Dan Bulman is a learning support teacher at the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) and the proud father of one of this year’s Jingkids World of Work interns, Sarah B. He has lived in China for 5 years and before that, took on teaching roles in Indonesia, Italy, Canada, and others.

Having worked in many different countries, could you tell us about one that holds special significance for you?

I spent eight years teaching in three different elementary schools in Indonesia. I loved my time there because Indonesians are very warm and welcoming and friendly (when they are not driving!).  It is such a beautiful and rich country with an amazing culture. The schools I taught in were not great, but the students were always interesting and fun to work with. I also met my wife in Indonesia, so my heart has a special place for that country.

What is the biggest difference between WAB and the other schools you’ve worked at?

I have never been to a school that welcomes and treats Learning Support students with respect as much as WAB does. We try to value everyone’s differences and respect their strengths and weaknesses. This is also the best school I have worked in for helping students on their journey to self-discovery. Are we perfect? Definitely not. But we deal with problems head on and we strive to be the best school we can. That is what makes WAB special for me.

What is the hardest part of teaching for you?

Paperwork, meetings, report cards, meetings, and meetings are the hard part of teaching. Working with students is never really a pain.

What was the most rewarding experience at work?

The most rewarding experiences for me as a teacher have come when I have been able to help a student feel accepted and respected. So many students have so much trauma in their lives and don’t easily trust adults. When I have been able to break through the barriers they set up and earn their trust, I feel so happy.

I heard that you’ve taught a princess before. Can you tell us more?

I taught the Princess of Duino in northern Italy for one year (I was her PHE teacher). She was the most humble and friendly student and her mother volunteered at school and was incredibly friendly.  Not only did they live in a real castle, but every year when the princess had a birthday, she invited her classmates and all the teachers to the castle for the party.  She was one classy and wonderful princess!

What advice do you have for aspiring teachers?

Teachers teach students about life, not just academic subjects. The most important part of being a good teacher is developing a strong and secure relationship with your students. When students trust and respect their teacher, they become better risk-takers and thrive in class.  So I would tell future teachers to focus on building strong relationships with their students and that will allow students to take off and do wonderful things!

Images: Sarah B

China announced new 10 environmental guides to action on World Environmental Day on Monday. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly announced a newly revised Code of Environmental Action with four other national ministries and agencies.

The newly revised Code of Conduct includes ecological environmental management, conservation of energy and resources, green consumption practices, low-carbon transportation, waste screening, pollution reduction, natural environmental protection, environmental supervision, and beautiful China construction.

According to an interview by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the new regulation aims to provide clearer guidelines to encourage the public to participate in ecological environmental protection actions. The code suggests that not only one-dimensional environmental problems but also social environmental problems that the public is concerned about, and that the air conditio ner temperature limit before the revision should be set to 26 degrees in summer and 20 degrees in winter. Through these realistic amendments, China has successfully increased people’s access to the environmental protection code of conduct.

According to the revised Code of Conduct, the four environmental actions you can do in your daily life are:

• Consider the ecological environment. Learn various knowledge and technologies such as environmental pollution management, biodiversity protection, and climate change response.
• Sorting out the garbage before throwing it away. Unlike other countries, there are four types of garbage in China: hazardous waste, food waste, recyclable waste, and other waste.
• Use walking, public transportation, or bicycle. Beijing is one of the cities with good public transportation facilities.
• Reduce energy consumption. Rather than using an elevator, use stairs, or select and use energy-efficient home appliances and water-saving devices.

Full text of translated revised environmental protection recommendation actions:

1. Care for the ecological environment. We will learn and master scientific knowledge and skills in environmental pollution control, biodiversity protection, and climate change management, enhance our own ecological civilization and firmly establish ecological values.

2. Conservation of energy resources. Refuse extravagance and waste, practice clean-plate action, save water and gas, choose energy-efficient appliances, and water-saving appliances, set air-conditioning temperature reasonably, take more stairs and take less elevator, and use paper on both sides.

3. Practice green consumption. Rational consumption, rational consumption, preferential choice of green low-carbon products, less use of disposable products, going out with their own shopping bags, water cups, idle items, or exchange donations.

4. Choose low-carbon travel. Priority should be given to walking, cycling, or public transportation, sharing more transportation, and family cars should be given priority to new energy vehicles or energy-efficient vehicles.

5. Separate dumping of refuse. Learn and master the knowledge of garbage separation and recycling, reduce garbage generation, separately throw hazardous garbage according to the mark, separate other garbage, not littering, littering.

6. Reducing pollution generation.No open burning garbage, less coal, more clean energy, less chemical detergent, no random dumping of sewage, rational use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, no ultra-thin agricultural film, avoid noise disturbance.

7. Conservation of natural ecology. Respect nature, adapt to nature, protect nature, protect the ecological environment by protecting eyes, actively participate in tree planting, refrain from buying and using rare wildlife products, and refuse to introduce, discard or release exotic species.

8. Participation in environmental protection practices. We will actively disseminate the idea of ecological civilization and strive to be ecological volunteers, starting from the side and daily life, to influence others to participate in ecological environmental protection practices.

9. Participation in environmental supervision. We will abide by laws and regulations on the ecological environment, fulfill our obligations to ecological environmental protection, and actively participate in and supervise ecological environmental protection.

10. Building a Beautiful China Together. Adhere to the simple and moderate, green and low-carbon, civilized and healthy living and working style, consciously be a model practitioner of ecological civilization concept, and build a beautiful home where people and nature coexist harmoniously.

Images: Pexels

Some new interns came from the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) to jingkids! Today, I will introduce one of the new interns, Sarah B. She is in Grade 10 and is currently taking a MYP curriculum. She first came to China following her father, who worked for WAB where in China. Five years later, she still lives in Beijing.

\Before she came to China, she thought the Chinese would have great antipathy toward foreigners, but after she came to China, she realized that the Chinese were very kind and polite.

Life in Beijing changed her life in many ways. The biggest change happened at her school. When she was in her native Canada, she attended public schools. While attending a public school, she prayed every morning and had no chance to meet an Asian student. However, after coming to China, she attends an international school and has been able to meet various students from various countries. In China, she has also been able to develop a new hobby of sewing clothes. Beijing has more access to fashion than Canada, which has made her more interested in clothes. It has also increased access to sewing by providing abundant opportunities and tools for sewing in schools.

Sarah says her future dream is to become a special education teacher, influenced by her father. She watched her dad help others sincerely as a teacher and thinks she wants to help many people, just like her dad. She says she will return to Canada to attend university after graduating from high school at WAB, to achieve her dream.

Images: Sarah B