Leading a bilingual school: A chat with Stanley Wang, Principal of Abbotsford Primary School

Bilingual education is being embraced by more schools, educators and communities in Australia, as its benefits become more established and accepted. Although still a niche part of the Australian educational landscape, there are a number of bilingual schools around the country, which allow students to learn through another language in addition to English.

In this episode of Language Chats, we speak with Stanley Wang, Principal of Abbotsford Primary School in Melbourne, the home of Australia’s longest running Chinese-English Bilingual Program. Stanley was also recently awarded the 2021 40 Under 40: Most Influential Asian-Australian Award in the education category.

We chat with Stanley about how he became a teacher, bilingual education in general, its benefits and challenges, what it’s like leading a bilingual school and his own personal experiences of learning and enjoying language, including the free online Mandarin Conversation Club (中文之友会) he runs online for adults.

What are your thoughts on bilingual education?

Do you have any questions for us or Stanley? Let us know!

Episode Links

• Find Stanley on LinkedIn
• Abbotsford Primary School
• Abbotsford PS on Facebook
• 中文之友会 (Mandarin Conversation Club)
• ABC News - Young Australians share how they built careers in the middle of COVID pandemic (2021 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians Awards)
• 华人青年荣获“40位40岁以下最具影响力亚裔澳大利亚人”奖 畅谈奋斗历程