8 years elementary school experience.
8 years secondary school experience.
7 years college experience.
Award winning, innovative, highly experienced professional
During close to 30 years experience I have taught students from grade 5 through to college level. I have significant experience teaching Design, Visual Art, Photography, Business, English, French, all subjects at grade 5/6 level and more.
I have won awards for innovation throughout my career and have taught across the world in countries such as Canada, the UAE and Thailand. I have a Master of Education degree in Online Learning, speak 3 languages and I am very comfortable in a diverse education environment.
I am a certified teacher in BC, Alberta and Québec Canada and have completed Category 2 training at both IB (International Baccalaureate) MYP and DP levels in Design.
Contributions to my school
Developed Design Program & Workshop
KIS International School, Bangkok – Thailand – 2017-19
Developed the Design Program for grades 6-12 as an articulated curriculum in graphic and product design.
As part of this effort I played a key role in the design and outfitting of the Design workshop which includes both traditional toolsets and modern rapid prototyping technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC milling. I also trained the workshop technician to work with these technologies.
Designed and built furniture for the school workshop and Mac Lab
KIS International School, Bangkok – Thailand – 2018-22
When the workshop was initially built budget for furniture was limited, so I designed and built all the furniture.
Display Design
KIS International School, Bangkok – Thailand – 2016-21
I was the display design coordinator. Using my industry professional level illustration and graphic design skills I created teaching support and communication displays for use throughout the school.
Awards
Throughout my career I have received awards for my innovative approaches to teaching.
Hilroy Fellowship – 1993
A $2500 award from the Canadian Teacher’s Federation for outstanding innovation in teaching. This award was in particular recognition for my combination of self-directed learning, learning styles and project-based learning for grade 5-6.
Adobe Education Leader – 2009 – 2015
From 2009 to 2015 I served as an Adobe Education leader training college students and faculty on a wide range of Adobe software including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom and more.
Ultimaker Award – 2018
An award for outstanding innovation in the use of 3D printing technology. The award included a 3D printer and materials valued at $5000.00. This award was in particular recognition for combining 3D printing with silicone mold making and casting for a grade 7 teaching unit.
Professional Development
Throughout my career I have pursued professional development.
M.Ed. Online Education
In 2007 I was awarded my M. Ed. in Online Education. My industry professional web development and media skills in combination with my formal training in online education came in very handy during the COVID pandemic.
IB Diploma DP (senior high) and MYP (middle school) Design teacher training
I have completed both DP and MYP category 2 level training in Design for the International Baccalaureate.
Lesson material / Unit Examples
Board Game Design – Grade 7
This unit combined 3D modeling and printing, graphic design, book binding techniques and package design. Students researched and created board games based on themes. The outputs included:
- Double-sided cards
- Hard bound game boards
- 3D modeled and printed figurines which were used to create silicone molds for hot metal casting of metal figurines
- Package designs
Lesson process
Example of online teaching material
I often put together series of videos to help students with processes or content that we cover in class. This allows them to work / learn when and where it is convenient for them.
Videos are often put together into playlists. Here is an example of a playlist on how to design a finger-jointed box in AutoDesk Fusion 360.
Example of student process documentation
My students document and reflect on every step of their learning process.
Student Work Examples
As much as possible I put student work on display to celebrate and share their accomplishments. I designed and built the displays. All work was done by my students.
Educational Philosophy
This video is representative of my view of teaching and learning.
Design in Action
This clip shows students at work in my Design class. I appear near the end of the clip.
School Promotion
I am often involved in promoting my school in particular and Design in general. In this HP promotional video / advertisement video I show up at the 21 second mark talking about digital design and printing at KIS International School. HP donated $1000.00 worth of printing materials to the school as a thank you for my involvement.
Philip Toews 