Alessandro is a highly accomplished educator and designer. He hold a Master’s of Education and he is PreK-12 certified Art teacher. He has also served as an Associate Professor at Raffles University, an Asian-based university specializing in Design. Alessandro is particularly passionate about the intersection of traditional and modern media and the role that education can play in bridging cultures.

 

Alessandro became an Associate Professor through extensive research and on-the-ground application of Multiple Intelligence combined with Project/Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Learning-by-Doing. He has also spent several years working in the e-Learning field and has developed smart platforms.

 

Alessandro has received numerous certifications for his expertise in design evaluation, project-based learning in the arts, and teaching critical thinking through art. He has been teaching art and design in China since 2004, and has held various leadership roles such as Program Director, Director, and Head of Department.

 

Thanks to his proven leadership skills, Alessandro has successfully helped colleagues develop and be promoted while ensuring that students benefit from a cohesive team and are accepted by some of the most prestigious art, design colleges and universities in the world.

 

Alessandro’s career began as Program Director of the Graphic Design and Interactive Media program at Raffles Design Institute attached to Changchun University. Ten years later, he moved to the China HQ in Dong Hua University in Shanghai. During his time at Raffles Education Corporation, he served as Director for International Relationship, Director of the Corporate Training project, and Founding Member of Raffles Academy.

 

Currently, he serves the Senior Leadership team as Deputy Head of Studios after having served for 4 years as Head of the Creative Arts & Design Department at HUITONG SCHOOL in Shenzhen, South China.

Lucy Donkin grew up in Lincolnshire, England. She graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a BA Honours in Sport Development and Inclusion; she then went on to University of East London to gain her PGCE in Special Educational Needs and Physical Education. During her time in London, Lucy taught children who had a multitude of different disabilities as well as toddlers and nursery aged children sport. This is where her love for Early Years sport developed.  

In 2014, Lucy moved to Cairo, where she was an Early Years and Key Stage 1 P.E. teacher for over 4 years. Lucy also worked closely with the SEN department developing interventions to support children struggling with social and emotional challenges through sport. Lucy then moved to Hangzhou, China to become the Assistant Head of Boarding at Wellington College.  

Callum Donkin was brought up in Beverley, East Yorkshire. Throughout his teen years, his love for sport developed into a true passion for rugby and kayaking. Callum achieved his BSc in Sports Coaching, Development and Fitness from the University Leeds Beckett. He started his career teaching Physical Education in a school designed for children who had emotional, social and behavioural challenges. In 2015, Callum went to Cairo, Egypt where he continued his work with children who had special educational needs as well as a P.E. teacher. After three years in the desert Callum then moved to Hangzhou, China where he was the school’s SENCo for the last 3 years. Callum is an avid sportsman who has played rugby at both semi-professional and professional level. In his spare time, he also kayaks to a high level, kayaking down Grade 5 white water rivers.

Weiyi received both her Bachelor and Master of Fine Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, majoring in visual communication design. Her study and practices in art and design involve interdisciplinary techniques, mediums, forms, thoughts, etc. Taking advantage of such art making processes, she discusses issues concerned with culture and behavior, which inspires her with the belief that the social responsibility of an artist always has to do with education. Weiyi introduced her methodology in art and design to museum education, and developed public learning programs for the Sea World Culture and Arts Center. She successfully held a series of project-based learning events and experiences on the subject of local history for school kids and adults in collaboration with schools, artists, and scholars.

Katherine Zhan received Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University and continued her educational pursuit at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with M.Ed. in school counseling. Before joining Whittle, she worked as a school counselor in the US and China for 7 years. She believes that every student is unique and bounded for success given appropriate and abundant guidance. 

Cheng Chen graduated from the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, majoring in Chinese painting. After seven years of professional learning, she has a solid foundation and academic background owing to her profound artistic accomplishments. She is a learner with a spirit for exploration. Her works have developed a new visual form beyond the traditional dimension, which has benefited from her global perspective. She studied at the Royal University College of Fine Arts and held an exhibition of Chinese paintings in the art museum. After traveling around the world, she felt the energy strongly contained in traditional Chinese art. She integrates the splendid traditions of this thousand-year ancient state into contemporary art education so that children can truly have a global perspective after absorbing local “nourishment.”

Ms. Yummy Zhu has been immersed in art education since childhood, spanning from traditional Chinese painting to Western art. She graduated from the Illustration program at the School of Art, Soochow University. As a young artist, she has created large-scale mural artworks in Suzhou and Shanghai, and her paintings have been exhibited in the UK, France, Japan, and China. She excels in watercolor, illustration, and oil painting. With extensive teaching experience, she has taught students of various ages, from IB PYP visual arts in primary school to IGCSE and A-Level art in high school. Ms. Zhu firmly believes that as an art teacher, her role is not to lead but to assist. Through her teaching, she guides students to ignite their creativity and imagination, observe the world, develop innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, thereby helping them appreciate themselves and embrace the world.

Wang Minyi obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Shanghai University of Sport, with a major in Physical Training, focused on badminton and basketball. After he graduated, he worked at Shanghai Pinghe School and RDFZ King’s College Hangzhou. At both Pinghe and RDFZ he taught a range of ages, from primary to high school, in Physical education classes. He was also head coach for both badminton and basketball. The RDFZ basketball team went from little knowledge of basketball to winning the HISAC tournament, Hangzhou’s largest competition. 

 

He has a wide range of interest in sports in which he holds certificates for. He also has IB teaching certification. His passion as a teacher is to help students to build up skills in sports as well as providing the tools to practice a healthy lifestyle.

Miss Faye is an actor, director and drama tutor based in China and UK. She graduated with MA degree in Text and Performance at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and BA degree in Theatre Directing in Shanghai Theatre Academy in China, as one of the international students joined the summer theatre director training program at The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts in Russia and actor training from Evan Yionoulis at Yale University in USA.

 

Faye has more than 8 years working experience in Theatre industry, she believed that the drama tutor have to into the industry to soiled herself. She has tutored students have been admitted to well-known universities both in China and the Overseas with excellent scores, including Shanghai Theatre Academy, Beijing Film Academy, Gold Smith, RCSSD, UAL, University of Bologna, HKAPA, University of Pennsylvania.

Shaun graduated from Nelson Mandela University with a Bachelor's degree in Game Ranch Management. He is a seasoned field guide and shooting range officer. As part of the Mpongo Education Programme, Shaun provided educational hunting guidance to students from different schools in the area, ranging from grades 1 to 7, marking the beginning of his teaching career. Currently, he is pursuing a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education and a teaching license from Moran University. Shaun has a strong passion for ball sports and continues to actively participate in club rugby and cricket.

Ms. Xinhua Liu graduated from the Media and Design Department of Shenzhen University. She is a professional illustrator, has been constantly devoting herself to art education and exploring the possibilities of artistic creation. Artistic creation is the innate language of children. Ms Liu positions herself as a guide or an assistant to help children express themselves bravely. Creation is the key that connects everything. Regarding what is beauty, we praise that children have their own answers.

 

Starting from scenes or objects in life, combined with picture books, animations, popular science or field trips to guide, children's minds can be greatly stimulated; combined with numerous different media materials for creation, such as the eaten cakes and biscuits, the stones and flowers in nature, the broken toys and furniture, all can become the content of the class.

Jake Penprase graduated from The University of Bath with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sport and Exercise Science. He has multiple qualifications from the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) including Dinghy sailing, Jet ski and powerboat Instructor. While working his way through education Jake worked over 5 summer seasons as a sailing instructor at his local club, guiding beginners and intermediate students through the RYA curriculum. 

 

In 2021 Jake was based in Lousã Portugal playing professional rugby and coaching the clubs under 12’s side. Jake’s next step was to move to China to teach and has now over 2 years of experience. Throughout his time as a water sport’s instructor, Jake has worked in highly dynamic and ever-changing environments, creating an adaptable individual who always prioritizes the safety of his students.

Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, Chris is passionate about sports and exercise. He graduated from Massey University in New Zealand with a Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science. In addition to his degree, he holds a TEFL certification. Specializing in invasion sports, particularly rugby and basketball, Chris has extensive coaching experience. Chris's coaching career began in New Zealand, where he served as a professional basketball coach for five years. His experience spans community, club, and school coaching for ages 5 to 18. He also worked as an assistant coach in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL) for two years. Notably, he was the assistant coach for the Manawatu Jets in 2020, leading the team to the finals.

 

Chris then spent a year and six months in China, where he taught Physical Education at both the primary and high school levels. His time in China allowed him to adapt to diverse and dynamic environments, always prioritizing the well-being and development of his students. He looks forward to providing a comprehensive and engaging physical education program, helping students thrive in new environments and fostering a deeper appreciation for physical activity.

Swing Liu studied for her Bachelor’s in English at the China University of Political Science and Law and for her Master’s in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as the College Counsellor at the Houde Academy in Shenzhen and founded the Shenzhen Career Development Association. She joins Whittle as our College Counsellor.

Ms. Hua Jin holds a master's degree from EM Lyon Business School in France, as well as dual bachelor's degrees from Wuhan University and South-Central University for Nationalities. She is a certified career planner with 9 years of experience in college counseling, including 6 years in international schools. As a college counselor, she is well-versed in the admission requirements and characteristics of prestigious universities in countries and regions such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. She excels at helping students develop and implement personalized activity and competition plans, uncovering their unique strengths.At Huitong, she aims to guide students in discovering and nurturing their interests and goals, enhancing their knowledge and skills, and ultimately becoming influential individuals who make positive contributions to society and the world.

Having graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts and earned the Excellent Graduate Student Awards in Beijing, Yaan graduated and continued to study public art. During her studies, she went to the Netherlands and studied at Willem de Kooning Academy as an exchange student. She earned her master’s degree in arts in teaching and received a K-12 Visual Arts Professional Educator License in the state of Illinois. She has travelled to over 20 countries in Europe and North America and enjoyed every minute of it. She keeps an open mind to accepting different cultures and embraces having a reflective attitude while teaching to remain critical. Her students are exposed to landscape design, fiber art, digital art, sculpture, collage, painting, etc. She also combines writing with weaving to inspire students to express themselves.

Audrey Ma received her bachelor's degree from the State University of New York and a master’s in art history from the University of Kansas. With a passion for community service and library, she has worked as a cataloger intern at the Roberson Museum & Science Center and participated in the “Rare Book” project at the Library of KU. After graduation, she worked as a librarian at an international school in Hangzhou and helped to build the school library. She believes that information literacy is a key to the student's success, and in every book there’s an inspiration. Her goal is to build a library that helps facilitate reading and learning and is also a center for information sharing and space with a sense of the community.

Cheng Chen graduated from the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, majoring in Chinese painting. After seven years of professional learning, she has a solid foundation and academic background owing to her profound artistic accomplishments. She is a learner with a spirit for exploration. Her works have developed a new visual form beyond the traditional dimension, which has benefited from her global perspective. She studied at the Royal University College of Fine Arts and held an exhibition of Chinese paintings in the art museum. After traveling around the world, she felt the energy strongly contained in traditional Chinese art. She integrates the splendid traditions of this thousand-year ancient state into contemporary art education so that children can truly have a global perspective after absorbing local “nourishment.”

Matthieu Le Noen was born In Nantes, France. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Arts from L’Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts of Angers after studying History of Art at University of Nantes. A multi-disciplinary artist, he has strong technical skills in diverse media such as painting, photography, video editing and graphic design. Making, experimenting and teaching Art have always been part of his life. Matthieu has been teaching Art in China since 2014. He taught Art and Design to primary students in Hangzhou and also prepared high school students to enter the China Academy of Art. He arrived in Shenzhen in 2019 where he and his students have been awarded for one of his favourite elective classes : Recyling Art. His classes are designed to enhance creativity, whole-student learning and personal development. Matthieu speaks French, English, German and Chinese.

Ms. Yummy Zhu has been immersed in art education since childhood, spanning from traditional Chinese painting to Western art. She graduated from the Illustration program at the School of Art, Soochow University. As a young artist, she has created large-scale mural artworks in Suzhou and Shanghai, and her paintings have been exhibited in the UK, France, Japan, and China. She excels in watercolor, illustration, and oil painting. With extensive teaching experience, she has taught students of various ages, from IB PYP visual arts in primary school to IGCSE and A-Level art in high school. Ms. Zhu firmly believes that as an art teacher, her role is not to lead but to assist. Through her teaching, she guides students to ignite their creativity and imagination, observe the world, develop innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, thereby helping them appreciate themselves and embrace the world.

Ms. Xinhua Liu graduated from the Media and Design Department of Shenzhen University. She is a professional illustrator, has been constantly devoting herself to art education and exploring the possibilities of artistic creation. Artistic creation is the innate language of children. Ms Liu positions herself as a guide or an assistant to help children express themselves bravely. Creation is the key that connects everything. Regarding what is beauty, we praise that children have their own answers.Starting from scenes or objects in life, combined with picture books, animations, popular science or field trips to guide, children's minds can be greatly stimulated; combined with numerous different media materials for creation, such as the eaten cakes and biscuits, the stones and flowers in nature, the broken toys and furniture, all can become the content of the class.