Career growth at BASIS International & Bilingual Schools • China (BIBS • C) is not always a straight line. For Max Slonim, that has meant teaching, coaching, and helping develop curriculum at two BIBS • C campuses in Shenzhen. He now serves as Senior Chair of English, a network-wide role overseeing English curriculum development, as well as Chair of English and an English Teacher at BASIS Bilingual School Shenzhen. Max reflects on coaching teachers, working with students, and collaborating with inspiring peers.
A Role with Many Hats
I’m currently at BASIS Bilingual School Shenzhen, located in the Futian district. My role is something of a chimera: I’m the Department Chair of English for Middle and High School, a Grade 7 English/AE and AP English Language teacher, and the Senior Chair of English across the network. As a Department Chair, I balance building up the community spirit among the team with observations and coaching conversations. My classes are probably the highlight of the day, as the seventh graders have tons of personality and the AP class, a section of all boys which I’ve affectionately dubbed the “Bro Force,” are working super hard. As a Senior Chair, I spend most of my time working on curriculum development with English leaders as well as teachers of distinction from across the network and helping to coordinate the development of our English program with the Chief Executive Head of Schools (CEHOS) office.
Finding My Way Back to BASIS International & Bilingual Schools
I initially joined BASIS International School Shenzhen as a Vice Head of High School, then left China briefly for family reasons. When I came back to the network, I was offered an opportunity to work on serious curriculum development, overseeing the selection of core texts to be taught, each quarter, in every grade, across the BIBS • C network. The opportunity was too interesting to pass up, so I stepped out of senior leadership and into the current role.
What makes Leadership at BASIS International & Bilingual Schools Distinctive
The BIBS • C network is what makes our schools distinctive. There are A LOT of extremely exceptional professionals across the network, and it’s amazing to either collaborate with or just straight up learn from them. I never feel as if I’m the foremost expert in the room, which is professionally inspiring.
Why Staying in the Classroom Matters
As I’m a leader who is quite focused on coaching teachers, having one foot in the classroom gives me a much more tangible understanding of what the day-to-day reality of my team is. I think it helps me better manage my own expectations for the team and allows me to have relevant experience to discuss during our team meetings. I think this also lends me credibility, as I’m in the trenches with the team.
The Work of Coaching Teachers
There are two sides to supporting and coaching teachers. There is the obvious side, which involves observations, Professional Learning Logs, coaching conversations, and goal setting. Then there’s a second aspect that is about having the types of conversations that engender trust within the team. I find the second side involves a lot of getting to know the people behind their classroom personae and establishing myself as someone who is both professionally credible and personally empathetic.
A Network That Collaborates
Again, there are two sides to the collaboration that happens across the network. The first, and again obvious, one is the one where we share practices and resources and have conversations about the best ways to actualize the curriculum. The other side is where we work together to create a shared literary culture. Sometimes, this involves working on projects across campuses, like how the whole team got together to support the Mortals magazine (which is based out of Park Lane Harbour yet distributed across the network). Sometimes this is getting extended emails about how what I thought was an HP Lovecraft reference was actually an allusion to the work of Robert Chalmers, sometimes it’s sharing our favorite poems, and sometimes having spirited discussions about the extent to which “The Metamorphosis” is truly representative of Kafka’s genius.
Mentors and the Lessons Learned
I’m lucky in that I’m regularly meeting with people who have decades of professional experience and are interested in the things I’m doing. Even when they are not formally coaching me or offering mentorship, I am exceptionally grateful for the opportunities to soak up their decades of wisdom. Likewise, when I get to go to massive network events and hear so many brilliant and talented people talk about their passions, it’s hard not to come away with some new ideas about how to be a little bit better tomorrow.
There are too many people to single out just one mentor who has influenced me, and I would feel bad leaving someone out. There was a Dean of Student Activities from my first few years at BASIS International School Shenzhen who showed me that if you’re willing to say “yes and,” instead of “yeah, but” you will be astonished at what is possible.
My Advice
BASIS International & Bilingual Schools • China is going to give you the ball. It’s scary when you first pick it up, so remember that it’s fine to move it at your own pace. If you give yourself the time to learn the systems and get to know the people in the community, things will work out just fine.
Max Slonim
Senior Chair of English
Chair of English
English Teacher
BASIS Bilingual School Shenzhen
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