Jason Reagin is the host of Design Cast, MYP Coordinator and MS Curriculum Coach who has been in education for 25 years; 19 years of which in IB schools.  The majority of my career has been overseas in international schools.  It is this international experience that has sparked my excitement in curriculum implementation & leadership. With a passion for curriculum it is no surprise that my ultimate goal is to further my experience in curriculum and instructional development within international schools.

Since 2008, I have been a trainer of IB Educators and I have participated in IB Educator Network sponsored events worldwide.  I conduct IB workshops, consult for candidate MYP schools, and serve as a visiting team member and leader for IB school visits.  To date, I have participated in over 90 IB related events, in over 15 countries.

Trench story: bulk of experience in intl. schools. Crawling out was in U.S. public schools. Taught tech ed. Found that although students enjoyed class, writing was heavy, didn’t behave. Shifted his focus. St’s gathered evidence in non-traditional ways. Video, voice recording, new at the time. Spoke to some more experienced ppl. Still using many of these “out of the box” ways.

Teaching internationally-first t job was HS in Atlanta, went to FRL high %. Found paperwork & other things overwhelming. Wanted to be around students and develop them. Found couldn’t sustain it. Heard ad on NPR about teaching Engl. in China. Was supposed to be there 1 yr. Has been in China for over a decade now, off and on since ‘99. China brought in educators from all over U.S to teach English, went to univ. in Beijing. Things very different than now. Returned to U.S. a few more yrs. Wife is from there, saw lady in staff room & was smitten. Intl. t’s left when SARS came. Was in Korea for 5 yrs before that. Taught 5 yrs in the U.S. before going. Started IB in 2003. Both public/private (IB) schools. Last school was in Savannah, GA (MYP/IB). Moved to U.S. to have kids. Moved to China to have sons learn Chinese. Now back in Beijing. Is currently MYP coordinator, Western Academy of Beijing-full continuum IB School- prek-12. Most embassy students come. Mostly intl. students. Executives’ kids from Universal Park. There’s also a Swiss school on campus. After 4-5th grade, kids can go to other schools. Staff is from all over the world. He coaches t’s, PBL.His campus is contextualized to the Chinese culture. School is English-medium school. 50 lang. spoken on campus. He does speak some Chinese. MS sons speak Chinese/English. Value of translanguaging with MLLs. Learning a language is dynamic & fluid. No punitive behavior for speaking other languages.

Involvement w/ TBT & podcast start-his podcast is on the Chinese podcast service. Is at #110, has slowed down. Wife is still in Korea teaching, he’s home alone w/ sons. Still editing episodes he recorded during the Chinese lockdown. His background is design edu-in college he did tv/radio. He was able to get on radio in China for taxi drivers learning Engl.-taught ppl idioms. He teaches podcasting w/ students. In 2017 he started his podcast (episode every 6 months or so)-wanted to give back. Stayed connected to ppl when COVID hit. Guests are STEAM/design connected. People on who were educators who now work for Adobe.

Is on Code Breaker podcast network. Does have ideas a book on innovation-type spaces. Maybe easier to create online course. Crowdsourcing. Has hosted a few Twitter chats for them. His speaking engagements in Asia & Middle East have to do w/ IB. Wants to do more travel in ‘24. Talks on TB talk about PBL, pockets of what IB does.

Out of everything? Jason talks to a lot of people who want to work internationally. It’s easier to do than you think. You can try it for a few years. Click To Tweet.

Where can ppl find you online? https://twitter.com/diskon4no uses zaap bio/diskon4no  Twitter @designcast

 IG:    @discon4no

FB: https://www.facebook.com/WJasonReagin

Website: https://zaap.bio/diskon4no

Design Cast podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/design-cast-podcast

View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eh4Ek9e7ePI