Red-whiskered bulbul The red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) is a passerine bird found in Asia. It is a member of the bulbul family. 15th Annual EARCOS Teachers’ Conference 2017 “Connecting Global Minds” March 30 - April 1, 2017 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia EARCOS Trustees & Staff About EARCOS The East Asia Regional Council of Schools is an organization of 156 member schools in East Asia. These schools have a total of more than 120,000 preK to 12th grade students. EARCOS also has 179 associate members—textbook and software publishers and distributors, universities, financial planners, architectural firms, insurance companies, youth organizations, etc.—and 36 individual members. Membership in EARCOS is open to elementary and secondary schools in East Asia which offer an educational program using English as the primary lan- guage of instruction, and to other organizations, institutions, and individuals interested in the objectives and purposes of the Council. General Information EARCOS holds one leadership conference every November and one teachers’ conference every March. In addition, EARCOS funds several weekend institutes hosted by member schools throughout East Asia. EARCOS also organizes a meeting for EARCOS heads of schools every April. EARCOS publishes its newsletter, the ET Journal, which is distributed to its members three times a year, and a directory of all of its members. EARCOS sponsors a community on Google+ and Tumblr blog called E-Connect at http://earcos-connect.tumblr.com/ Objectives and Purposes To promote intercultural understanding and international friendship through the activities of member schools. To broaden the dimensions of education of all schools involved in the Council in the interest of a total program of education. To advance the professional growth and welfare of individuals belonging to the educational staff of member schools. To facilitate communication and cooperative action between and among all associated schools. To cooperate with other organizations and individuals pursuing the same objectives as this council. The EARCOS Trustees The EARCOS Staff Margaret Alvarez Stephen Cathers Tarek Razik President Vice-President Treasurer Diane Lewthwaite Norma Hudson David Toze L-R Ver Castro, IT Coordinator / Membership Coordinator Secretary Former President Rod Catubig, Office Staff Joe Petrone, Assistant Director Dick Krajczar, Executive Director Robert Viray, Accountant Edzel Drilo, Web Developer / Weekend Workshops / ET Journal April Asino, Office Staff Vitz Baltero, Administrative Asst., ELC Conference Coordinator Elaine Repatacodo, ETC Conference Coordinator, Applying School Coordinator Bill Oldread, Consultant * not in photo Stephen Dare Andrew Davies Barry Sutherland Dr. Lawrence A. Hobdell U.S. Department of State Regional Education Officer, East Asia Pacific Welcome Message from the EARCOS Executive Director Dear ETC Delegates: Welcome to the EARCOS Teachers’ Conference (ETC) 2017 at the lovely Sutera Harbour Resort. We are happy to be back in Sabah, North Borneo. This ETC offers three excellent keynote presenters. Kim Phuc Phan Thi, Christophe Galfard, Aaron and Kaitlin Tait. We have nine pre-conferences including AP/IB and WASC. Our delegates have over 100 work- shop sessions to choose from and they are geared to meet the diverse needs of our teachers. In addition, our job-alike sessions will provide an opportunity for teachers to meet with their colleagues, who work in similar content areas. Of the more than 100 workshops, your EARCOS colleagues will present 60 of them. As always, these workshops are practical, topical, and relevant to our work in East Asia. Please support your fellow teachers and try to attend as many of these as possible. Also, we have nearly 40 vendors who will be exhibiting at the conference. Please stop by their tables. The EARCOS Teacher Advisory Group selected the Kim Phuc Phan Thi Foundation as this year’s charity. As you will see, Kim Phuc is one of our keynoters and her charity “helps heal the wounds suffered by in- nocent children”. Advance thanks for your generosity and support. Thanks to all our ETC teacher representatives who have spent many hours assisting their teachers with workshop proposals, registration for the conference, and hotel and transportation arrangements. Without their dedication, it would be impossible to host our conference the way we do. Thanks to our EARCOS staff members who have worked tirelessly to assist with the many details and logistics. The contributions of Mses Elaine and Vitz and Sirs Ver, Edzel, and Robert have been – again – admirable and their collective attention to the vast array of details of our conference is commendable. Our assistant director Joe Petrone has been invaluable during the planning process. Finally, it is always my hope that our delegates make new contacts, embrace challenges from our present- ers, renew friendships, and enjoy our hospitality. Visit our exhibitors and let them know that we appreciate their sponsorship, which helps us provide the best professional development possible. I’m proud and happy to be the director of this wonderful organization. Finally, I hope you find some time to enjoy the splendour of North Borneo, Sabah, Malaysia! Dick Krajczar and the EARCOS Team. THIS PROGRAM BELONGS TO: _________________________________________________ “Connecting Global Minds.” 01 STRATEGY C EARCOS Strategic Plan Develop collaborative educational partnerships within the region as well as worldwide to foster access to expertise. EARCOS Mission C.1 EARCOS continues to support the work of the College Board and its AP classes by providing space and logistical support for workshops at ETC. EARCOS inspires adult and student learning through its leadership and service C.2 EARCOS continues to collaborate with WASC and annually partners with and fosters intercultural understanding, global citizenship, and exceptional edu- the associate executive director to conduct training workshops for visit commit- cational practices within our learning community. tee members and aspiring committee chairpersons. C.3 EARCOS continues to collaborate with ACAMIS in supporting the Learning Strategies and List of Results 2.0 conferences. C.4 Space is consistently provided for one IB workshop at the yearly ELC con- STRATEGY A ference. C.5 The Executive Director meets yearly with the other regional directors and Provide specific targeted and differentiated professional development oppor- the State Department Officers of Overseas Schools. tunities for various member communities. C.6 EARCOS-CIS joint institute on higher education admission was successfully inaugurated in October 2015. The Second Annual Institute is being planned for A.1 The page added to the EARCOS website to advertise non-EARCOS spon- September 30 – October 01, 2016. Over 35 counselor and university proposals sored workshops has been used by twelve non-affiliated workshop sponsors. have been received and the number of university admissions representatives and A.2 EARCOS financially supported the middle school GIN Conference held EARCOS counselors is expected to exceed 300 participants. March 05 – 06 and the executive director attended the conference, which was C.7 The Executive Director regularly attends regional professional development held at Shanghai Community International School. And, March 11–12, 2016 the conferences to enhance and strengthen partnerships, e.g. TAISI, ACAMIS, L2.0, middle school conference was hosted at the Bali Island School and attended AAIE, etc. by the assistant director. Host schools invitations are being considered for GIN middle and high school conferences for 2017. STRATEGY D A.3 EARCOS continues to offer space during the ELC for meetings of various Connect schools, communities, and individuals through the use of effective regional organizations such as APAC, IASIS, MRISA, etc. latest technologies to promote collaboration, intercultural understanding, and A.4 EARCOS will again provide space for an IB Pre-conference workshop at the access to broader educational opportunities. ELC and expects the pre-conference will be fully subscribed. A.5 EARCOS again provided space and logistical support for two AP courses D.1 The EARCOS- or E-Connect blog site was inaugurated in October 2011. held in March at the ETC in Manila. Since then over 2000 blog postings, articles, and videos have been posted on the A.6 Fifty-nine EARCOS-sponsored Weekend Workshops were conducted site. The blog is linked to the EARCOS Twitter and Face Book accounts, so that with three remaining in the schedule this school year. Sixty-one proposals have each blog posting generates a message on these two social networks. been received for the 2016/17 school year. Financial support to a ceiling level of D.2 Two years ago Google initiated a new feature on Google+ called Com- $3500 continues to be the amount allocated to support these regional profes- munities. EARCOS created a private EARCOS Community. This allows for the sional development opportunities. sharing of articles, videos, and discussions among members of the community. A.7 EARCOS continues to provide logistical support for the University of San The EARCOS Google+ Community currently includes 730 members and the Francisco and Washington State University “International School Leadership EARCOS Circle boasts almost 3000 connected professionals. Program” at both ELC and ETC. D.3 The EARCOS “Triannual Journal” online version is now enhanced to include A.8 EARCOS-CIS joint institute on higher education admission