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By Wei Yan, CELT

My name is Wei, and I am the newest Learning and Faculty Development Coordinator with CELT. When I was a child, I always wanted to become a teacher. The first real step towards my teaching dream was when I started my undergraduate in English Language Teaching in a small multicultural university in China. My passion for teaching then led me to pursue graduate degrees – first in South Korea, expanding my life-long passion for languages and culture, and then in Canada because of my heart for education. I thus have experience studying and working in multiple contexts and in different educational systems across the globe.

These experiences are reflected in my research during my graduate studies at Queen’s University. For my master’s research, I studied the determinants of international students’ academic success, with a focus on their language proficiency. For my PhD work, I studied students’ grades – the most important admission criteria for those who would like to further their education both within and across educational systems.

I have been an educator for more than 18 years. Most of my work experiences involve teaching, research, curriculum design and implementation, and educational administration at postsecondary institutions. I have taught English, Mandarin Chinese, and Korean as a foreign language to various age groups, and trained teacher candidates on practical teaching in China and how to work with English Language Learners in Canada. My recent work also involves using design-thinking for curriculum development and program evaluation and implementing evidence-based decision-making for quality assurance and accreditation.

I am excited to learn with TRU faculty and OLFMs in a Community of Practice during the fall and winter terms. It is my hope that each of us can increase our understanding of international students as a whole learner and better support TRU’s international students’ academic success. As a community of practice, together we will learn, reflect, and refine our practices. If you are interested, you can sign up for the community through the following link: Link to Community of Practice.