SCIE Empowers All Staff with Inclusive, Strategic PD

Case Study

Sep 8

Impact Highlights

95% of staff report they can access PD aligned to their needs
2X PeerSphere participation year-over-year
Commended by Council of International Schools for inclusive, high-impact PD strategy

About SCIE

Shenzhen College of International Education (SCIE) serves over 2,000 students and employs 210+ staff. Known for academic rigor and a broad Cambridge curriculum, SCIE cultivates student passion across disciplines—from science to the arts.

Led by Academic Deputy Principal Richard Driscoll, SCIE is evolving its strategy to support a new generation of globally focused learners, including a shift toward US university pathways and integrated service learning.

The Challenge for SCIE

SCIE needed a more inclusive, scalable, and impactful approach to professional development (PD) to match its evolving academic goals.

Siloed roles: Non-teaching staff and program leaders (e.g. global citizenship, librarians) lacked peer networks and relevant PD.
Unequal PD access: PD was traditionally teacher-centric, leaving out HR, admissions, marketing, and long-serving local staff.
Adapting to change:Staff needed PD options responsive to new challenges like AI in education.
Measuring impact: SCIE’s PD strategy follows the Guskey model, which requires linking PD directly to student outcomes—a challenge for one-off workshops or generic training.

How PeerSphere Helped

SCIE joined PeerSphere’s Peer Learning Communities in 2022 and adopted the School Pass model to give open access across departments.

Inclusive by Design

Flexible timing and a range of roles allowed SCIE to involve nearly 100 staff in PeerSphere—double the number from the year prior. Non-teaching teams and local educators found meaningful communities, including librarians, HR, and marketing staff.

Strategic + Scalable

By combining PeerSphere with its existing Guskey-aligned PD model, SCIE delivered role-relevant learning while staying outcome-focused. PeerSphere’s agile communities on topics like AI in education supported timely school initiatives.

Promotes Collaboration

Staff like Global Citizenship Lead Angelina built new networks with peers from other schools. PeerSphere even encouraged cross-role collaboration—such as co-taught student-staff leadership courses.

Drives Leadership + Expertise

Richard Driscoll joined PeerSphere’s PD evaluation community and shared SCIE’s success in aligning PD to student outcomes, showing how PeerSphere enables expert contribution and peer coaching.

Results That Matter

95% of staff report they access PD aligned to their needs (2024 Staff Survey)
PD-driven initiatives (e.g. AI strategy, assessment reform) trace back to PeerSphere exposure and collaboration
SCIE received CIS commendation for its inclusive, strategic PD model
Long-term community building: Richard continues in his PeerSphere community after 3 years of participation

LeeAnne Lavender

LeeAnne has been a service learning coach and mentor for 20 years in South Korea, Kenya, and China. Now, as an educational consultant and coach, she is working with schools and teams of educators in many places around the world, and she specializes in helping schools build impactful and robust PreK-12 service learning programs. She also specializes in the intersectionality of storytelling with service learning and active global citizenship (everything from deep listening in story circles to digital storytelling for advocacy as action).

In addition to working independently with schools, she is the Service Learning Advisor for the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA) and a facilitator for global citizenship education with Peer Sphere. She also partners with CBK Associates and Inspire Citizens.

https://www.leeannelavender.com/