The ChineseStaffroom.
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How we have become and stay experts
Teaching Chinese is a moving target. Every week there is new thinking that our team either creates or reviews. We work as a team, pulling expertise from a broad network that is always expanding to improve what we do and who we work with. We teach and we reflect. We research and provide consultancy.
We are passionate about the need for the West to 'get' China both culturally and linguistically. Know the language, know the people. Building a more harmonious socio-economic future has to involve working with the Chinese people. We are always looking out, as a team of experts, to new horizons.
Teaching Chinese to children cannot be left to chance. It needs people that are passionate about it and dedicated to it in a way that is intelligent. Never happy with the status quo and so very informed about language learning and China's place in the world. We understand China. Understanding China is fundamental to what we do.
Our consultancy
Because of our passion for becoming and remaining the experts, more and more we receive requests to help others in the field of teaching Mandarin Chinese. Our work includes:
- Advising whoever asks on how best to develop the teaching and learning of Chinese and China to children
- Editing resources for children learning Mandarin Chinese
- Partnering with established providers of language learning resources and events who are unfamiliar with Mandarin Chinese
- Teacher training/teacher CPD
- Curriculum development
- Views on pedagogy from inquiry based learning to current affairs driving personalised learning
- Developing Schemes of Work for new exams and qualifications
Read on for details of our directors, educational experts, partners and, last but not least, teachers.
Our Team
We would like to hear from you. Whether you have a resource that you want us to review, a policy or strategy that needs developing, a child that needs teaching, are a teacher seeking development, a piece of academic research that needs dissemination contact us; we have stimulating conversations with everyone who is interested in children learning Mandarin Chinese.
Jill Shepherd - Strategy Director
Jill's interests revolve around joining up the people who are knowledgeable about children learning Chinese with those who have the power to make it happen. Leadership, change and making it happen within the world of children and families interested in China and Mandarin Chinese. We need people to work more with HanBan and more with government and more with innovative pedagogy that can then be picked off the shelf by any reflective teacher - we need to work harder to understand more. A consultant to the Training and Development Agency for Schools Jill's work on KS2 has won acclaim. We start with the basics of language being about sounds that carry cultural meaning. As an ex management consultant, informed strategic thinking drives Jill's work. In her spare time she teachers undergraduate and graduate students management. The new globalised world and its impact on the new generation intrigues and motivates her.
Email: jill@bamboolearning.co.uk
Pete Goodman – Operations Director and Customer Services
Pete makes everything behind the leadership that is our approach to children learning Mandarin Chinese. He works across the 3 websites of Bamboo Learning, Mandarama and The Chinese Staffroom. Nothing is ever too much. We deliver to our customers whether they are parents,teachers or policy makers. If we do make mistakes, we never make them again. Pete's experience in North America taught him what good customer service is about.
Email: pete@bamboolearning.co.uk
James Trapp - Senior Consultant
James' is a great example of the type of person we love to work with. He works collaboratively, bringing ideas, passion, knowledge and dedication. He supports our vision of moving away from stereotypical views of China. He knows what it means to create age appropriate material for children learning Chinese whilst staying away from cliches. He understands China. He is professional and dedicated.
Oliver Walker - Communications Director
Olly is responsible for all things to do with communication through technology, design and understanding his audience. He lives on the West Coast of Canada so is up to date on anything technology oriented without which communication and learning cannot happen. He keeps us young.
A Drupal expert, Olly is well networked with other techies. Watch him here http://www.drupalove.com/drupal-video/remembering-user-4-drupal-enhancem...
Email: olly@bamboolearning.co.uk
Our Junior Consultants
We have a number of junior consultants, all of whom are choosen to work at this elevated level because of their competencies in communication, understanding China and Chinese as well as leading edge thinking in policy development and delivery around Chinese education for young people. They are professional in how they represent our company and how they represent the sector of children and young people learning Chinese and learning about China. They are constantly seeking to remain updated and informed of the broader globalisation trends that are driving the need for the new generation of young people to build socio-economic and political bridges with China. Many are native Chinese and bi-cultural. These people have the ability to drive the agenda that develops and promote Chinese culture, language and current affairs around children and young people. They do so by being part of that agenda.
Our Partners
We partner with many organizations, government, school based, commerical publishers, independent language experts. We work together to create something better than we could working alone. We share our expertise and bounce ideas around between our organizations. It works. Most partners are language specialists who need our expertise in Mandarin Chinese. They want to co-market and co-develop Mandarin Chinese with us.
Our Experts
To remain experts we need to stay abreast of pedagogy. We work with independent experts in pedagogy and learning. It is only through involving people even more specialist than us that we remain on top of our field.
Dr Jane Medwell - Institute of Education, University of Warwick
Jane is working with us as our Mentor on a Linked Up project where we are looking at how children express Knowledge about Language (KAL) and Language Learning Stratgies (LLS) when learning Chinese. The outcomes of this work are a better understaning of KAL and LLS and their links to Chinese learning as well as to general literacy. We hope to to involve Jane in further consulting work.
http://www.linksintolanguages.ac.uk/linkedup
Sue Gainsford - Education Consultant
Sue works every day with children. It is her job to remain ahead of the latest thinking in how children progress with language. She is well qualified with a B.Ed. and a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology. Her combination of real teaching and advisory role, make her a key player in our team.
Mandarin expertise
We have experienced teachers who go beyond teaching. They contribute to our views on pedagogy, the development of our organization and enter in to debate with us on what we are doing and why. We respect their views. We always stay in touch with anyone who works for us, even if they move on to a full time job in a school teaching Mandarin Chinese. We respect their knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, they respect us for respecting them.