It’s now term three at Nanmo and we are welcoming a new teacher to our school. I was able to sit down and ask Mr. Forbes a few questions.
Q: Thank you for taking time to help me do this interview today. So, let’s start with a brief introduction for those who don’t know who you are; for example, where are you from and what are you teaching here?
A: So, my name is Richard Forbes and I’m from British Columbia in Canada; my hometown is Vancouver. I’ve been living in Shanghai for about 8 years, and my very first school that I worked with in Shanghai is actually Nanmo 8 years ago. I worked in the Lingling Campus and I was invited back to work for this semester when I teach Chemistry 11, Science 10 and Math 10.
Q: Since you have come to Nanmo twice, what’s the reason for coming here? What made you return?
A: What makes me come to Nanmo? The reasons I come to Nanmo：Number 1 is the curriculum; it’s all British Columbia curriculum–its information, its course content that I am very familiar with; I grew up as a student and I learned the same thing as a student; I did my certification in BC as a teacher, so its all very common and familiar for me. That’s number one. Number two is that I like the professional environment and animal. I think both the teachers and the students they take what they do very seriously. They show up to work the professionals, the facilities look professional the uniforms the students, the expectations are all quite high level of expectations. And then I say the last big reason is because of the location. I like the location that Nanmo because it’s right in the middle of Shanghai the city. And there’s a lot of other great schools in Shanghai but they’re very far away; and from a lifestyle standpoint, when school finishes, we all have a life. And my life is in the French concession; the main part of the city and I love the Nanmo right here and as we know lives.
Q: Next question. How did you become a teacher?
A: I knew I wanted to be a teacher I was about halfway through university. And I was coaching, at the time I was asked coach baseball players. I grew up playing baseball and I was asked to teach and coach little players how to play baseball. At the time I didn’t know what I wanted to be wanted to be a police officer. I want to be a psychologist… I didn’t know what I want to be for my career. And then after teaching the baseball players and working with kids, I love teaching them how to play the sport. I love teaching the new skill; I love helping them understand the skills. And then when it came time to decide my career, you know what, I love so much coaching that I want to be a teacher. So that’s really where I got the love for teaching. And then once I decided that I realized that my grandma was a teacher; my mother was a teacher; my great grandmother’s culture so a lot of our family there was many teachers in our family. So I think that some of it might be my blood.
Q: What are you trying to achieve with your students this year?
A: I’m trying to achieve independence. I want them to learn independently by themselves and not feel like they rely on their teacher for the answers for help. That’s number one. My goal is to tell the students what information can do for them in the world, outside the classroom, and for them to create products and information and content that is useful for other people besides just inside the classroom, you know, we did the video lessons, the whole world can be those I love. I love creating something like that. I want them to take their learning and apply it to real world situations that are meaningful and can benefit and I also want the students to have a fun, amazing of happy, enjoyable, exciting time where they’re awake, they’re not falling asleep, they’re excited by the class.
Q: So you said that you were once at Nanmo eight years before, right? Where else did you teach?
A: Before Nanmo, I taught in Beijing at a school called Sino-Canada. And then after that I taught in a school in the Caribbean in an island called Trinidad and Tobago, and that was for Ontario education like Toronto, Ontario. Then I went to Nanmo, and then after Nanmo I went to Luwan; it is also part of this CINEC education and after CINEC, I went to Shanghai Community International School, which is like American type of school with many children from all over the world, like America, Germany, Sweden, Korea, that sort of thing. And then after that, I stopped teaching and I just ran a business online, both coaching and advising entrepreneurs as well as how to do social media marketing on Facebook and Instagram and then I came back to Nanmo.
Q: This is our final question. Do you have any special thoughts on Nanmo students? And what’s their average performance? How do they work? How do they study?
A: My thoughts on Nanmo students is, I think that they’re really good at being focused, is that whatever we say we’re doing for an activity, they do it. So, they’re very focused, they’re very respectful of their teachers. If the teacher says, speak English, they’re speaking English; real talk, they’re doing real talk; if they’re doing a group activity, when they discuss–they do that. So, I think as a student, all of those characteristics that are very, very strong, I think an area for improvement can be in their ability to take initiative and leadership and create something that’s have their own idea.
Author: Tom Yang