According to global cybersecurity experts Cybersecurity Ventures, it is estimated that by 2021, there will be a staggering deficit of 3.5 million skilled workers in the cybersecurity field across the world. Two million of these vacancies will be in the Asia-Pacific region, while the rest will be split between North America and Europe. As the world becomes increasingly reliant on the use of smart gadgets, and with the introduction of AI in public spaces, one might think that it is easy for students to enter these fields. However, if this were true, the deficit number would be shrinking, instead of growing.

Christopher Murray

Shaping the future of this and other tech industries fall in part, to teachers like Christopher Murray. In his role as Educational Technological Coach at the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB), he tries to channel his students’ interests and fascination with all things computers into a tech career in a virtually unpredictable world. And virtual reality is something Murray would know a thing or two about as it has been integrated into the school’s curriculum on almost every level: to enhance literacy, language acquisition, science, health, and physical education, as well as being used in art, design, music, history, and geography.

Though Murray wasn’t always guaranteed to end up managing an XR classroom (XR being an umbrella term for virtual, mixed, and augmented reality) it was always clear to him he would end up in a classroom of some kind. His parents, both teachers, were a great source of inspiration to him as a child. As Murray explains, “My parents are dedicated and highly acclaimed educators who have always conveyed strong beliefs about students, learning, and teaching. My father was a superintendent of schools and later taught education courses at the University of New Brunswick. My mother was a teacher specializing in literacy.” And in their footsteps he followed, studying English Literature at St. Thomas University, pursuing his Masters in Education at the University of Calgary, before teaching everywhere from Canada to Japan, and now Beijing.

In the six years that Murray has lived and worked in Beijing, the world of education has transformed dramatically, with schools creating curricula aimed at maximizing students’ learning potential while also adding an element of fun. Murray’s teaching philosophy is in line with this ‘new-age’ way of thinking. “Learning is a fun, engaging, and holistic activity. All students can learn in the right context. I try to create engagements that allow students to develop important skills while doing or learning about something they enjoy. We are currently experiencing a revolution in education. Teaching has changed from delivering content to mentoring skill development and encouraging,” offers Murray.

As a small-town guy, Murray admits to still being blown away by Beijing’s mammoth size and its iconic sites. “Living and working in Beijing has been great. I’ve made friends from all over the world, seen historical sites, eaten more types of food than I knew existed, and taken up some hobbies I otherwise wouldn’t have. Coming from a small town of 60,000 people, Beijing seems to have everything that one could want.” However, like many Beijing residents, both short and long-term, there is still one thing that eludes him: the Mandarin language. “There are so many opportunities here. I just wish I spent more time studying Mandarin. It would be wonderful to be able to communicate with people more easily,” confesses Murray. Nevertheless, he soldiers on and encourages his students to do the same. In Murray’s book, the glass is always half-full. As he puts it, “I feel that my positive attitude, inclusionary outlook, and growth mindset have helped positively affect the lives and learning of students here at CISB. By showing them that mistakes are ok, we should include people that may be shy, and we can learn anything through research and practice, students start to adopt these same characteristics. Children are such great learners. I’ve seen some students internalize these ideas and make them part of who they are.”

And indeed, he himself stands as an example for his students of what applying themselves and a willingness to experiment and reinvent can achieve. “I was in the air cadets when I was a teenager. When I was 16 years old, I took a course where I got my glider pilot license. The following year, I began teaching weekly courses on the principles of flight and meteorology,” Murray reveals, adding that giving these classes awoke his passion for teaching. Both the present and the future for Murray look bright, as he continues to explore his fascination with innovation, technological integration, artificial intelligence, MakerSpace, and design thinking. “In the future, I would like to take on a director of innovation, technological integration coordinator, or other such roles. Technology, design thinking, and artificial intelligence will play an increasingly large role in education as we prepare students for futures which are increasingly challenging to predict.”

And it this unpredictable future which makes teachers like Murray and his philosophies on education that much more precious. As students increasingly look for guidance on how to set themselves apart in an authentic, responsible and sustainable way, Murray offers up a bit of wisdom to help parents aid their children along their path to self-actualization. “One of the biggest pieces of advice I would give is to talk to your children about what they’re learning. When I was a child, we’d always have dinner together as a family. At the table, my parents would ask me about what I was learning in school and discuss these topics with me. They would provide examples, insights, and questioning that helped me to develop my critical thinking and reasoning skills.” Murray’s simple advice is bound to make the virtually impossible a virtual reality.

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This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 June issue

Are you struggling with inspiring your child to learn? Perhaps school is stressful or boring, so your child has trouble motivating himself/herself to study, or perhaps he or she worries about failing and doesn’t have much confidence.

You’ve tried all you can but nothing seems to work and as you watch your child struggle, you start to feel helpless and lost. You might even be blaming yourself, thinking you could have done things differently.

First things first: you’re not alone. Being a parent is a very hard job, and the responsibility of bringing up a child weighs heavily on all of our shoulders. Many parents feel anxiety and guilt when it comes to how they are parenting, and I see a lot of provocative articles out there with headlines that stir up even more fear like “Avoid these 8 parenting mistakes that make your child stupider and more depressed” so know that I’m writing this article with caution, and it is not my intention to make you feel guilty or worry more.

Every child and family is different. I cannot tell you what you should do, and there are no straightforward answers to complex human challenges, but I hope that by sharing my perspective on how I inspire my child to learn, which is based on my own reflection, experience, and knowledge I might help you too. 

Here are my guiding principles when it comes to instilling a love of learning in my child:

Let Go of Expectations

Sometimes we’re tempted to measure how successful we are as parents based on which school our kids attend.  I graduated from Stanford, and my husband graduated from MIT. A few years ago, I asked myself, “Would I be ok if my kid doesn’t go to college?” I spent a couple of days pondering about this question and arrived at the conclusion that yes, I would feel ok.

But letting go of my expectations doesn’t mean that I will not help my child develop his potential, and it doesn’t mean he will be lazy and not work hard (on the contrary, kids work incredibly hard on things they’re passionate about.) Instead, letting go of expectations is about opening up my child to limitless opportunities and allowing him to go beyond my imagination.

Support My Child in Finding His Genuine Passion

My husband has interviewed dozens of students from China interested in applying to MIT. These candidates all have a long list of very impressive achievements, but when they talk about their interests, many lacked a genuine spark in their eyes. Yet admission officers are looking for students who show a genuine, deep passion and strong leadership skills.

Some people may think kids are too young to know what they want, but there are many practical ways to support our kids in developing their passion:

• Carefully observe what your child is interested in, and try to avoid making suggestions or critical judgments about what he is, or should be focusing on. (e.g. “That’s not interesting, do this part instead”)
• Creating blocks of free time so that your child has time to explore and delve into his or her interest. You may say, “My kid has so many extracurricular activities to do!”  but sometimes less is more, and having a focus is more important. If your child doesn’t have enough time, it’s important to review why (e.g. could it be a study strategy issue?).
• Ask your child to reflect on their learning experiences by asking questions like, “What did you do (differently) this time?” “If you could time travel, what advice would you go back and give yourself?”

Model Instead of Teach

I know a whole lot of study, time management, and self-management skills but my child probably won’t listen to me much, especially when he hits his teenage years. Kids may or may not listen but they’re great at imitating us. My strategy is to model these skills for my child by doing it myself.

• If I want to teach him learning skills, I voice my thinking processes out loud when I’m learning or solving a problem.
• If I want to encourage him to read more, I’ve got to be reading regularly myself. I share how a book has changed my perspective.
• If I hope that he develops good habits, I start new habits myself and share my progress and challenges.
• If I want him to manage his own time, I post my weekly schedule up on a wall or invite him to join me in my weekly planning session.

Manage My Own Anxiety

Stress is contagious: when we feel stressed, our kids get stressed too.

I definitely experience moments when frantic thoughts come out of nowhere (“He should be learning more Chinese,” or “He’s missing out on opportunities”), but practicing mindfulness has helped me a lot. When I’m feeling agitated, I take a pause and avoid communicating with my kid until I’m in a calmer state.

And finally, when I just can’t help myself and yell at him, which is quite often, I forgive myself afterward. At the end of the day, taking care of ourselves is the best thing we could do for our children.

Charlene Ng is an academic coach, dedicated to helping young people get better grades with less stress and have more fun so that they feel confident achieving anything they want. For families whose child is in middle school and up, and who are planning to or already studying abroad, she offers limited spots for a free 45 min online consultation. To get in touch with Charlene, scan the QR code below:

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Saying that this is a strange time for everyone is an understatement by now. In the education industry, schools, students, parents, and after school programs are scrambling to plan ahead, new COVID-19 cases are discovered and tentative re-opening dates once again postponed. So during this time of uncertainty, what’s the plan for your child’s academic future?

We took an informal poll in expat groups of parents with school-aged children to get a feel of how parents are reacting to the situation. The poll was conducted on WeChat via a personal account and distributed among a range of parenting and education groups. It had a total of 240 respondents (but if you missed out this time, don’t worry as we are conducting a second, even more thorough follow-up poll that you can take part in.)

The biggest take-away? Of those who participated 66% said that they intend to re-enroll their children in their current school despite COVID-19 uncertainties and concerns of whether their school may be able to return to normal next semester.

More than one in ten – 11% to be exact – are undecided as to re-enrollment. Some parents – 8% of respondents – are unhappy about how their school has handled the coronavirus crisis and are looking to switch schools. Another 8% have decided to homeschool their children for the next semester. The final 7% replied with ‘Other’ which could indicate they are considering leaving China entirely.

The next couple of months will be a critical time for schools to consolidate their existing enrollments, and potentially woo other families who are actively seeking to change schools, with the start of the fall semester traditionally beginning around mid to late-August. 

What are your thoughts on how your child’s school has coped with COVID-19 restrictions? Share your thoughts by scanning the QR code in WeChat below to take the poll.

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Photos: beijingkids, Unsplash

The beijingkids team started the Updates: The Latest in Beijing School News blog back in early February during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to give the Beijing expat community a go-to source for all its education-related news.

Over the past few months, we’ve covered news of schools officially making the announcement to switch to e-learning, SATs and IB exams being canceled, translated school re-opening regulations, provided overviews of education press conferences, shut down rumors surrounding the education community, and kept a running log of schools opening across all provinces in China.

Yesterday was supposed to be the return to campus date for students in Grades 1-3 in Beijing, making them the last grades to return to school. But due to the latest COVID-19 cases reported in Fengtai District on Friday, Jun 12, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission has made the decision to put an indefinite hold on plans to return for Grades 1-3 students as well as after school training programs. Students in the remaining grades can continue to attend classes on campus, but the decision is completely voluntary.

Beijingkids will continue to monitor all local news channels to provide you with the latest education and school-related information, but as students say goodbye to their friends and start their summer holiday plans, it’s time for our Updates: The Latest in Beijing School News blog to come to an end. Thank you for reading, and we hope that this resource has been valuable to you and your family throughout this difficult time.

Visit our website www.beijing-kids.com for the latest Beijing family-related news and resources and be sure to follow us on WeChat.

KEEP READING: The Latest in Beijing School News 

Photos: Unsplash