Development of teachers and students are two cardinal ends Shanghai High School International Division pursues. On the 23rd and 24th of December, 2020, the high school of SHSID brought back its great tradition of the two-day Professional Development program, delivering enthusiasm to the cold winter.

“Is using my own previous work plagiarizing?” “Do I need to cite the density of water that we all know?” “In a group project, how do I list the contribution from different group members?” Academic integrity is the fundamental requirement to all students across all disciplines; however, sometimes plagiarism can be unintentional as a student fails to understand and follow the guidelines of what should be cited and how to incorporate ideas and words from others in a proper way. On December 23rd, a group of head teachers in different subjects first discussed the current academic integrity guidelines in the high school and how to ensure the guidelines are followed through various courses and activities. Then the discussion was further divided into different subjects with more teachers participating, to allow more specific course and activity designs in each area to teach student to cite properly and avoid plagiarism. After the thorough discussion, the teachers have reached agreement on some ambiguous issues and will provide more complete guidance and formal training over the future courses.

During the following teaching and research activities, teachers discussed and designed diversified activities that fit the needs of individual subject. After 5 hours of active participation from the teachers, from the exploration of how to integrate Chinese culture in daily maths and physics teaching, to the comprehensive comparison between the new version of the Chinese high school biology, chemistry course syllabus and other international academic curriculum ones, from the cultural literacy-oriented syllabus revision conducted in the high school Chinese group, to the hybrid learning program shared by the high school social science group, nearly 10 high school teaching groups deeply discussed about the syllabus revision plan, the implement of interdisciplinary project-based learning course and innovative teaching practice. Every group summarized its accomplishment, obstacles and further implementation of this semester and therefore is ready for a better next semester.

On the morning of December 24th in the XMT annex auditorium, three teachers shared what they have experienced and learned so far in this semester, each from the perspective of the head of grade 9, a homeroom teacher, and a teacher from the hybrid learning program. Ms. Gu is an experienced Junior and Senior homeroom teacher who spent this semester with freshmen. She described the childish yet lovely and motivated freshman with vivid examples and shared what she has done to help students position themselves, set goals and grow up. Ms. Liu showed her dual side as a rational physics teacher and an empathetic homeroom teacher, so as an artistic stage director. Ms. Yang shared her stories on supporting personal growth of each student and coping with their changes in class through careful observation and continuous communication. Not just these three, there are many more teachers in SHSID who not only specialized in their professional field, but also developed and continued to pursue a wide range of interest and abilities. They are self-driven and willing to work outside their comfort zones as lifetime learners which set themselves as role models for the students.

Which seminar would you choose? “Discover Music”, “The Legal Thinking and the Nature of the Law in the News” or “A Close Review of Eileen Chang”? On December 24th, the school offered three seminars at teacher’s choice. In “Discover Music”, Mr. Wu took the teachers to experience the abundant music scenes in Shanghai and help them discover and enjoy music in daily life. In “The Legal Thinking and the Nature of the Law in the News”, Mr. Zuo related legal cases from the recent news, provided legal explanation and inspired deeper thinking of the justice. In “A Close Review of Eileen Chang”, Ms. Sun told the stories of the ups and downs of Eileen Chang, along with her pieces of work to help understand the literary creativity and grace of the legendary female writer.

To provide professional support of student development and mental health, the high school also set college counseling office, teacher advisors office and other supporting offices to help students from all perspectives, besides the care from the trivial but significant work of their homeroom teachers. On December 24th, different offices sat together with homeroom teachers for more personalized advising on college counseling and career development based on the students’ most up-to-date achievements and profile across the campus.

After two days of busy and fulfilled activities of professional development, the teachers will continue to strive for better support to the students and are ready for the upcoming final weeks in this semester.

（Written byTeaching Affairs Center of High School Pictures by Teaching Affairs Center of High School）