Mr Dave McMaster, CDNIS Head of School

Dave McMaster, Head of School at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS) has been extremely busy, as the school recently hosted 70 primary and secondary school leaders from China, Southeast Asia and his own school in Hong Kong, at an East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS) workshop. It was the first time that CDNIS has had the privilege of playing host to department heads, school administrators and coordinators from international schools in Asia.  The EARCOS workshop focused on examining and highlighting excellence in instruction and leadership in education.

“This conference ensured that we provided teachers and administrators with another means of continuing professional growth by meeting their peers from all over the region,” McMaster said. “We are always pleased to welcome educators throughout the region to our school as we are so proud of our facilities and our programmes. It helps to enhance our reputation, provides professional growth opportunities for our teachers, and builds a network of teachers around the region to share best practice and learn from each other.”

The conference was important in several ways to CDNIS as it brought in fresh ideas and facilitated debates challenging conventional thought and pedagogy. The conference participants included teachers from a wide variety of subject areas and backgrounds.

“Year of Information Literacy”
In addition to hosting the EARCOS conference, enlarging its pool of experienced teachers and offering professional growth, McMaster said that the school has embarked on a “Year of Information Literacy,” (IL) an initiative that includes all CDNIS parents, students, teachers, classroom assistants and administrators. The “Learning and Teaching Technology” segment offers opportunities to enhance the process and depth with which students acquire, share and demonstrate knowledge.

McMaster describes this IL initiative as more than just introducing the use of information technology in the classroom. Although the goal is to have a complete one-to-one laptop programme in place soon to encourage teachers and students to become better teachers and learners, another goal is teaching students and teachers not only how to access information but also how to judge the quality of the information. The overall objective is to help everyone think creatively and learn differently. At the moment, all students in Grades 5-10 are actively involved in the school’s one-to-one laptop programme.

“It also includes ongoing discussion, debate and research on how to use the hardware and software to take us to a new level,” McMaster explained. “Technology has had the single most important impact on education in the last century. It allows us to make education more effective and more efficient. Here, the initiative is curriculum-driven, forcing teachers to challenge traditional thought, and the way in which they assess and monitor their students’ progress.

“I believe that our learning and teaching technology journey will force all of us, as educators, to reevaluate how we teach and how we learn. It will give us the confidence and competence to challenge traditional pedagogical approaches in an effort to better prepare our students, who are part of Generation Y, to lead in a different world than the one we know now. Our students need the skills and competencies to be globally minded in a time that is uncertain, and it is essential that they are information-literate and able to use these technological skills to achieve their goals and to realise their dreams,” he added.

Technological proficiency is essential for the next generation to be prepared with the skills and attitudes necessary for the 22nd century. “We can’t depend on the current leadership skill set. We must all change and adapt within the next few decades,” McMaster asserted. “We need to be aware what our impact will be on our students once they leave school. The economic situation and global instability of the present may change everything in the future and our students have to be ready.”

In order to fill that tall order, the school’s mission statement was changed two years ago and the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum adopted. McMaster said the school’s mission “to develop responsible global citizens and leaders through academic excellence” applies to everything the students and teachers at CDNIS do, inside and outside the classroom, in all subject areas and after-school activities. “At the forefront of everything we do is this aim. We strive to provide a well-rounded education so that our students become the leaders of tomorrow, able to succeed in the society of the future and help build a better, globally focused and peaceful world.”

- Bonnie E Engel

PHILOSOPHY
The Canadian International School strives to develop responsible global citizens and leaders through academic excellence. It accomplishes this goal by involving teachers, students, parents, alumni and administrative staff to participate in all the school’s initiatives to improve the quality and monitoring of education. In addition, the school pays particular attention to the professional and technical skill development of its teachers and students in order for them to utilise information technology to become better teachers and learners. In addition to academic excellence, the school emphasizes service to the community

FAST FACTS
• CDNIS was established in 1991, and has evolved from a small campus of 81 students to a school with over 1700 students representing 37 different nationalities today
• Students from Pre-Reception to Grade 12 are supported by over 200 highly qualified educators and support staff within a state-of-the-art campus overlooking the Hong Kong hills and scenic Aberdeen waterfront
• As a non-profit organisation, all the school’s funds are reinvested to continually upgrade and improve our facilities and learning resources
• In May 2008, CDNIS unveiled its latest addition, the Leo Lee Arts Centre, a HK$100 million world-class arts complex comprising a 604-seat auditorium and eight multi-purpose art, drama and music rooms
• The school has a proven record of providing a balanced curriculum with excellent opportunities in academic studies, the arts, physical education and Chinese studies