shanghai, China. It was a profound life-changing experience as it allowed me not just to grow professionally but also to grow as a person by stepping out of my comfort zone and familiar surroundings and set out on a journey to see and live in a new exciting culture so different to my own.  China was a door of opportunity that I am profoundly happy I opened and stepped through to teach History to Middle School, IGCSE and some experience in the IB DP.

My time as a History Teacher for grades 6-9 at the Shanghai United International School enabled me to grow professionally: In my second year I became a Head of Department for History in Middle School, where it gave me the chance to create a internationally-minded curriculum and to continuously develop it to reflect differentiated approaches to learning and equipping students with critical-thinking and inquiry-based skills needed for high school.

Although the following 3 years of lockdowns and travel restrictions imposed by the country's zero-covid policy (2020-2023) was to be a serious challenge and mental struggle due to uncertainties and the inability to see my family for three years - the friends I made and the connections forged through the dynamic cosmopolitan city of Shanghai helped me to learn to be both resilient, patient, flexible and adaptable to change.]]> 2023-01-17 10:40:03 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446646650 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446661707 Moving to China, to living in a huge mega-city, working in a different work-culture and navigating language-barriers were new challenges and situations that I became exposed to while teaching in Shanghai. 

This required me to learn how to adapt and navigate difficulties by overcoming old habits, being bold and taking on new things I would not have done before; such as being more socially proactive, asking for help and communicating with those around me by learning small phrases and trying to get to know the people.]]> 2023-01-17 10:54:43 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446661707 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446662780 In my second year, I was made Head of Department, initially I was sceptical if I had the right attitude and experience to undertake these new responsibilities. It was largely in part thanks to my Head of Grade 8 and Pastoral Team member who convinced me that I had what it took, in the time that she knew and observed me, to take on a role that she felt would enable me not just to shine but also to create a history programme that reflected my passions in historical perspectives and international-mindedness. ]]> 2023-01-17 10:55:54 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446662780 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446676003 What I love about working in China was exploring a new culture that is over 5000 years old and provides so much new opportunities to learn and appreciated. It was an immersive experience that allowed me to see perspectives and viewpoints about the world, history, education and life that were very different to my own.]]> 2023-01-17 11:10:06 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446676003 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446685310
Moving to Shanghai (a mega-city of 26 million people) and making friends was a new experience that changed me - I learned to be more socially outgoing and less of a workaholic, by partaking in social events and travelling through China with colleagues and meeting new people on travel groups - making life-long connections I still treasure to this day.]]> 2023-01-17 11:20:16 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446685310 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446687686 In 2020 I became a head of department and got the opportunity to overhaul and create a history curriculum for middle-school. Transforming it from a UK-centric program based on National Curriculum to tailor a program that reflected the diversity of our students, their language abilities and to provide them opportunities to explore topics that explored international historical issues, perspectives and source-based skills.

Over a three period I was able to continuously develop the curriculum to meet the needs of my students and to truly focus on aspects of teaching history: Critical thinking skills, Historical Interpretation, Source-analysis and evaluation skills, and offering a range of topics such as the Ancient Rome and The Middle Ages for Grade 6, The Atlantic World - trade, exploration and exploitation as well as Social Change and Continuity for Grade 7, and Causes & Consequences of the First World War and the French Revolution for Grade 8.

I also was obliged to create and tailor the course textbooks due to the censorship laws in China from September 2020, which was a challenge as it limited the range on what topics were allowed to be taught.]]> 2023-01-17 11:22:54 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446687686 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446690484 As part of creativity week, I led a workshop on arts and crafts and teaching students how to create and paint shields and incorporate designs, linking this workshop with our unit on the Romans which Grades 6 and 7 had done.]]> 2023-01-17 11:25:17 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446690484 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446690915 2023-01-17 11:25:40 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446690915 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446691787 Despite the challenges of the pandemic in 2020, I was able to help our Grade 6 students explore 'Why the Roman Army was so powerful?' by looking at formations and collaborating to follow instructions. We salvaged some cardboard and plastic straps to form shields so as to give the students some idea of the advantages and purposes of the different formations used in the Roman Army.]]> 2023-01-17 11:26:31 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446691787 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446815631 My first homeroom group was 6LS, I watched them grow over three years and learned to know them for their personalities, interests and how they interacted with each other both in and outside the classroom. It was a lot of responsibility: managing behaviour, their emotional wellbeing, supervising and chaperoning them during their fieldtrip in Grade 7, and watching them flourish during sporting competitions.]]> 2023-01-17 13:22:19 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446815631 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446816451 For our unit on the Middle Ages, I dressed up as a medieval knight to role-play and have my Gr.6 students interview me about what a knight did, how they lived and why do we stand out in romantic fiction.]]> 2023-01-17 13:22:49 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446816451 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446952018 The strategies I employ for classroom management involve demonstrating the attitudes and behaviour expected by modelling those values: I am always courteous, respectful, fair, and consistent. I help establish a safe learning environment through a seating plan, clearly communicated rules of behaviour and positive reinforcement through visual displays, assigning student roles and establishing a familiar routine at the start and end of the day. ]]> 2023-01-17 14:50:47 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2446952018 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448318615 My background in international education and the IB, has endowed me with the values of collaborative learning, empathy, appreciation of multi-cultural perspectives and a dedication for lifelong learning. My personal approach to teaching history is focusing on historical thinking skills: using sources, exploring interpretations, and developing student’s critical thinking skills through active learning. An additional value I hold is reflection: I apply it in my teaching by enabling students to assess their own progress and that of their peers. By enabling students to assess for themselves and to critically engage with the material they can learn not just their strengths but also how to overcome challenges through regular and constructive feedback. Collaborative learning with peer-checking, modelling answers and using visual aids are additional strategies I use.

I am a flexible person who believes in being change, listening to others perspectives and experiences, giving others a fair chance to improve and to continuously learn to improve my teaching style and knowledge in inquiry-based learning and meeting the needs of my students in my subject.]]> 2023-01-18 13:24:27 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448318615 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448325822 I accommodate for the needs of my EAL and SEN learners through “buddy up” students in order to support them and check their learning through collaborative teamwork. I use model answers and a writing frame to guide them in their writing as well as clozed-procedures with word gaps that allow them to feel confident in making connections and formulating their answers.]]> 2023-01-18 13:29:47 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448325822 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448339206 In Grades 7 and 8 we use iPads to give students opportunities to use ICT for their learning - research skills as well as communication skills - to be able to synthesize information, interpret it and explore different historical perspectives from different sources (this is often challenging as much of the internet is censored but we make do with approved education sites such as History.com, Kids Britannica and Museum websites).]]> 2023-01-18 13:40:47 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448339206 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448355346 Finding my style of teaching took time to develop from my previous experience in Germany. Teaching middle school gave me a lot of joy as students were always energetic, curious and very active - I realized very quickly how the energy one puts into their teaching into their lessons, behaviour and body language can be felt by students. My style of teaching is being active - using kinaesthetic learning moments such as a carrousell to explore what the volcanic disaster of Pompeii tells us about what life in Rome was like, using sort-cards to evaluate the significance of social changes during Industrial Revolution; or using group work to analyse cartoons to analyse the consequences of the First World War.]]> 2023-01-18 13:52:33 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448355346 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448359538 2023-01-18 13:55:27 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448359538 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448363324 Gr.6 Students in groups going around in an open-gallery style lesson to collect and synthesize information to analyse what life in ancient Rome was like.]]> 2023-01-18 13:58:05 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448363324 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448372033 2023-01-18 14:04:21 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448372033 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448497513 I had the opportunity to lead an assembly to promote awareness of the diversity of our school community on our campus and how our School Ethos guided us in how we interacted with each other (Creative, Caring, Communicate, Calm). In the assembly I used the characters from Roald Dahl's books to give the students examples of characteristics they could connect with the school ethos. We also used some of the stories to use as examples on how different people interact with each other and may have different perspectives to our own about the world around us.]]> 2023-01-18 15:21:05 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448497513 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448531228 2023-01-18 15:42:05 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448531228 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448557611 Making connections for our students is one way I have been able to communicate important themes and global issues by finding examples that are relevant to them. During Holocaust Memorial Day I chose to promote humanitarianism (a philosophy of action and reflection I grew up with in Geneva) to highlight how ordinary people can help those in need. For many of our students, little did they know that Shanghai played a significant role in helping Jewish Refugees escape the Holocaust. By making this connection with a serious topic, I was able to help make the theme relevant to our students for them to reflect upon.]]> 2023-01-18 15:59:15 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448557611 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448567931 2023-01-18 16:05:57 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448567931 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448569953 2023-01-18 16:07:19 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448569953 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448623120 2023-01-18 16:38:30 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448623120 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448675976 2023-01-18 17:11:45 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448675976 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448683008 In September 2021, I took over managing and training the Touch Rugby Extra-curricular activity. It was a learning opportunity to coach students and I had amazing support from the school's athletics director on how to build a P.E. lesson so it became a bit of a cross-curricular learning opportunity.]]> 2023-01-18 17:16:15 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448683008 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448689003 I have met some amazing colleagues who have made my time in Shanghai an enjoyable experience - many of them have helped me to grow as a teacher and as a person and I always look forward to those moments where we get to dress up during school events to contribute to the community spirit.]]> 2023-01-18 17:20:13 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448689003 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448700803 The biggest challenge to my time in China was the Zero-Covid policies between 2020 to 2023. This saw China go through strict lockdowns, severe travel restrictions and border closures, schools closed at short notice and months of online learning that was frequently disruptive to our students. 

Everyone dealt with the restrictions and the unpredictability of the policies with patience and resilience, but there were incredibly tough moments during the March-June lockdown in Shanghai 2022 where members of our school community suffered emotionally and mentally. We made sure to keep in touch with each other and to offer emotional support during the long months of confinement.

Being unable to return to Europe for over three years was difficult as I could not see my family - an experience shared by millions around the world. However, I found solace and support from my community and teaching friends in the city. It is with renewed hope that the disruption to learning and school life in the last 18 months are now behind us.]]> 2023-01-18 17:28:23 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448700803 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448754443 What I love about teaching in international schools is the people you meet, work with and have fun with outside of school. We are all educators, professionals but also we bring with us our talents, personalities and perspectives that enriches our community. As international teachers, we all come from various backgrounds and bring with us a wealth of experiences to share and are caring of each other.]]> 2023-01-18 18:04:00 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448754443 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448760642 2023-01-18 18:08:21 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448760642 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448766736 We have so many talented students who give incredible music performances and enrich the the culture of the school.]]> 2023-01-18 18:12:45 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2448766736 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2449559351 2023-01-19 09:54:19 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2449559351 lucspettel https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2472484768 2023-02-07 21:13:11 UTC https://padlet.com/lucspettel/4oohnkszwq6camow/wish/2472484768