领军校长专访｜上海美高学校校长方正：将哲学思考融入教育理念，培养面向未来的领军人才

导语

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本文为上海美高学校方正校长的领军校长专访。

Following is an exclusive interview with Edward J. Fang, Principal of Living Word Shanghai.

校长名片

方正

上海美高学校创始人

美国耶鲁大学全球董事会董事

美国耶鲁大学Sterling Fellow

美国耶鲁大学管理学院教学楼捐赠人

耶鲁大学北京中心创始赞助人

美国纽约大学全球理事会主席

美国纽约大学国际董事会董事

上海纽约大学“方正&唐雯奖学金”捐赠人

上海纽约大学教学楼捐赠人之一

上海交响乐团国际董事会董事

美国纽约爱乐交响乐团赞助人

上海市台商协会副会长

方正校长早年曾在美国工作和生活。归国后，方先生决心从事国际教育行业，至今已有20余年。多年国际教育工作的积累，使方先生逐渐体会到中国孩子的特点，也深深地认识到中国学生所面临的挑战，他意识到教育最重要的目的之一就是让学生具备辨别对错、追求真理的能力。成功的教育应当使学生具备终身学习的能力，了解未来，不懈追求真理，潜移默化地影响学生，培养学生正确的人生观、价值观和世界观。

在方正校长先进教育理念的激发和个性化培养下，他所领导的团队帮助了一批又一批中国学子实现了前往世界名校留学的梦想，更有相当一部分优秀学生进入了哈佛、耶鲁、剑桥、斯坦福、麻省理工等世界顶尖名校。

学校介绍

上海美高学校提供10-12年级优质教育。学校以中外教双语老师为主，拥有纯正美式高中教育环境。自有大学申请中心，升学率逐年提升，2016-2023毕业生全部进入了全美排名前80的大学。

学校旨在培养具有世界视野的优质双语学生，“帮助学生情商、智商、能力均衡发展，将学生培养成为未来各行各业的领军人物”。学校引进一流的教育资源，不仅和学校课程有效融合，更注重每位学生文化学习能力、情商、个人专长均衡培养，提供同学社会实践、社团活动的机会，以帮助每一位毕业生都能获得在国外顶尖名校继续升学的机会，为国家培养具有语言特长、前瞻性、创造力和社会责任的未来领导人才。

一、阶段教育，

发挥中西融合优势

京领：您曾有很优秀的教育背景和全球顶尖企业的工作经历，是什么让您最终选择了国际化教育领域？

上海美高学校校长方正：我认为教育是全世界最重要的工作，因为它的目的是培养我们人类的下一代。我做过很多不同的工作，比如投资银行，然后也在国际企业里做过事情，但我真的很希望能够在有限的时间里去做影响力最大的工作，能够对国家、社会有一些小小的贡献，所以我认为教育是一个最好的选择。

国际化教育是不一样的，因为这是一个全球化的时代，无论我们喜欢或者不喜欢，我们的下一代必须要面对一个越来越全球化的世界。因此，教育的工作就是要帮助每一个孩子做好面对未来的准备，他/她们该如何面对这个全球化的世界，他/她们会面临怎样的问题，会得到怎样的机遇，无论他/她们将来选择哪一个职业方向，这都是我们要考虑的。所以，这就是我选择国际化教育的原因。

京领：请问您的跨文化教育经历和商业经验是否对您的教育理念有所启示？

上海美高学校校长方正：这是一定的。幸运地是，我也曾在体制内的教育里学习过，然后当我到美国去学习的时候，我发现即使教育的目的都是相同的，都是为国家、社会培养未来的领导者，但是如何培养领导者，这受到每一个国家的意识形态影响，会有所不同。

一般而言，中国的教育好像是在过分地借助考试分数来评定一个孩子的竞争力，这是因为我们本来就非常要求社会的平等，我们几乎找不到比考试更公平的途径，即使它有诸多的缺点；而国外会更重视孩子在接受教育的过程当中所培养出来的能力或是习惯。

因此，我们通常会感觉到在国外的教育里，老师更多地是在扮演解惑的角色。孩子要先建立起自主学习的能力和习惯，而老师负责的是解答孩子在自主学习的过程当中可能遇到的问题；在中国的教育里，老师所负责的是授业，老师最重要的责任就是在孩子的头脑里灌输他在这个年龄阶段必须要掌握的知识点和应该具备的解答能力。

但事实上，这两种不同的教育模式都有它真正的价值所在。因为随着一个孩子生理构造的逐渐成熟，他/她需要在不同的年龄阶段接受不一样的教导方式。

我认为体制内的学校最成功的是在小学阶段。因为最适合6-12岁的孩子的教育方式就是教导，我们小学阶段的教育能够为孩子打下很好的知识基础。而英美国家在这个阶段里是没有办法像我们一样做到这一点的。但我们的教育真正的问题是在12岁以后，也就是孩子进入到中学的阶段，在这个时候更应该培养的是孩子自主学习和合作学习的能力，比如，他/她能否自己发现问题，找到答案；他/她能否和他的同学、老师交流，甚至辩论。

在这个阶段，孩子们更应该养成一种学习的习惯，但可能因为考试制度的关系，一直到中学阶段，老师对教学的方式都不敢做出太大的改变，重点在于这种方式是最快、最有效率的，能够给孩子在各个科目上都打下扎实的基础，然后培养出他/她的解题能力。但是在这个时候，如果还是依靠这种单线式的引导，而没有试图让孩子建立独自摸索、找寻答案的能力和习惯，那么孩子的独立判断、思考、分析的能力就没有办法在这段时间里得到很好的培养。

因此，我认为最好的教育是要考虑到孩子们的成长阶段的。随着身体构造的成熟，他/她们成长到了不同的阶段，我们也要给他/她们提供不同方式的教导。而这就是我们在学校里一直强调的：中西融合可以应用在孩子不同的年龄阶段，我们会提供给他/她们在该阶段最需要的教育方式。

京领：在您看来，一位好的国际化学校的校长应该具备哪些素质和能力？

上海美高学校校长方正：第一，要具备哲学家的修为。哲学追求的是真理，以及对于知识要有一种热爱，我们就应该对于知识，对于智慧，对于真理有一种热爱，而这种热爱是可以传达给学生的，具有强大的感染力。

第二，要具备慈善家应有的爱心。作为一所私立民办学校，为了增加老师对每个学生的照顾和了解，我们会严格地控制每一个班级中学生的数量，每个班级都不能超过25个学生，但即使是这样，都已经造成了很大的精神和体力上的负担。所以，我认为对待每一个孩子都必须要有一样的爱心。

第三，要成为一个传教家。一天24个小时，每个孩子待在学校的时间也只有8个小时，另外的16个小时可能都是在家里和自己的长辈、和自己的家长相处的时间。因此，真正成功的教育，是要让孩子在学校和在家里都接受到一贯的教育，所以学校必须要和家长合作。因为任何理念和做法上的分歧都会造成很大的困惑，最终阻挡教育达到目的。因此，我认为我们的工作不只是在于要教导自己的学生，还要不断地把正确的教育理念传达给家长，使双方的教育达到一致。

最后，我认为在一个多变的世界里，也应该要具备改革者的勇气。我们讲教育，最可怕的一个地方就是我们会持续地把过去成功的这种方式和系统一直沿用下去，然后期待它会持续的成功。可是这个世界一直在改变，所以我们都应该跳出过去的成功经历，时时刻刻问自己未来的世界是什么样子，到底应该做出哪些改变。

二、阶段教育，

发挥中西融合优势

京领 ：您加入国际教育行业也已经有20余年了，那么在您的办学经历中，让您印象最深刻的是什么？

上海美高学校校长方正：每一年都会发生一些让我感觉到教育工作者责任重大，或者感觉到自己的工作很有意义的经历。但真正会让我印象深刻的通常来讲不是我们的孩子竞赛得奖了、考试得满分了、或者是申请到了国外的顶尖的大学……我认为一些失败和挫折，甚至是冲突往往能带给人们最大的成长与最深刻的意义。

而在我的教育工作中，我所面临的最大的挑战是关于我本身的教育理念的。大家都会碰到厌学的、有行为偏差的孩子，或者他/他们可能会因为天生的生理缺陷，给家长、老师或者是学校增加负担。该怎样让一个抗拒学习，不想来学校的孩子去了解学习真正的目的，让他/她开始享受学习，这种挑战才会带给我们最大的成长和记忆。

如果一个孩子，因为原生家庭的原因，对于人与人的相处和互动完全没有信心，没有办法和同学互动，和老师有一个很好的交流，对于外界给他/她的任何信息都抱着负面的反应，那么他/她就会采取简单粗暴的方式处理问题，这就会给他/她身边的人带来很大的困扰。该怎样帮助这样的孩子，让他/她对所处的世界重拾信心，对于所处的环境和社会制定的规则有一种尊敬，这才是对教育工作者而言最大的挑战。这才是真正考验到一个专业的教育工作者的理念、情怀和能力的地方。

京领 ：在教师队伍的建设上面，您采取了哪些措施来提高教师队伍的水平，提高教学教研质量？

上海美高学校校长方正：我认为重要的一点是要为老师们提供一个时时刻刻都能够成长的环境。一个真正能够进步的学校所拥有的最重要的基础能力就是能够帮助它的老师成长。

首先，要在老师们之间设定交流，让他/她们可以交换自己的意见。资深的老师可以有机会把他/她的教学、与家长相处、与学生互动的经验传承给更年轻的老师。

我们学校中有超过四成的老师拥有硕士，甚至是博士的学位，他/她们在学术上的经验都是非常丰富的，所以决定一个老师好坏的往往不是学术资质，更多地是能否拥有回应冲突与挫折的情商；能否牢记自己最重要的职责在于激励孩子的学习兴趣，因为这种兴趣会影响他/她的一生，而不只是在学校的阶段；能否时时刻刻提醒孩子未来的世界是什么样子，应该做好怎样的准备才能够把未来碰到的任何问题转变为人生的机遇，这些是老师最重要的一个职责。

其次，要建立明确的奖励机制，让表现好的老师能够得到认可和奖励，也让别的老师也能够更清楚地了解要成为学校认可的好的老师，应该要注意做到哪些事情。

京领：在增进中外教师的合作和交流上，您采取了哪些措施？

上海美高学校校长方正：我认为关键是要增强中外教师之间交流和沟通的语言能力。在我们的学校中，绝大部分的中籍老师都已经具备了一定的英语沟通能力，而剩下来的可能就是要帮助我们的外籍老师，让他/她们不仅对中文有所了解，更重要到的一点是可以对我们的意识形态和价值观有更多的了解，这能够增进他/她们在这里工作的便利性，同时也能激发他/她们更多的认同。

因此，在我们学校中，我们不仅给学生设置课程，我们也给中籍老师和外籍老师设置语言课程。这些课程都是由同事之间相互安排时间来学习的，然后由学校提供必备的教材以及费用。所以，在这个时候，同事之间可以相互学习中文和英文，这不仅增进了他们的语言能力，而且也增进了同事之间沟通、合作的机会。

京领：您一直致力于关注每个孩子的需求，培养未来各行各业的领军人物，能否详细介绍一下您和您所带领的团队采取了哪些专门的教育模式或方法？

上海美高学校校长方正：最重要的一点是要能够接受每一个孩子都是不同的。在我的学校，我希望他们能够守规矩，但是不要太听话。每个人都是社会的成员，如果想要得到这个社会的接受，得到其他社会成员的认可，就必须要对社会的秩序和规则有一种尊敬，但是每个人也都应该有自己的意见，并使用同学、老师能够接受的方式表达自己的意见。

我认为把学校的文化建立成这样是一件非常重要的事情，同时要借由课程和社团活动培养孩子这样的能力，提供给每一位老师更好地去观察他的学生，去发现他们的独特点的机会。

我对于我的同事只有两个要求。第一，做学生思想上的引导者。其实在人工智能出来以前，我们的家长和老师好像都在扮演人工智能的角色，孩子问一个直接的问题，我们直接给他/她答案。但我给我们学校的老师的一个提醒是当碰到一个问题的时候，要想办法回应三个问题，从而慢慢借由这些问题来引导孩子的思考。而因为参与了整个思考和分析的过程，孩子也会逐渐对学习有更多的兴趣。

第二，做学生行为上的模范者。人既有视觉又有听觉，但是视觉给我们的影响远比听觉要来得更大。当我们鼓励学生要用功，要多看书，建立阅读的习惯时，不妨用实际行动来证明给他/她们看。

京领：在您担任校长的期间，学校取得了哪些令您印象深刻的成就吗？

上海美高学校校长方正：我有一个不断质疑的习惯，这使美高拿下了美国和英国的认证，并不断探索新的课程体系。在传统的概念里，如果要做国际化的教育，首先要有一个国际的合作机构。但是，我当初第一个反应就是为什么是这个样子？我能否让自己的学校变成一个国际认可的教育机构，因此我自己去联系了美国的资质认证机构，确认它们是否只能认可在美国登记的学校。最终我得到的回复是只要课程、教授的知识点、教授的方式、教授的品质能够得到它们的认可，它们就会给予相对应的学历。

因此，从那个时候开始我就做了这件事情，然后大概在4年以前，我们得到了美国的认证。这意味着在我们美高学校，小学、初中一直到高中，学生能拿到的不只是中国的文凭，他/她们一样能拿到美国的文凭。因为我们所设计出来的课程涵盖了两种体系都必须要有的知识点，而且我们的教学品质得到了两边的认可。

在这以后，我们又着手想要拿到英国的认可，最终在去年年初的时候，我们得到了英国Cambridge剑桥系统的认可。这意味着在美高学校的孩子，每一个孩子都能够同时拿到三个文凭认证，对于英国学校来讲，我们是英国学校，对于美国来讲，我们是美国学校，而我们同时也有中国学校的能力。

对现在而言，我在问自己，我能不能创造一种课程体系，让我们的孩子能够同时接受到所有这些，让我们学校的孩子能够有更多重的选择。多半的大人、家长也好，教育工作者也好，第一反应就是孩子的负担会不会太重，但其实这是因为我们都受到了自己想象力的限制，因为这样的局限而限制了孩子发展的机会，我觉得这是很可惜的事情。体制内的教育把孩子会的和不会的都混合起来，这浪费了孩子们很多的时间，但如果孩子能把自己的努力专注在真正还不熟的地方，而不是把时间浪费在已经会的地方的话，我相信这不仅不会增加孩子的负担，还会让他们获得更好的发展。真正的尖子生和平庸的学生，他们的差别不在于智商，中间一个很重要的点在于他如何管理自己的时间。

三、高瞻远瞩，

为未来做好准备

京领：请问您认为面向未来的教育模式应该是怎样的？

上海美高学校校长方正：我认为未来的教育工作者应该时刻问自己未来的世界是什么样子，然后真正地从实际出发为孩子做好迎接未来的挑战的准备，也要注重培养孩子的思考和创新能力。

下一代的孩子会碰到两大问题：一是地缘政治的发展，二是人工智能科技的发展。

地缘政治的发展实际上是什么？未来20年的世界跟我们现在所熟知的是不是一样的？当孩子到达真正的20年以后，他们在工作上面最多的机会会出现在哪里？会出现在东盟，会出现在非洲，会出现在中亚，会出现在远东西伯利亚？

因为英语已经变成一个国际语言，所以我预计在未来的20年30年里，这些英语系的国家，它还是持续的会变成很重要的一个文化教育的散播的地点。但是真正最重要的科技经济的机会将不会再在美国，甚至不会在欧洲。我们对印度知道多少？我们的孩子有没有这种课程，能够让他们了解到我们隔壁最大的一个邻居俄罗斯的历史文化背景和经济状况？我们有多少的课程能够让孩子真正去了解未来气候变暖时西伯利亚会如何？

我们这一代都是在拿我们过去所了解到的世界，过去学到的东西来教导现在的孩子，然后期待他们去解决未来的问题，这是错的。教育工作者，时时刻刻要问自己的是未来20年、30年这个世界会变成什么样？我们是不是应该要为我们的学生做好面对未来的准备？因此，未来他/她们遇到问题就不会把它当做是一个挑战，甚至是一个灾难，而是把它当做一个机遇。

第二，人工智能出来以后，所有的作业和考试都变成了一种很荒谬的东西。以前，老师让学生写一个200-300字的报告，学生们怨声载道，现在让学生写5000-10000字，学生微笑接受，准时交作业。人工智能让我们有很多的东西不需要自己去做，但一个很可怕的事情是人工智能不仅能给我们答案，甚至会取代我们，它会让我们在能力和习惯没有达标的时候，随时随地地被取代。

前几天，我在给我们学校十一年级的孩子解疑的时候，我问一个孩子想要到大学学习什么专业。他说我想学设计，但我现在不知道我应该走的是专门的设计学院还是综合大学。我说今天最大的一个挑战不在于要画的比别人好，因为人工智能绝对可以做到，不论受过多少年的训练，如果没有自己的想法，人工智能会做得更好，这就是未来会碰到的挑战。

未来的孩子会遇到各种各样的挑战，尤其是还要面对未来科技的冲击，所以没有自己的思想和创新能力是非常难发展的，这是每一个教育工作者都应该要考虑到的。但非常讽刺的一点是无论美国、英国还是我们体制内的教育，从孩子小学到高中为止，与计算机人工智能相关的课程少的可怜，几乎没有，因为我们大人都不知道要如何应付，所以我们匆匆带过，我认为这是非常残忍，而且不负责任的一点。

我经常在讲教育工作者是在拿肢体上的辛劳去掩盖策略上的懒惰。我们很容易可以看到7:00、 7:30就站在校门口迎接学生的校长；我们很容易看到孩子在上下校车的时候，老师走到门口去接送他们，而这是最简单地可以让整个社会、家长感觉到这个学校的老师真的很尽责的一个假象。我们有多少学校会真的停止使用套装软件的课程，而真正开始去想这一代的孩子在面对20年、30年，甚至是50年以后的未来时，他/她们需要哪一种能力，我们该如何为他们做准备。

京领：为了更好地面对未来的机遇和挑战，您认为学生应该具备哪些素质和能力？

上海美高学校校长方正：首先，我认为他/她要能够对地缘政治的发展有一种掌握。在我那个年代，留学生最希望的就是能够留在美国，而我在华尔街找份工作是可以留下来的。但是在那个时候，我的经济学教授，他在2013年获得了诺贝尔经济学奖，他在90年代的时候就跟我说，未来的世界跟现在是完全不一样的，21世纪是亚洲的世纪，而亚洲最重要的两个国家，一个是中国，一个是印度。

我认为21世纪的中国人，如果真的能够有一些成就，10个里有9个半做的是和大陆相关的事情，而这个决定也影响了我后来的事业的走向。所以我们也应该为孩子做好准备去面对未来的世界。我们几乎可以发现，未来经济的重心可能是国际政治纷争最活跃的地方，也是成长最快的地方，但却是我们现在琢磨最少的地方，而我们的孩子几乎不知道，这是一个很讽刺的地方。

其次，他/她要有能够利用现有资料解决问题的能力。我曾经在我们学校初中部教过中国历史和政治，在考试的时候，我做了一个让家长和学生都很意外的事情，我欢迎学生带所有的参考书籍和手机进来。我不需要他/她们背东西，他/她们可以引经据典，可以去找到信息资料来支持他/她们的推论，从而找出答案。我认为这才是最重要的一件事情。

几十年前，我在耶鲁大学读书的时候，很多的考试都是开卷的，甚至可以拿到图书馆里，只要能准时把卷子交回去。事实上，我们传统的思想里培养的都是孩子的记忆能力和背公式的能力，以及解题的能力，但这些都是人工智能最擅长。所以，在未来的世界里，孩子到底需要具备哪些能力，这就是我们要为孩子们准备的。

我们不需要过多地停留在过去，而是应该更多地把时间花在思考未来，这才能让我们进步。

京领：请问上海美高学校接下来在培养学生方面的重点和方向都是什么？您未来的计划都有哪些？

上海美高学校校长方正：第一点是我能不能开发出来一种课程，让我们的孩子能够得到多重的认可，让他/她们有多重的选择，这就是我现在正在做的事情。第二点是如何让孩子能够聪明地学习，我能否把人工智能的概念放进我们的学习系统里。

我一直在讲现在的线上商场为什么能够成功？为什么它们可以打败实体店？因为它让所有的消费者和产品的提供者都变得更聪明。只要上过一个线上的商场，不论多久，它永远会有记录。买了一个东西，它马上可以筛选出可能还会喜欢什么，它在不断地想办法组群。在以前如果想要买到一个性价比好的，不知道要逛多少商店，不知道要问多少朋友，而现在就可以轻松找到性价比最高的。人们最开始对线上商城是不熟悉、不信任地，到了现在，这种信任感已经完全存在了，变成了一种习惯。

那么为什么不能把这样的概念放进学习里？

当初我的儿子在中考的时候，我回想起80%以上刷卷子的时间都是浪费掉了，所以我和我的孩子讲在复习的时候只需要专注找到还不熟的，还需要花时间的地方。中学的时候，他决定要参加国内高考，但是他已经把出国需要的SAT考完了，他在体制内的高中念书，但是他的英文很好，因为我们提供了这样的环境。

所以我感受到的一点是，如果提供给孩子这种环境，一种有意识地培养的环境，孩子是可以有机会有多种选择的，大人千万不要因为自己想象力的限制和自己策略上的懒惰而限制了孩子发展的机会，我认为这对孩子是很不公的。

所以未来，我们的计划一是希望我们自主学校发展的课程可以给孩子更多重的选择。二是想办法引进人工智能的概念和技术，帮助孩子更有效率地去学习。

English Version

I.Taking advantage of

the integration of the East and the West in different Education Stages

KingLead：You had an excellent educational background and work experience in top global companies, what made you finally choose the field of international education?

Fang Zheng, Principal from Living Word China Shanghai Campus: I think education is the most important job in the world because it's about raising the next generation of our humanity. I've done a lot of different jobs, such as investment banking, and then I've also done things in international corporations, but I really want to be able to do the work that has the most impact in the limited time that I have, and to be able to contribute in some ways to my country and my society, and that's why I think that education is one of the best choices.

International education is different because this is an era of globalization, and whether we like it or not, our next generation has to face an increasingly globalized world. Therefore, the job of education is to help every child to be prepared to face the future, how they should face this globalized world, what kind of problems they will face, what kind of opportunities they will get, and no matter which career direction they will choose in the future, this is what we have to consider. So, this is why I chose internationalized education.

KingLead: Does your cross-cultural educational experience and business experience inform your educational philosophy?

Fang Zheng, Principal from Living Word China Shanghai Campus: This is certain. Fortunately, I have also studied in the traditional education system, and then when I went to the United States, I would find that even though the purpose of education is the same, it is to train future leaders for the country and the society, but how to train leaders is affected by the ideology of each country, and it will be different.

Generally speaking, Chinese education seems to rely too much on test scores to assess a child's competitiveness. This is because we already demand social equality, and we can hardly find a fairer way than the test, even though it has many shortcomings; whereas foreign countries pay more attention to the abilities or habits that a child develops during the process of receiving education.

Therefore, we usually feel that in foreign education, the teacher plays more role in solving problems. The child has to build up the ability and habit of independent learning first, while the teacher is responsible for answering the questions that the child may encounter in the process of independent learning. In Chinese education, the teacher is responsible for teaching, and the most important responsibility of the teacher is to inculcate in the child's mind the knowledge that he/she must master at this age and the ability to answer questions.

But in fact, these two different modes of education have their true value. Because as a child matures physically, he/she needs to be taught differently at different ages.

I think the most successful schools in the system are at the elementary level. Because the most appropriate way to educate children between the ages of 6 and 12 is to teach, our elementary school education can provide a good foundation of knowledge for children. And there is no way that the U.S and British countries can do that in this stage as well as we can. But the real problem with our education is after the age of 12, when the child enters secondary school. At this time, it is more important to cultivate the child's ability to learn independently and cooperatively, for example, whether he/she can find out the questions and the answers by himself/herself; whether he/she can communicate with his/her classmates and teachers, or even debate with them.

At this stage, it is more important for children to develop a habit of learning, but perhaps because of the examination system, up to the secondary school level, teachers are afraid to make too many changes to the way of teaching, with the emphasis on the fact that this way is the fastest and most efficient, able to give a solid foundation to the child in all subjects, and then to develop his/her problem-solving ability. But at this time, if you still rely on this one-line guidance without trying to let your child build the ability and habit of figuring out and finding answers on his/her own, then there is no way that your child's ability to make independent judgments, think, and analyze can be well developed during this time.

Therefore, I believe that the best education is to take into account the stage of development of the children. As the body structure matures, he/she grows to different stages and we have to provide him/her with different ways of teaching. This is what we have been emphasizing in the school: the integration of East and West can be applied at different stages of a child's life, and we will provide him/her with the type of education that he/she needs most at that stage.

KingLead: In your opinion, what are the qualities and competencies that a good principal of an internationalized school should possess?

Fang Zheng, Principal from Living Word China Shanghai Campus: First, to have the cultivation of philosophers. Philosophy is the pursuit of truth, as well as the passion of knowledge. We should have a passion for knowledge, for wisdom, for the truth, and this passion can be conveyed to the students and has a strong infectious force.

Secondly, we must have the compassion that philanthropists should have. As a private school, in order to increase the teachers' care and understanding of each student, we strictly control the number of students in each class, and each class cannot have more than 25 students, but even this has already caused a great mental and physical burden. Therefore, I think it is important to treat every child with the same compassion.

Thirdly, to be a missionary. In 24-hours day, each child spends only eight hours at school, and the other 16 hours may be spent at home with their elders and parents. Therefore, a truly successful education is let children receive consistent education both at school and at home, so schools must work in partnership with parents. This is because any divergence in philosophy and practice will cause a great deal of confusion and ultimately block education from achieving its purpose. Therefore, I believe that our job does not only in trying to teach our own students, but also in constantly conveying the correct concepts of education to parents, so that both sides can achieve consistency in education.

Finally, I think it is also important to have the courage of a reformer in a changing world. When we talk about education, one of the scariest things is that we continue to take this approach and system that has been successful in the past and keep using it, and then expect it to continue to be successful. But the world is changing, we should all look beyond our past successes and ask ourselves what the world will look like in the future and what changes we should make.

II.Adhere to the

educational sentiment to question to seek a breakthrough

KingLead: You have also been in the international education industry for more than 20 years, so what has impressed you the most in your schooling experience?

Fang Zheng, Principal from Living Word China Shanghai Campus: Every year there are experiences that make me feel responsible as an educator or that my work is meaningful. But what really sticks in my mind is not usually when our children win a prize, get a perfect score on a test, or apply to a top university abroad...... I believe that failures, setbacks, and even conflicts often bring people the most growth and deepest meaning.

The biggest challenge I face in my educational work is about my own educational philosophy. We all come across children who are bored with school, have behavioral deviations, or who may be born with physical defects that add to the burden of parents, teachers, or schools. The challenge of how to get a child who is resistant to learning and doesn't want to come to school to understand the true purpose of learning so that he/she can begin to enjoy it is the one that brings us the most growth and memories.

If a child, because of his/her family of origin, has no confidence in human relationships and interactions, has no way of interacting with classmates, has no way of communicating with teachers, and reacts negatively to any information given to him/her from the outside world, then he/she will take a simple and brutal way of dealing with problems, which will cause a lot of distress to those around him/her. The biggest challenge for educators is how to help such a child regain confidence in the world and respect for the environment and the rules set by society. This is the real test of a professional educator's philosophy, sentiment and ability.

KingLead: What measures have you taken to improve the level of the teaching force and the quality of teaching and research?

Fang Zheng, Principal from Living Word China Shanghai Campus: I think it's important to provide an environment where teachers can grow all the time. The most important basic ability that a truly progressive school has is the ability to help its teachers grow.

First of all, it is important to set up communication between teachers so that he/she can exchange his/her opinions. A senior teacher can have the opportunity to pass on his/her experience of teaching, dealing with parents, and interacting with students to younger teachers.

More than 40% of the teachers in our schools have a master's degree or even a doctorate, and they are very experienced in academics. Therefore, what determines the quality of a teacher is not so much the academic qualifications, but the ability to respond to conflicts and frustrations; the ability to keep in mind that his/her most important duty is to motivate the child's interest in learning, because this interest will affect his/her whole life and not just at the school stage; the ability to constantly remind the child what the future world is like and how to prepare for it in order to turn any problems encountered in the future into life opportunities.

Secondly, a clear incentive mechanism should be established so that teachers who perform well can be recognized and rewarded, and so that other teachers can also have a clearer understanding of what they should pay attention to in order to be recognized as good teachers by the school.

KingLead: What measures have you taken to enhance cooperation and exchange between Chinese and foreign teachers?

Fang Zheng, Principal from Living Word China Shanghai Campus: I think the key is to enhance the language skills for communication and exchange between Chinese and foreign teachers. In our schools, most of the Chinese teachers already have a certain level of English communication skills, and what remains may be to help our foreign teachers to understand not only the Chinese language, but more importantly, our ideology and values, which can enhance their convenience in working here, and at the same time inspire them to identify with us.

Therefore, in our school we do not only offer courses for students, we also offer language courses for Chinese and foreign teachers. These courses are arranged by colleagues to study with each other, and then the school provides the necessary teaching materials as well as the expenses. So, at this time, colleagues can learn Chinese and English from each other, which not only improves their language skills, but also enhances the opportunities for communication and cooperation among colleagues.

KingLead: You have always been dedicated to addressing the needs of every child and cultivating future leaders. Could you elaborate on the specific educational models or methods you and your team have adopted?

Fang Zheng, Principal of Living Word Shanghai: The most important thing is to accept that every child is different. In my school, I want them to follow the rules but not to be overly obedient. Everyone is a member of society, and if they want to be accepted by society and recognized by other members of society, they must respect the order and rules of society. However, everyone should also have their own opinions and express them in a way that their classmates and teachers can accept.

I believe it's crucial to establish such a culture in the school, and to cultivate these abilities in children through curriculum and club activities, providing every teacher with better opportunities to observe their students and discover their unique traits.

I have only two requirements for my colleagues. First, be a guide for students' thoughts. Before the advent of artificial intelligence, our parents and teachers seemed to be playing the role of AI, providing direct answers to children's questions. But one reminder I give to our school's teachers is that when faced with a problem, try to respond to three questions, gradually guiding the child's thinking through these questions. Because they participate in the entire process of thinking and analysis, children will gradually become more interested in learning.

Second, be a role model for students' behavior. Humans have both vision and hearing, but the impact of vision on us is much greater than that of hearing. When we encourage students to study hard, to read more, and to establish a habit of reading , we should demonstrate it with our own actions.

KingLead: During your tenure as principal, what impressive achievements has the school made?

Fang Zheng, Principal of Living Word Shanghai: I have a habit of constant questioning, which has led our school to obtain certifications from the United States and the United Kingdom, and to continuously explore new curriculum systems. In traditional concepts, if you want to provide international education, you first need an international cooperation institution. But my first reaction was, why is it like this? Can I make my school an internationally recognized educational institution? So I contacted the American accreditation institutions myself to confirm whether they could only accredit schools registered in the United States. In the end, the response I received was that as long as the curriculum, the knowledge points taught, the teaching methods, and the quality of teaching could be approved by them, they would grant the corresponding qualifications.

So, from that time on, I started doing this, and about four years ago, we received accreditation from the United States. This means that in our school, from elementary school to high school, students can not only get a Chinese diploma, but also a U.S. diploma. Because the curriculum we designed covers the knowledge points that both systems must have, and our teaching quality has been recognized by both sides.

After that, we started to seek recognition from the UK, and finally, at the beginning of last year, we received recognition from the Cambridge system in the UK. This means that every child in our school can get three diploma certifications at the same time. For UK schools, we are a UK school; for the U.S., we are a U.S. school; and we also have the capabilities of a Chinese school.

Now, I am asking myself, can I create a curriculum system that allows our children to receive all of these at the same time, giving our school's children more choices? For most adults, whether they are parents or educators, their first reaction is whether the burden on the child will be too heavy. But actually we are all limited by our own imagination, and this limitation restricts the opportunities for children's development, which I think is a pity. The education within the system mixes what children can and cannot do, wasting a lot of children's time. But if children can focus their efforts on what they are not yet familiar with, instead of wasting time on what they already know, I believe this not only won't increase the burden on children, but also will allow them to achieve better development. The real difference between top students and mediocre students is not IQ, but how they manage their time.

III．Looking Ahead

and Preparing for the Future

KingLead: What do you think the future education model should look like?

Fang Zheng, Principal of Living Word Shanghai: I believe that future educators should always ask themselves what the future world will look like, and then truly prepare children for the challenges of the future from a practical perspective, and also focus on cultivating children's thinking and innovation abilities.

The next generation of children will face two major problems: the development of geopolitics and the development of artificial intelligence technology.

What is the actual development of geopolitics? Will the world in the next 20 years be the same as we know it now? When children reach the real 20 years later, where will the most opportunities for them in work appear? Will they appear in ASEAN, Africa, Central Asia, or the Far East Siberia?

Because English has become an international language, I expect that in the next 20 to 30 years, these English-speaking countries will continue to become important places for cultural and educational dissemination. But the real most important opportunities for technology and economy will no longer be in the United States, and even not in Europe. How much do we know about India? Do our children have such a curriculum that allows them to understand the historical and cultural background and economic conditions of our largest neighbor, Russia? How many courses do we have that allow children to truly understand what will happen to Siberia when the climate warms in the future?

Our generation is teaching today's children with the experience we have learned in the past, and expecting them to solve future problems, which is wrong. Educators should always ask ourselves what the world will look like in 20, 30 years? Shouldn't we prepare our students for the future?

Therefore, when they encounter problems in the future, they will not see them as a challenge, or even a disaster, but as an opportunity.

Second, after the advent of AI, all homework and exams have become absurd. In the past, teachers asked students to write a 200-300 word report, and students complained. Now ask students to write 5000-10000 words, students accept with a smile and hand in their homework on time. AI allows us to do many things without having to do it ourselves, but a scary thing is that it can not only give us answers, but even replace us, when our abilities and habits are not yet up to standard.

A few days ago, when I was answering questions from our 11th grade students, I asked a child what major he wanted to study in college. He said I want to study design, but I don't know whether I should go to a specialized design college or a comprehensive university. I said that today's biggest challenge is not to draw better than others, because artificial intelligence can definitely do it. No matter how many years of training, if you don't have your own ideas, artificial intelligence will do better. This is the challenge we will face in the future.

Future children will face various challenges, especially the impact of future technology. Therefore, it is very difficult to develop without their own thoughts and innovation abilities. This is something every educator should consider. But a very ironic point is that whether it is the United States, the United Kingdom or our system of education, from elementary school to high school, there are few courses related to computer artificial intelligence, almost none, because we adults don't know how to deal with it, so we rush through it. I think this is very cruel and irresponsible.

I often talk about educators using physical labor to cover up strategic laziness. It's easy to see principals who stand at the school gate to welcome students at 7:00 or 7:30; it's easy to see teachers going to the door to pick up and drop off students when they get on and off the school bus, and this is the simplest way to make the whole society and parents feel that the school's teachers are really responsible. How many schools will really stop using packaged software courses and really start to think about what kind of abilities this generation of children needs to face 20, 30, or even 50 years in the future, and how we should prepare for them.

KingLead: In order to better face future opportunities and challenges, what qualities and abilities do you think students should have?

Fang Zheng, Principal of Living Word Shanghai: First, I think he/she should be able to grasp the development of geopolitics. In my time, the most hopeful thing for overseas students was to be able to stay in the United States, and I could stay by finding a job on Wall Street. But at that time, my economics professor, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2013, told me in the 1990s that the future world is completely different from now, the 21st century is the century of Asia, and the two most important countries in Asia are China and India.

I think that if a Chinese person in the 21st century can really achieve something, 9.5 out of 10 are doing things related to the mainland, and this decision also affected the direction of my later career. So we should also prepare children to face the future world. We can almost find that the future economic center may be the place where international political disputes are most active, the fastest growing place, but it is the place we ponder the least now, and our children hardly know, this is a very ironic place.

Second, he/she should have the ability to use existing information to solve problems. I once taught Chinese history and politics in our school's junior high school. During the exam, I did something that surprised both parents and students. I welcome students to bring all reference books and mobile phones. I don't need them to memorize things, they can quote classics, they can find information to support their arguments, and then find the answer. I think this is the most important thing.

Decades ago, when I was studying at Yale University, many exams were open-book, and even could be taken to the library, as long as the papers were returned on time. In fact, what we cultivate in our traditional thinking is children's memory ability, the ability to memorize formulas, and the ability to solve problems, but these are what artificial intelligence is best at. So, in the future world, what abilities do children need to have, this is what we need to prepare for our children.

We don't need to dwell too much on the past, but should spend more time thinking about the future, which can make us progress.

KingLead: What are the focus and direction of Shanghai American High School in cultivating students in the future? What are your future plans?

Fang Zheng, Principal of Living Word Shanghai: The first point is whether I can develop a curriculum that allows our children to receive multiple recognitions and give them multiple choices, which is what I am doing now. The second point is how to let children learn smartly, whether I can put the concept of artificial intelligence into our learning system.

I have always been talking about why the current online market can succeed. Why can they beat physical stores? Because it makes all consumers and product providers smarter. As long as we have been to an online mall, no matter how long, it will always have a record. Once we buy something, it can immediately filter out what else we might like, and it is constantly trying to group. In the past, if we wanted to buy a cost-effective product, we didn't know how many stores we had to visit, and how many friends we had to ask. Now we can easily find the most cost-effective one. People were unfamiliar and distrustful of online malls at first, but now this sense of trust is completely established and has become a habit.

So why not put such a concept into learning?

When my son was taking the middle school entrance exam, I recalled that over 80% of the time spent on papers was wasted, so I told him to focus on finding what was not yet familiar and what needed time when reviewing. In high school, he decided to take the domestic college entrance examination, but he had already completed the SAT required for studying abroad. He studied in a high school within the system, but his English was good enough because we provided such an environment.

So if we provide children with a consciously cultivated environment, children can have the opportunity to have multiple choices. Adults should never limit the opportunities for children's development because of their own imagination limitations and strategic laziness. I think this is very unfair to children.

So in the future, on the one hand, we hope that the curriculum developed by our independent school can give children more choices. On the other hand, we will try to introduce the concept and technology of artificial intelligence to help children learn more efficiently.

【点击进入京领国际学校大数据平台，

为孩子选择美好人生】

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