In an interview conducted by Zoe Manzolini ’29, Middle School Math Teacher Anne Marie MacLean shared insights into her background and philosophy at TASIS. MacLean began teaching at the school in 2020 and currently serves as a Middle School math teacher and dorm parent, having previously been a High School dorm parent for six years. She is also a faculty leader of the Ski Club and the Middle School’s Swiss Experience fall trip to Gstaad. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, she earned a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Education from St. Francis Xavier University. Before arriving at TASIS, she taught in Quebec for ten years and subsequently in Turkey, Estonia, Switzerland, Singapore, and Norway. Her path to teaching was unexpected; in her final year of university, professors encouraged her to pursue the profession after a departmental presentation. MacLean finds teaching deeply rewarding, citing the moment a student says “I get it!” as her favorite classroom experience. If not a teacher, she believes she would have been a physiotherapist, driven by a love of anatomy. Her teaching philosophy centers on fostering self-sufficiency and independence, ensuring students truly understand material rather than passively memorizing it. She values the TASIS community for its beauty, strong values, and the friendly, open staff and kind students. Over time, she has built positive relationships with faculty and students, noting that the community’s international background helps overcome cultural barriers. A highlight of her work is leading outdoor education trips to Gstaad, where students learn independence and confidence through problem-solving in nature.
MacLean’s goals this year include incorporating more hands-on assessments that require problem-solving rather than traditional pencil-and-paper tests. She notes that students particularly enjoy activities like 3D drawings of shapes, which connect to independent learning and visualizing concepts in different contexts. Her biggest challenge is students’ attention spans, which she addresses by directly encouraging focus and by presenting material in varied ways to motivate students, ultimately emphasizing the need for internal motivation. Her teaching style has evolved from a more didactic approach to guiding students toward finding solutions collaboratively. At TASIS, she has adjusted her pacing and communication to support non-native English speakers. She was surprised by the amount of student travel, which she sees as fostering open-mindedness. Her favorite memory is a Middle School Swiss Experience trip to Gstaad that included a glacier walk with homemade snowshoes. Having lived in many places, she has learned that people everywhere want to belong to a community and are more alike than different. She believes international understanding is crucial because it allows people to appreciate other cultures and recognize that “normal” is defined by upbringing. Outside school, she enjoys hiking, skiing, and being in nature—activities that inspired her leadership of the Gstaad trip. Her advice to her younger self is to pay attention in the moment and learn a little every day rather than cramming before assessments, as repeated exposure and concentration support retention and cognitive function.
