We are excited to welcome Mr. Sean O’Brien to Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong (Senior School) as our new Head of Science. A passionate chemist and experienced educator, Mr. O’Brien is dedicated to making science engaging, challenging, and rewarding for every student. From developing innovative lessons to organizing international science competitions, he brings energy and vision to our leading-edge Science Department.
Read on to discover his teaching philosophy, inspirations, and what he’s most looking forward to this year.
Q&A with Mr. Sean O’Brien
Tell us about your role at Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong.
First and foremost, my main role at Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong is to be the students’ chemistry teacher. That of course involves developing stimulating and effective lessons for our students to learn chemistry to the best of their abilities, and support them when they encounter difficulties. In addition, I support and help the other teachers in our science department with developing engaging and progressive plans on how we deliver on the Edexcel curriculum, including on building in inspiring experiences for our students that capture their imagination and further enthuse them towards science. Finally, I handle some of the logistical support for our teachers, allowing them to prepare engaging, hands-on activities in iSTEAM lessons, organizing our departments’ resources and finances to ensure that we can deliver high quality, high impact lessons that support and push our students to learn as best as they can.
What inspired you to become a teacher?
It was totally by accident! While I was in research, I had a position as a teaching assistant, and it quickly became the part of the week that I looked forward to the most. It was being able to engage with a small group of students that made me realise how difficult and technical teaching was. That students needed to be supported in building up their understanding of chemistry helped me realise that although teaching is challenging, it is also intellectually rewarding not just for the students, but for myself as well.
How would you describe your teaching style?
Engaging, I hope! I try to make sure that every single student, in every single lesson, is able to learn as best as they can. Although I’m sure some students can find my lessons demanding, I’m confident that at the end of the term, or the year, or the entire senior school, students will be able to look back at my lessons and realise that, through all the questions and challenges that I have posed for them, that they have learnt effectively and confidently. I aim to ensure that all of my students develop their understanding one step at a time, and they feel confident in retaining their learning and building on it moving forward.
What’s one thing you hope students take away from your teaching?
That ultimately, chemistry and science are hugely satisfying subjects to pursue. The ability of science to describe, explain and predict the natural world makes it simultaneously difficult to access, but also rewarding to study. We spend a lot of time in chemistry building models and doing a lot of theory, setting the foundation for our students to build their understanding. Ultimately, this investment, although it can take many years, will allow students to explain their observations without realising how much knowledge and understanding they needed to apply.
What do you love about Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong?
As a new school, Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong gives all of us, teachers and students, the opportunity to build a new school without any of the legacy initiatives of the past. It means we can focus on thinking “where do we want this school to be?” instead of “what do we need to change?”. It’s this mindset that allows us to make decisions for the betterment of our students, without having to consider the inertia of change.
Are you involved in any extracurricular activities, school events, or initiatives?
In addition to preparing our curriculum internally, I am also involved in organizing the international competitions for the students. For those who are interested in challenging themselves further, these competitions (such as the science Olympiads) provide an excellent opportunity to go beyond our school curriculum and to better understand the other facets of science, including the style of challenge they can expect at university. For our students who are applying for universities soon, these competitions are a great way to demonstrate an interest or aptitude towards the science-related disciplines.
What book, movie, or song would you recommend to your students—and why?
I finished reading the Dune series recently, and I cannot recommend it enough. The main reason is that (although it is science-fiction) the amount of detail and attention the book puts into creating a world with historical events, and building a believable world, is up there with the very best. It makes the characters more than simply agents of the author, but people who are responding to the circumstances and events that the Dune universe throws at them.
What are you looking forward to most this year?
I’m looking forward to the continual growth of the school, not just in terms of student numbers (although that is also hugely exciting), but also our growth in what we can offer our students. There are so many new initiatives coming up, from competitions, to experiments, to experience weeks, to simulated research, to new and modern teaching methods, that are all in our pipeline to deliver for our students’ learning. It makes the future for Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong exciting, and something that we can all, as a community, look forward to.
We are excited to see the impact Mr. O’Brien will have on our Senior School community. His expertise in science, commitment to academic excellence, and drive to create innovative opportunities for students will make Science at Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong an inspiring and rewarding experience for all.
Stay tuned for more introductions in our Introducing Our New Teachers Series as we continue to welcome exceptional educators to Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong.
