Biography
Dr. Jennifer Chang Wathall
I was born to be a teacher. I knew I wanted to be a math teacher from an early age and always had a passion for teaching. I love being in the classroom and just spending time with my students with the goal of inspiring a love for learning. Nothing excites me more than seeing those light bulb moments during a lesson when students have a gleam in their eye because they get it. That gleam tells me my students understand on a deeper level than what a textbook or video can explain. I have been so lucky that all of my life I knew what my vocation would be.
Currently, I am an independent educational consultant, author and part-time instructor for the University of Hong Kong. With over 25 years experience in the education field, I have worked in several international schools including South Island School, Hong Kong and The United Nations International School, New York and Island School, Hong Kong.
In the international arena, I have presented numerous keynote addresses and workshops about concept-based mathematics and concept-based curriculum and instruction to Pre-K-12 educators. I have a degree in Pure and Applied Mathematics from the University of Sydney and completed post-graduate studies at the University of Hong Kong. Based on my Masters of Arts and Doctorate in Educational Technology I also facilitate concept-based mathematics online courses, give talks about innovative uses of digital instructional media and how to effectively integrate a 1:1 program into the classroom.
As a qualified International Baccalaureate workshop leader (Mathematics: Standard and Higher Level, Concepts and Inquiry in the Diploma Program and Approaches to Teaching and Learning") I have delivered numerous workshops in the Asia Pacific region. My role as a field representative for the IB Asia Pacific serves as part of the quality assurance framework. I have been invited to give several talks at the IB Asia Pacific and IB Americas annual conferences.
I am a certified trainer in the DISCtm behaviour assessment tool and a certified independent consultant in "Concept-Based Curriculum Design" by Dr H. Lynn Erickson. I enjoy my work as an independent consultant helping all discipline areas and schools transition to concept-based curriculum and instruction. My skills as a certified Performance Coach allow me to facilitate transition and change.
I had the honour of consulting for the IB on the new diploma mathematics courses for first teaching in 2019 to develop a concept-based mathematics curriculum model. I collaborated with a wonderful team of experienced IB teachers from around the world to co-author four student reference books for the new IB Mathematics courses with Oxford University Press.
My best-selling book titled "Concept-Based Mathematics: Teaching for Deep Understanding in Secondary Schools" was released in February 2016.
