ACAMIS Spring Conference 2018

School Coordinator Nazgol Adili joined nearly 300 attendees at the annual conference of the Association of China and Mongolian International Schools (ACAMIS) on March 2^nd and 3^rd 2018. The conference was held at The International School of Macao (TIS), a K-12 school whose culturally diverse population of over 1,100 students graduates with an Alberta High School Diploma and the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

ACAMIS, which began in May 2000 with seven participating schools, now has a directory of 76 schools in Mongolia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan and serves about 64,000 students and 8,000 teachers. The organization not only connects students for sports tournaments, learning opportunities, and cultural events, but it also supports staff through professional development and networking opportunities. In addition to teachers, the ACAMIS Spring Conference welcomes administrators at all levels.

Keynote speakers graced both mornings. On the first day, Sir John Jones spoke about the need, above all, to teach our children creativity, ingenuity, portability & flexibility. He said, “Research suggests that 80% of the jobs primary school children will do have not been invented yet, so we are preparing our young people for a world that doesn’t exist.” The best teachers, therefore, are those with great imagination and who are passionately committed to the pursuit of excellence. On the second morning, ACAMIS participants welcomed Keynote Dr. Sascha Heckmann, EdD, who created the Innovation Institute during his tenure as High School Principal at Shanghai American School. The Institute built a trans-disciplinary, project-based learning community empowering students to personalize their learning through activities. Dr. Heckmann is the founder of ‘8 Degrees Up’, an educational consulting firm that supports schools in making the shift to this unique program for their students.

Each day, three sessions of workshops were offered before and after lunch. Time for “job alike” meetings were scheduled for 3 p.m. on the second day for like-minded groups such as athletic directors, vice principals, and counselors. Nazgol enjoyed Lloyd Ffrench’s presentation regarding data gathered by his firm Teach Away on the topic of international education recruitment. The talk, titled ‘The Hiring Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore in 2018’, was a result of a survey Teach Away created to which 10,000 candidates responded. They revealed motivations for working abroad and what matters most to them during the hiring process and during the work experience.

At the Search Associates table, Nazgol enjoyed chatting with representatives from Search Associates member schools and candidates, especially with regards to our latest service, APLi, a powerful software tool that is included in a school’s Search Associates membership. Among many other uses, APLi allows schools to accept and manage candidate applications in one place from all sources. APLi also offers Search Associates candidates a benefit as it eliminates the hassle of re-submitting documents.

It is always a privilege for Search Associates to attend regional conferences such as the ACAMIS Spring Conference. For nearly 30 years, staying current and providing quality recruitment services in the field of international education has been a priority of our organization.