Job Overview
Requirements for Teaching Staff at Keystone Academy
Keystone Academy is a new model of education in China. It blends
distinctive traditions in eastern, western, and international education,
creating a "new world school" that is academically outstanding. At
Keystone, we embrace a world that is dynamic and ever-changing. We learn
from and we learn for this enterprising, global community.
Our Keystones Are
- bilingual immersion in Chinese and English;
- building character and community in a residential setting;
- promoting Chinese culture and identity in a world context.
We are re-imagining the global preparedness needed to enable young people
to become the leaders and trailblazers of their generation. Specifically,
Keystone Graduates Will Have
- Linguistic proficiency in both English and Chinese
- Academic mastery in specific subject areas, and an understanding of
connections and intersections across subjects
- Confidence and achievement in creative expression
- Ability to successfully navigate and excel in the changing
technological landscape
- Skill in inquiry, collaboration, and active learning
- Holistic personal development
- Intercultural communication and global competency
Keystone will prepare graduates for top universities around the world and in
China. Ultimately, a Keystone education will equip them to take their place
as significant participants on a global stage.
Requirements for teaching at Keystone
Minimum
- Love of teaching and learning
- Genuine interest in China, Chinese culture and language
- Bachelor degree in area assigned to teach
- Full teaching qualifications / credentials
- Three years teaching experience
- Willingness to participate in boarding duties (middle/upper school)
- Ability to offer a variety of high quality after-school activities
- Flexibility, open-mindedness, robust sense of humor
- Internationally minded
- Willing to work in collaboration with colleagues to establish a
positive school culture, and grow programs.
Confidence to allow a primary focus on student learning
- A respectful listener
- Up-to-date proficiency with information technology
Desirable
- International experience
- IPC experience (primary)
- MYP experience (middle)
- Bilingual immersion experience
- Language acquisition training
- Ability to lead curricular development and improvement in subject
area
- Willingness and ability to teach across divisions if needed
General expectations of living and working at Keystone Academy
We often say at Keystone that the Academy is about learning. This is true
for all the people who live and work in this educational community. It is
also a statement that goes far beyond the classroom. Learning at Keystone
takes place in our dormitories, our hallways, on the playing fields and dining
halls, and encompasses social and emotional goals as well as the purely
academic. We are as much about developing character, as expressed in
Keystone's statement of Shared Values, as we are about academic rigor.
Indeed, to suggest that there is a hard and fast distinction "between" areas of
head and heart is to attempt to make simple what we know to be a much
more complex and dynamic relationship. Consequently, in our work as
teachers and administrators at Keystone, we commit ourselves to a vision of
education that extends the experience of teaching and learning into all areas
of campus life: we all teach, we all contribute to the curriculum beyond the
classroom, we all embrace the residential program and the notion of living in
community within our areas of responsibility. We are not a community
that relentlessly counts "hours" or constructs exhaustive lists of
responsibilities. Keystone expects that its staff members respond
positively and with a high sense of professionalism to the needs of the
school, the students, the parents, and their colleagues.
While avoiding "bean counting," a broad outline of a teaching position
is possible. A full-time teacher at Keystone, regardless of division, is
expected to
- Teach 24 class meetings a week.
- Participate fully in curricular and other planning meetings,
collaborating with colleagues in the development of the
Academy's curriculum and programs.
- Offer one KAP (Keystone Activities Program) per KAP semester; KAPs meet
once a week for 1 hour; there are two KAP semesters of approx. 12 weeks
respectively each year.
- Communicate in a professional manner with families,
students, and colleagues.
- Engage in a variety of duties (e.g., Library supervision,
taking students to a movie on a Sunday afternoon, dorm
affiliate duty, lunch room supervision, recess duty, etc.)
necessary to the care of the students and the smooth
functioning of the institution.
- Actively participate in the professional growth program
of the school.
- Advise and mentor students in a formal way, either as a
Homeroom Teacher in the Primary or within the advising
system of the Upper School. Homeroom Teachers and
advisors act as the primary point of connection between
families and the school.
- For Upper School teachers at the discretion of the school, staff live in the campus
residences, providing pastoral care for students at the direction of the Dean of
Students and Dean of Residential Life.
- For teachers who live on corridor with students, Keystone provides a stipend to
recognize the additional responsibility that this position requires.
Residential Life at Keystone Academy
Central to the character development of Keystone students is their life on campus during the
high school years. Secondary school teachers have their own two or three bedroom
accommodation provided by the school, and
those apartments are located within the residence complex on a student
floor. "Dorm parents" make sure that students are well cared for and
thriving in the residence halls. Adults serve as role models and provide
genuine affirmation and guidance to the students. They also work to
cultivate a wholesome living environment and a home-away-from home.
Four dorm parents and their families live on each floor, and provide
supervision and counsel. They are available for emergencies and after-hours
supervision. Additional "affiliated" teachers monitor the dorms and campus
spaces during evenings and weekends. The standard residential duty is one
evening or weekday duty per week. Duties may include breakfast check-in,
evening library supervision, afternoon open gym, or supervising study hours.
When you are not on duty, you may certainly explore Beijing, have friends
over for a dinner party, or just enjoy your own space. Your home at
Keystone is your home.
Weekends at Keystone are a time for relaxation, community bonding, and
exploration. Together with their on-duty teachers, students may elect to
attend a weekend hiking trip to the Great Wall, perform service work along
with their advisors, or stay on campus to enjoy a swim in the pool, a game of
table tennis, or a campus movie night. All campus facilities are open and
supervised on the weekends for the enjoyment of both the students and
resident teachers and their families and friends.
The standard expectation for faculty weekend duty is one "half-weekend
"per month (Friday night-Saturday day; or Saturday evening-Sunday day),
and we encourage teachers and faculty partners to be a presence and to plan
evening and weekend activities even when not on duty. The relationships
formed on a boarding school campus are transformative and lasting for
adults and students alike. We are truly an inclusive community of teachers
and learners.