Michelle Chin is a second-generation Chinese Canadian, who grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario. She is a French Immersion teacher and recent graduate from the Master of Child Study and Education program at the University of Toronto. She loves connecting and learning about other people’s cultures and believes one’s culture heavily shapes people’s lived experiences and personal identities. In her program, her group used arts as a form of social change to share how their racialized identity developments were influenced by white supremacy. They were asked to share their creative projects with the program’s faculty to help better understand their experiences as students and educators as they continue to work on their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. She is also interested in educational research and is working on International Bilingual Education which is in partnership with the Netherlands and China. The project aims to work on assessment and interventions for students with at-risk reading difficulties in hopes to provide more equitable access to French Immersion programs for students of various backgrounds. Her thesis is looking at how transcription mode (handwriting/typing) influences second language learners’ writing performance.
From the age of 24, eighteen of those years have been dedicated to schooling. It is important for her to make time for things that bring her joy outside of school and is excited by the opportunity to be a part of the Canadian delegation. While she has no previous experience with Japan, it’s been her dream to visit Japan, and is intrigued by their collectivistic cultural values and way of life.