Educators are the backbone of every school and Beijing’s international school community is no different. However, the expat community is also transient by nature, which means teachers come and go all the time. But every once in a while, we’re lucky to meet an educator with long-term vision who transcends traditional ideas about what education should be. This issue, we talk to two veteran Beijing educators, John McBryde and Caroline Chen, about how they wound up here and where education in China is headed in the future.
Maverick McBryde
John McBryde characterizes his history with China and Indonesia as a “love affair.” The Australian educator has been going back and forth between the two countries for over 27 years. A self-described “beach boy,” McBryde grew up north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast and never imagined he would one day live in some of the biggest cities in the world. For many, he needs no introduction. Currently Director of Beanstalk International Bilingual School (BIBS) and CEO of Beanstalk Education Group (BIBS), he also spent nine years at the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB). Notably, McBryde was director of WAB during the school’s early years and is acknowledged for his contribution to WAB’s unique architecture and interior design.
Humble Beginnings
“I taught for ten years and had no aspiration to be an administrator, but I did have a burning desire for multiculturalism and indigenous cultures. I was working in government schools and found out about this small island in the Great Barrier Reef called Ugar, all with indigenous island kids. I was told I could only go as a principal because all the teachers are indigenous. So I said, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’ It was a really significant influence in my life, as my training was during a time when there was a lot of alternative education and a period of shaking up the classic style of education. Schools without structure, schools with a much more flexible curriculum, without bells, and without the teacher at the front. It set me on a professional level that there’s something better and we should be striving for it. You’ve got to go with the system – you can’t go radical – but you should always be pushing the boundaries.”
Road to Beijing
“Just like I was drawn to be a teacher, I was drawn to international education. My first experience was a small city in Sumatra. I was there for five years, loved it, went back to Australia, and eventually to a new school in Jakarta. That’s when China called me. A friend who was at WAB in ‘98 called and said, ‘You need to be here, John.’ At the last minute I put in an application and next thing I knew, I was in Beijing. Beijing was a fairly gritty city back then, but over time I have fallen deeply in love with China.”
Yvette Ferrari 