This is me

My name is J. Rafael Ángel

I am a pedagogical director at an international school in Brussels. I am still designing professional learning for a team. I am still teaching.

Choosing to collaborate with me means you and your team will engage in dialogue with someone who lives what it means to teach, learn, design, try, iterate, and reflect every day.

I do not believe in pre-designed professional development products. I believe in designing professional learning experiences with the context, participants and school aspirations in mind.

I am a multilingual international educator (Spanish, English, French, Italian) who describes himself as an individual in a permanent state of learning. My experience as a classroom teacher, program coordinator, pedagogical leader, and language learner empowers me to support learning communities that seek to explore growth from different angles, attending to different stakeholders.

My professional profile includes experience as:

  • Educator: Spanish, English, and French as additional languages; Spanish and English Language and Literature; Middle School Humanities; Middle School Design.

  • Head of Department: Languages.

  • Coordinator: IB Primary Years Programme (PYP); IB Middle Years Programme (MYP).

  • Teaching and Learning Director.

  • Pedagogical Director.

I provide professional learning services that empower educators and leaders to embrace their creativity, honor their skills, and recognize their agency. I believe in designing professional learning with a focus on intention, and on the explicit support that educators seek within their contextual circumstances.

I customize all professional experiences in collaboration with the learning organizations with whom I develop partnerships. Likewise, my expertise and access to concrete examples and case studies empower me to serve as a strategic facilitator in professional engagements structured in a cluster format to groups of participants from different schools.

The list below showcases examples of the workshops I have designed for different contexts:

  1. From Inception to Fruition: Concept-Based Language Instruction.

  2. Concept-Based Explorations into Language and Literature.

  3. Creating a Sustainable Language Instruction Culture: Supporting subject-teachers to teach with language levels in mind.

  4. Concept-Based Inquiry in Humanities.

  5. A Deep Dive into Supporting Language Learners in humanities, science, and mathematics.

  6. Embracing a Culture of Multilingualism: Philosophy, Policy, and Practice.

  7. Creating a Culture of Assessment: Philosophy, Policy, and Practice.

  8. Workshops for Parents.

    1. Approaches to Teaching Research Skills: From the written curriculum to action.

  9. Approaches to Teaching for Conceptual Understanding.

I earned my Master’s Degree in Education with a focus on Approaches to Teaching and Learning from TEC de Monterrey. I also hold a BA in Teaching English and Spanish as Additional Languages, along with certifications such as Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction (CBCI), Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and various IB Practices Certificates.

I have had the opportunity to teach and learn in Mexico, the USA, Jordan, India, China, the UAE, and Europe.

I currently spend my time between Belgium and Mexico.

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Testimonials

I am pleased to wholeheartedly recommend J. Rafael Angel as an exceptional facilitator who consistently pushes educators to become deeper thinkers. During his time with the International Community School of Abidjan, Rafael’s expertise and dedication have profoundly impacted our faculty’s professional learning. His ability to engage teachers in meaningful, reflective dialogue and challenge them to think critically about their teaching practices has been invaluable to our community.

Rafael’s work on concept-based teaching and learning, particularly within our language department, has had a major impact on our approach to teaching and learning. He introduced clear and effective strategies that have helped our educators develop a deeper understanding of how to teach complex concepts effectively. His sessions on concept-based language development were not only enlightening but also practical, providing our teachers with the tools and confidence to implement these strategies in their classrooms. The result has been a more cohesive and enriched learning experience for our students.

In addition to his work on concept-based learning, Rafael has played a crucial role in aligning our International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) across the school and towards systems of success. His expertise in assessment and his ability to elucidate the importance and use of command terms have greatly enhanced our teachers’ understanding and execution of the IBDP curriculum. Rafael’s guidance has ensured that our assessment practices are concept-based and aligned with IB expectations, thereby improving the overall quality of our academic program. His contributions have been instrumental in developing a more consistent and effective approach to teaching and assessment at our school.

Our entire community is grateful for the work they were able to do alongside Rafael, who simply rolls up his sleeves and gets into the thinking right alongside the teachers. We are a better community with improved practices because of the meaningful work we did with him!

I have always struggled with putting a concept-based approach to teaching into practice, partly due to a lack of examples and concrete teaching ideas. While CBCI can be applied in interdisciplinary ways, as a language acquisition teacher, I was looking for subject-specific strategies related to language use, grammar, and texts. Rafael provided me with valuable insights in this area—helping students notice language patterns in texts and emphasizing the importance of strategic language learning by enhancing linguistic input. His guidance shed light on what to teach and how to teach language in a concept-based way.

By: Andy Pontius

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Testimonials

» Rafael has been an invaluable partner in establishing the fundamental basis for the curriculum renewal of our large Modern Language Department at UNIS in NYC. His expertise in intercultural understanding, multilingual language instruction, and extensive experience in transitioning language programs to a more conceptual approach makes him a great asset for any international school looking to evolve and cater to the needs of today’s global students.»

 

 

 

By 

Sochenda Samreth

«I have always struggled with putting a concept-based approach to teaching into practice, partly due to a lack of examples and concrete teaching ideas. While CBCI can be applied in interdisciplinary ways, as a language acquisition teacher, I was looking for subject-specific strategies related to language use, grammar, and texts.
Rafael provided me with valuable insights in this area—helping students notice language patterns in texts and emphasizing the importance of strategic language learning by enhancing linguistic input. His guidance shed light on what to teach and how to teach language in a concept-based way.»

By 

Concept-Based Language Inquiries Participant.

«I very much appreciated how Rafael was able to explain concepts and conceptual learning with practical activities and in such a way that I could see its relevance and use in lessons. I also liked the way that the workshop did not focus on any particular type of educational framework (ie IB, GCSE etc)which meant that what was presented was applicable across different curricula frameworks.«

 

 

 

 

By 

Concept-Based Language Inquiries Participant.