Community Voices: Self Development with Dr. Spring-Peers
Nicholas Spring-Peers and his wife, Hanna, are going on five years since becoming a part of the SCIS family. As global educators, they have had many years of teaching experience around the world and have brought their experience to SCIS. Nicholas has finished his Doctor of Education and reflects on his experience as an educator, the impacts of Covid-19 on the industry, and the importance of self-development.
Tell us about yourself, where you are from, and your teaching experience.
I am originally from Toronto, Canada. My entire teaching career has been overseas with only a little experience being in Canada. I’ve lived in South Korea for three and a half years where I first started teaching internationally. That is where I met my wife, Hanna, who also teaches here at SCIS. Together, we set off to teach in Kuwait and from there to Dubai which then led us to Shanghai. This is our fifth year here at SCIS. Shanghai feels like home, we love it. Being immersed in these different places has been such an eye-opening experience. It’s one thing to travel somewhere but another thing to live somewhere and learn a language and be immersed in the culture.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I am a huge advocate for self-development and health, so I am usually working out, reading, and spending time with my wife. At nighttime, I’m always reading and trying to advance myself in some way. I’m also into finance and behavioral economics so I read investment reports and try to understand markets in my free time. I find it fascinating, especially the behavioral aspect and how this translates to markets.
Congrats on recently completing your Doctor of Education! Can you tell us about your experience?
It was a great experience and something that stuck with me was a quote from Jim Rohn, who is one of the influential people that I’ve learned from and followed. He was a great thinker and great person on self-development, and he talked about when you set a goal it’s not so much reaching it it’s what makes you achieve it. It’s what’s happening to you along the way.
I thought about this while achieving my doctorate. It’s not just getting my diploma, it’s what was made of me through the process. The determination and perseverance, especially during the pandemic. This thought from Jim Rohn made me think about what builds character and grit. The process was a good one for me. There were ups and downs with working full time, that was not easy. Though the more I take on the more I feel alive. I’d rather be busy than not because it gets my mind activated and I’m learning and growing.
What was your thesis?
My research was on teacher retention in international schools and how schools can retain teachers. There are a lot of adverse effects to having too much turnover in terms of student learning and community building. My main research component was staff induction and the impacts it has on retention.
Can an effective, well thought out, caring, benevolent approach to staff induction have an impact on teacher retention? The traditional approach is to train and welcome teachers for a week, but it is a process and can last months through a year. Checking in, getting feedback, and language acquisition are important.
Did you always envision yourself working as an educator?
I love teaching grade eleven and twelve because they say, “I don’t’ know what I am going to do,” and I tell them that’s okay because I didn’t know what I wanted to do until I was 24. I tell them that I don’t recommend that they wait until they are 24 to go to university but I did, and it led to a more strategic approach to what I was doing. Instead of going straight into university and studying what I thought I liked I waited and traveled the world. Traveling made a great deal of impact on me and through that process, I was able to know what I wanted to do.
What do you find the most rewarding about teaching internationally?
The best part is when I look at my classroom and I have a Japanese, American, Canadian, Swedish, and Danish student, it’s incredible. I look at the diversity in the room with their own interpretation, their own perspective, it’s an amazing classroom to have. Kids here can develop such an interesting mindset about the world and when they leave here, I do feel like they are well equipped to go anywhere and adapt.
How has your teaching or personal education experience changed because of Covid?
My colleagues laugh at me and say, “Nick, not everything can be turned into a positive.” I think maybe it can. Everything in life comes down to what you make of it. I love the Marcus Aurelius quote, “That all is as thinking makes it so.” It’s neither good nor bad it’s what you perceive it to be. Luckily at the time, I was reading a book called The Great Influenza, which talks about how history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes, things are similar but not the same. Previously people that survived pandemics were able to hunker down and take precautions. I am safe, my family is safe, we are here in one of the safest places to be. It brought another level of gratitude to me.
Covid-19 made me think about what the students were going through. When we finally got on campus it changed my approach to teaching to be more about mental health. Less time on the computer and more time doing group work and talking with each other instead.
How was teaching online as a Physical Education Teacher?
We live in an incredible era. There are endless resources, different workouts geared for specific types of training. I could adapt so much of our lessons and use online tools to help students find workouts that could work for them wherever they were. They didn’t need equipment or anything.
In your opinion, do you think Covid has changed the face of education? If so, how?
I would say confidently it has permanently altered the education landscape. It has shown that you can go online, the results are not perfect, but you can educate online. In my doctorate, I did most of my work online and I was able to take away so much from it. Ultimately people want to be in the company of others, but it has allowed us to explore avenues where if that isn’t possible then we can still get a lot done.
How would you describe your time at SCIS?
Wonderful to be quite honest. I have worked in different schools and this has been, by far, my favorite place to work. The name on the building lives up to the name of the school, it is a community and I really do feel that. Especially during events where families come and we have barbecues, it feels connected. The students are incredible. I have never met students who are gentle and genuine with each other at this level until coming here. I have grown a lot as a teacher but also, I have seen what a community can really look like at an international school.
What has been one of your best teachable moment at SCIS?
A moment I had with a student who got accepted to the University of Chicago in economics. This was a student that when I nudged him about self-development, he got it right away. He understood that to grow yourself is an advantage you have. I remember when I was telling him about Viktor Frakl, who survived the holocaust and came up with this idea that in between stimulus and response is your freedom to choose.
That resonated with him and he took that and realized he had the freedom to choose if he would read during his break or play video games. He would always be reading. Now he has grown so much and is incredible and it made me feel like I had a part of that. When he left, he came here and told me that I got him switched on. That meant more to me than anything because now he is confident, and he got into the school he wanted to. That was my favorite moment in my whole career.
Are there any last words of wisdom you would like to share with us?
Education is such a great field, but we can get lost in the minutia of grades and content and it is so much more than that. The content is necessary, but we can slip in these things about growth and personal development. Spend more time working on yourself. We all have that ability but so few choose to do it. I think there is so much power in that and I hope students and education can broaden its view.
SCIS. Knowledgeable Inquirers.
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