Donaghy to head up Dehong school in China           

IT is often stated that the two things that will get you far in life are education and travel.

Whilst some may be incredulous to this age old saying serving  as a living  testament to  validate  this line of wisdom is Saint Ronan’s Primary Principal Kevin Donaghy. 

Mr Donaghy, who has already spent a year abroad administering his trademark standard of teaching in Qatar’s capital Doha , is now set to apply his craft in China. 

 It will be in the Xian province of the world’s second most populous country that Mr Donaghy will head up the primary section at the prestigious Dehong school.      

  Whilst it goes without saying that the many  young  pupils at Dehong  will have their academic potential fully nurtured by Mr Donaghy who has honed his skills as an educator to a  fine a point as possible through his many years serving as the principal  at Saint Ronan’s, so to will Mr Donaghy himself  learn a plethora of  new lesson’s which he can  apply when he returns to the school which he loves so dearly next year. 

All the teaching in China

 ”I taught one full school year from September 2024 to June 2025 in Doha.” said Kevin “Then I was head hunted to come to China.”

“I was headhunted because of the number of years experience I had being a primary school principal and the accreditations that I achieved within the school. Because I had an international dimension to my teaching I got approached by a teacher recruitment agency who asked me if I would apply for the position.

“So I am currently in Xian. It is the first capital of modern China.

“I will be teaching at Dehong. The short version of it is Dexa. They are an all through school. They are from 6 years of age through to 18.

“However they are only in operation six years so they only currently have up to their middle school but they intend to go right up to 18.

“I am head of Dehong's primary section. This would be the equivalent of a primary school principal. There are about 600 primary pupils. I have completed my induction week for new staff and the children start September 1.

“ I have no teaching commitment but I will be in and out of class.

“My main responsibilities will be maintaining high academic standards. China like a lot of Asian countries have really high standards and parents want the best for their children and for their children to go on and do really well, getting excellent grades. My job in the primary is to maintain these high standards.”

Whilst the high expectations they have for  their pupils is at the forefront of Dehong’s teaching ethos so to is this balanced out by the prioritisation they afford to the mental health and wellbeing of not only their pupils but also their staff.   

 Hollistic approach

“They have children at the heart. The curriculum is about high standards, attainment but balanced with the wellbeing of the child.

 “The ethos of Dehong branch is high standards for the students balanced with high standards of mental wellbeing for children and staff.

“The school is really well staffed, they have their own body of counsellors and they have a really good after school programme that balances physical wellbeing. They want a holistic   education for all who attend. It is not just focused on getting the best academic results it is ensuring that whenever you educate a child you educate them holistically, mentally, morally, socially and physically

“ The resources are also hugely impressive. They have their own Olympic sized swimming pool and a massive big library so  the resources are second to none.”

Although the school term has only just begun at Dehong Mr Donaghy has already assimilated some valuable lessons from the short span of time he has spent operating within the Chinese education system.

These are lesson’s which he believes  could serve to benefit the Northern Irish Education system if taken on board.

“What I will say is that our fascination with assessment and the DoE tracking how well things are done and standards,  there is not the same emphasis on that  here and in the likes of China you have a lot better results.

“You need to allow teachers the autonomy to go and do their job and do their job well. There does not need to be a whole big check inside. Schools in China are their to educate.

“ I am head of this school. However I do not have to worry about budget, human resources  communication or  home school length. There are people doing that job and I am able to focus on standards,  teaching and learning because there are other people who will do those jobs that in Northern Ireland as a principal I would be left to do. Schools need more support and the right type of support.

“The first thing I need to do is sit, watch and  learn to see what is happening  and then list where I can see things that need changed to introduce them slowly and sensitively.

 “ What I need to do is build up that relationship between the staff in my new school, the parents and pupils. I need to understand the cultural norms and from that see what needs changed, or just say about how brilliant they are doing certain things.”

 Culture Shock

Whilst having to adapt to the Chinese education system may come with its own challenges, this is only one half of the equation for Kevin when it comes to fulfilling his year long commitment  of leading Dehong’s primary section.

The other half is becoming accustomed to genuine Chinese culture or what Mr Donaghy  terms  as being in “real China”, and not a westernised version of it as is often experienced at home.

  “I am in Xian, it was the capital under the first Chinese emperor. I speak absolutely not one word in mandarin. The difference between Doha and Xian is that English was the second language in Doha. A lot of people could speak English. It was quite comfortable. Here very  few people speak English.

“This is a new challenge for me. I can say three words in Chinese. I will try to learn the language to get past because I love doing this and I think it is really important. Will I be fluent? Probably not but I must say the Chinese people here are so nice and friendly.

“If they see you struggling they will come over and try to help you out. Google Translate is absolutely fantastic because they will pull out their phone and they will pull out theirs and you will have a conversation through this. It is all part of their nature. They love showing of their city to visitors.

“Doha had a population of 2 Millon. I was told that Xian is a small city but  12.4 million people live here, so roughly the size of London. 

“ In the likes of Bejing or Shanghai you have 30 plus million people living there. The first culture shock was language, the second culture shock food. You are now in real China, not in a westernized version of it.

“I am getting use to the food. Lots of rice, noodles and tea, but in saying this you still have McDonalds. 

“The other culture shock is the amount of electric cars there are. About 90% of the cars are electric. When you are out and about the noise from the road is minimal because there are so many electric cars. ”