CHC Student nominated for Queensland College of Teachers Award
Daniel Chen completed his Graduate Diploma in Education (Secondary) in 2017 at CHC. He has been working at Saint Stephen’s College as the Language teacher and was a finalist in the Queensland College of Teachers Excellence in Beginning to Teach TEACHX Award this year. The following are some excerpts from the Queensland College of Teachers, TEACHX Awards Media release about Daniel’s amazing journey:
“Mr Chen’s enthusiasm, his passion for children to gain the benefits of a second language, his extensive knowledge of languages and his drive to always do more to be engaging in the classroom are just some of the reasons he is a finalist… Daniel has completely redesigned and reinvigorated the way Chinese is taught to children, writing the college’s entire Prep to Year 6 curriculum.
“The reason I teach languages is because I don’t want there to be any barriers between us, we’re all human,” Mr Chen said. “I think learning second languages – English and Japanese for me – has been really beneficial and I want to share that with my kids as well, so that they can know the social impact of a second language.”
Mr Chen used to write songs for World Vision and he once sang one at a concert of over 30,000 people in Taiwan. Now Saint Stephen’s students are benefitting from his creativity instead.
Mr Chen has created the YouTube video series ‘Speakin’ Chinese So Easy, which combines humour with association – connecting Chinese words to English words children already know and understand.
This year Mr Chen, who initially studied teaching for high school students and draws on the experience of his colleagues by observing them teach their classes, is working on curriculum for junior secondary so he can instil in them the same love of learning Chinese.”
Daniel is grateful to CHC and also to God for the opportunity to be nominated for the award.
We wish Daniel continued success in his journey in teacher education and are thankful that his time at CHC enabled him to realise his goals.
If you would like to view Daniel in action in the classroom, go to the following link from the Channel 7 News https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSGoldCoast/videos/407992500095226/