John Urquhart - Our Team

Born on a NATO air force base in France and educated in Canada, John Urquhart began his teaching career in a remote community in northern Manitoba. John holds an Honours Degree in History and a Bachelor of Education with specialties in History and English from the University of Winnipeg. He also has extensive professional training in EAL methodologies and has devoted most of his thirty years in education working with students whose home language is not English. Over the years, he has taught students across three continents and gained significant school leadership experience as Head of EAL and Curriculum Coordinator, working with a range of curricula including the International Baccalaureate. These experiences have shaped him into an enthusiastic advocate of inquiry-based learning and a skilled facilitator of student-led knowledge construction.

Music is an animating force for John, who is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter who played in Winnipeg rock bands, and throughout his career he has been able to bring music into the classroom. A committed teacher of writing, John is a practicing author who has published fiction and criticism in Canadian literary magazines, and has written and produced plays and musicals in schools in Canada, Switzerland, and here in Hong Kong. Besides an essential communication tool, writing is a powerful way to deepen one’s understanding of something - whether it is science, literature, or anything else.

Sixteen years after arriving, John is fully at home in Hong Kong. His previous appointment was with Creative Secondary School where he taught Humanities, English, and Theory of Knowledge. He also generated student voice for the school newsletter by recruiting and facilitating a team of student journalists. Teaching for John is a creative activity and he believes that students learn best in a creative, caring, and collaborative environment.