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Changyi "Charlie" Pei
"I love to play badminton," says Changyi Pei of China,
WIDE World online coach for Teaching
for Understanding 1 and this month's Ambassador of Learning.
"That's why I seldom visit hospitals!"
In addition to the health benefits, we suspect that Mr.
Pei's love of badminton is also due to the game's resemblance
to another of his passions: classroom teaching, of course!
In the same way conscientious teachers perpetually strategize
about which instructional moves will prove most effective
with students, badminton players are continually challenged
to determine which strokes should be applied in each unique
playing situation, whether a carefully positioned and reliable
"net return," a spontaneous and somewhat unpredictable "smash,"
or something in between.
"Mr. Pei is very passionate about lesson planning and
trying out new pedagogies whenever he sees an opportunity
to make his teaching more effective," reports one of his
colleagues. Naturally, we were eager to hear what Mr. Pei
thinks of the Teaching for Understanding Framework (TfU)
as a tool to help educators focus their strategic classroom
efforts.
"I first learned about the framework in the fall of 2005
when the Shanghai Education Commission recommended TFU,"
he explains, referring to an ongoing collaborative effort
between WIDE World and the Shanghai Distance Education Group
"When I took the online course in 2006 and was coached by
Kristina Kostopoulos, I realized that TFU is the solution
to many of my problems in my teaching career."
While the value of TfU was immediately apparent to Mr.
Pei, his students reacted with skepticism at first.
"When he first tried TfU in his classroom, some of his
students were doubtful and worried that he was no longer
preparing them to take 'the tests' -- but it ended up that
the students did well on the tests," recalls Qin Jiang,
WIDE World's China Project & International Accounts
Manager. "After these students went to college, they came
back to see Mr. Pei and they expressed how grateful they
were for what he had taught them, specifically the critical
thinking and problem solving skills that have continued
to develop and serve them well at college."
Mr. Pei is known affectionately as "Charlie" by his WIDE
World online learners, all of whom steadily applaud the
his coaching efforts. Indeed, this past semester, 100% of
the final course respondents in his study group agreed that
their coach was "very important" to their course experience,
and 100% agreed that their coach was either "helpful" or
"extremely helpful" throughout the term.
Mr. Pei's on-site reputation in China is equal to his
online reputation. (Some may characterize him as a teaching
celebrity among his colleagues in China!) In fact, in 2004,
the local government established a teacher training center
known as the "Shanghai Pudong New Area Pei Changyi English
Teachers Training Base."
"I often tell the teachers in my base about my experience
with TFU and am always thinking about getting more people
involved in TFU practices," he says enthusiastically of
the role that TfU has come to play in his teacher training
repertoire. "The best part is designing a lesson with my
colleagues using the format of TFU and discussing the gains
and losses afterwards."
When Mr. Pei isn't sweeping his colleagues off their
feet, his wife, Jane, an avid dancer, is busy sweeping him
off his! Mr. and Mrs. Pei have much in common, including
a commitment to the teaching profession (she's a long-time
English teacher) and deep pride in their two grown children,
William, who is just beginning his career as an engineer,
and Lucy, who is currently completing a journalism degree
at Fudan University, one of the best in Shanghai.
Learn
more about our Teaching for Understanding courses!
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In
January of 2007, Chen Yuqing, the Minister of Education
for Jing'an, one of the most populated districts of Shanghai,
visited the Harvard Graduate school of Education and met
with the WIDE World team. The goal was to develop a plan
that would enable the Jing'an District to continue to thrive
as a forward thinking district, taking the lead in many
strategic initiatives that would have a significant impact
on the success of the Jing'an educational system. 
