Sarah Juta works in Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong as a DUCKS EAL teacher, Dual Language Coordinator and DUCKS EAL Coordinator. She has taught for 17 years from Toddlers through to Year 6 as a class teacher and EAL teacher in England, Australia and Shanghai. Throughout her career she has never worked in a monolingual teaching environment. She is passionate about language development and holds a Masters of Applied Linguistics.

Blessy Monica is from Chennai, South India and is a Grade 2 Homeroom Teacher at ISNS. She holds a Bachelors’ degree in education K- 2 from the New Zealand Tertiary college and international teaching certification K-12 from the University of Cambridge. Her favorite subject is Science hence she pursued her Bachelors’ and Masters’ in Plant Biotechnology, among other qualifications. She has worked in International schools in India, The Republic of Georgia, Japan and now China for over 11 years. She is also a certified independent Concept based curriculum presenter and trainer. Blessy loves to share her knowledge on conceptual understanding and inquiry-based teaching and learning.

Hannah Fernweh is a life-long learner from Western New York State in the U.S. with degrees in elementary, special, bilingual, and TESOL education. She originally worked in Rochester, NY for 7 years as a bilingual homeroom, special education, and EAL teacher. In 2017, she and her husband decided to embrace a new culture together in Shenzhen, China. Hannah loves to share her passion for learning and diversity with all of the children and adults she works with as the literacy coordinator and director of Student Support Services at ISNS.

Addie is from Detroit, Michigan and received her undergraduate degree in teaching with an emphasis in social sciences from Eastern Kentucky University. She developed a passion for teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL), while working in adult education and literacy. Addie holds a master’s degree in Teaching, with a focus English as a Second Language (TESOL) from Western Governor’s University in Utah. She has taught English Language courses, was a Director of an ESL/EAL program and she is now the IB Director that oversees teaching and learning at the International School of Nanshan Shenzhen.

Michael Hagen has been a classroom teacher for 15 years, serving as a primary grade classroom teacher in the United States, and a secondary social studies teacher in Thailand. While completing an M.A. in Second Language Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 2016-2018, Michael became interested in finding ways for classroom teachers to involve themselves more in research projects connected with language acquisition. He believes that our overall understanding of how language learners function in classroom settings would be greatly expanded by having teachers contribute their own understandings of what is occurring within classrooms around the world and would extend our overall data pool beyond the university arena.

I am Mariana Olivares from Caracas, Venezuela. I gained my Early Childhood Education degree in 2007 and have spent the last eight years living abroad in both the USA and China. I have worked in the education field for more than eight years. I enjoy being around kids very much and am very passionate about making the world a better place. I love my dogs and enjoy going for long walks. I am passionate about Play based learning in a multicultural setting.

I am Parker Watson from Kansas in the United States. I studied at the University of Kansas and obtained my degree in Physical and Health Education. I left Kuwait after three years to come to Shanghai and join the WISS community. I have many hobbies most of which involve being outdoors or doing something sporty. I enjoy traveling to new countries and exploring everything I can offer both culturally and geographically. I love teaching physical education, watching the students self-discover and achieve things they never thought they could is one of my biggest teaching thrills.