Peilin Lee - Our Team

Shu Chen is an expert in several Chinese dialects. A native Mandarin speaker, she is also proficient in Shanghainese and Cantonese as well as English. Her skills and passion in language learning led her to a career in education where she can share the beauty of Chinese culture with non-Chinese as well as Chinese students.

After her Bachelor of Science degree in business at Benedictine College, Shu obtained her Post Graduate Diploma in Education and Master of Education from the Hong Kong Baptist University. She taught Mandarin for 8 years in local Hong Kong secondary and international schools, as well as Liberal Studies for secondary students. Well-trained in the IB teaching system, Shu was also a grade-level teacher who incorporated interdisciplinary learning across various subjects. She was most recently Year Level Head at the Singapore International School Hong Kong overseeing curriculum planning, designing assessments, and developing immersion programs in cultural studies.

Over her decade-long teaching career, Shu observed how a student’s l environment can impact their mental development. She believes that successful positive learning is best achieved by teaching students to be self-motivated to pursue knowledge and become inquisitive learners through asking questions. Shu’s students practice learning-by-doing to reinforce active recall of their knowledge and language in real-life situations and to acquire critical thinking skills to analyze different situations they might encounter.

Shu is currently working towards her Doctoral Degree in Education with research on the development of Chinese curriculum. She is excited to join Bloom to share her love for Chinese language, history, and rich cultural heritage.

May Chen was born and raised in Ningbo, Zhejiang, with its lush sceneries and rich cultural heritage framing her interest in Chinese language and literature. She was first awarded a Bachelor of Arts in English followed by a Master of Arts degree in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language with Credit from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She then obtained a Professional Diploma in Teaching Putonghua with Merit from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is qualified professionally with a Certificate of Grade ONE Level B Putonghua Proficiency Test from the State Language Commission, a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and a Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Education from the Open University of Hong Kong. May was also recently selected as one of the judges for the 2nd Chinese Language Festival.

May has over 15 years’ experience teaching Mandarin Chinese to foreign and local students in bilingual kindergartens to international primary schools. She was most recently at Discovery Mind Primary School, where she was the Mandarin Chinese Teacher and Coordinator for Grades 1 to 6. She combines imaginative specialist methodologies with project-based learning in the classroom to enhance interactive teaching and engagement. To May, learning is not about comparing oneself to others, but to be a better version of yourself; even the smallest improvement each day makes a difference, each 1% change adding up to a long-term positive development that will allow students to grow and surpass themselves.

May’s son is starting his university education, while her daughter is entering her final years of secondary school. Besides enjoying quality parent-child time, May enjoys reading, cooking, swimming and traveling.

Growing up in Vancouver, B.C., Jobie developed a love for its diverse culture and natural landscapes. She fed her passion for the visual arts, music, and technology through studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics and Visual Arts at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver made Jobie aware of the role of a bilingual environment in shaping speech perception and production as well as its important role in the city’s communication. This interest led Jobie to do research even as an undergraduate in UBC’s “Speech in Context Lab”.

With her strong academic background and desire to reconnect with her roots and heritage, Jobie returned to Hong Kong to pursue a career in early childhood education, beginning as a Shadow Support Facilitator and then Teaching Assistant in primary school. Later, by working alongside homeroom teachers and the Special Educational Needs department, she gained specialized one- on-one experience teaching students of diverse backgrounds and learning needs. As a visual learner 8 herself, Jobie uses methods such as writing in sand for students with sensory needs or working with manipulatives to convey learning concepts in an imaginative and engaging manner.

Jobie looks forward to applying her visual arts, music, technology, and teaching background in new ways to teach ECS, support subject learning, and work closely with students individually or in small groups. She believes in personalized nurturing to draw upon each child’s strengths and interests to help them reach their full potential, grow with a positive mindset, and become motivated lifelong learners.

When not in the classroom, Jobie enjoys exploring her creative interests, and can be often found journaling and drawing away to some good music.