The saying that “a Principal sets the tone of a school” is widely acknowledged, so the arrival in May of CKWA’s new Principal, Ms Christine Xu, is a significant moment for the school. She has already injected a lot of new energy into this 3-year old school. But what changes has she brought to CKWA? How is her philosophy implemented in the management of the school? To dig out the answers, Jingkids conducted an exclusive interview with this new principal. Let’s hear what she has to say.

“The deeper the roots, the more strongly we grow”. Paving an authentic, open and diversified growth path.

“In the past five year, Beijing international education has developed really fast, and has brought many theoretical and managerial challenges at the same time.” Principal Xu, who worked in Beijing Yew Chung school for 21 years before joining CKWA, cut to the chase, pointing out various issues emerging within the skyrocketing development of international schools.

“The nature of international education is to cultivate children from different countries to be global citizens and allow them to achieve their full potential. Unfortunately, although many international schools achieve success, they inevitably challenge Chinese public schools. Successfully getting enrolled in world-class universities such as Oxbridge and the Ivy League has become the new goal. This is the so-called ‘International GaoKao’. In my mind, this is a distortion of the role of international education.”

During the 20 years that Ms Xu worked at YCIS, she was Co-Principal for 11 years. She also worked as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction of the Yewchung Foundation Group and has therefore accumulated rich teaching and managerial experience. This time, she frankly revealed to us, was the reason for her taking the role of Principal in an international school. “Today’s China is embracing globalization. Applying the experience that I have accumulated in international schools, to cultivate our children to be future citizens full of creativity and leadership, is something that I have always wanted to do.”

She chose CKWA because she saw the differences in this school’s programme. “To get decent exam result, some schools even distort parent’s education view. They ask children to focus on academic study at the expense of giving up other learning. I totally disagree with this. CKWA is not choosing this route. It provids a more open and diversified growth path, encouraging student to develop their natural gifts while maintaining academic excellence. CKWA also offers growth paths based around the arts, sport and STEM. With advantages in arts, sports and STEM, children can get into top ranking well-known universities. Skills in these areas can become valuable assets.”

Having worked in the international education field for many years, Principal Xu knows that whether in international education or local education, children should be committed to the mother tongue education and aware of their cultural roots.” Children who lack a sense of belongings and a sense of pride in their country and nationality will never become true global citizens in the future.” Therefore, after joining CKWA, she has been promoted the teaching philosophy of “the deeper the roots, the more strongly we grow”.

“When teaching Chinese culture, many international schools tend to identify it with the studies of Chinese ancient civilization. This is indeed a very narrow-minded idea. Because Chinese culture is continuously developing, we should not only see an ancient China, but see China from three levels——China in heritage (long history and culture, our ‘roots’), China in development (modern Chinese stories) and China in the future (participation in the establishment of China’s future). This are the three concepts lying behind the concept of “the deeper the roots, the more strongly we grow” that I propose. With the roots deeper in the ground and the foundation more solid, children will go further. The future of the children, China and the world are closely connected.”

The philosophy is good, but how to implement this philosophy to the routine teaching and learning is an issue that parents and students are most concerned about. As an IB candidate school, CKWA has carried out a lot of cooperation and communication with well-known IB schools in preparation for the IBDP, for which the school is currently being accredited. In the middle school, under the guidance of the IB philosophy, CKWA has adopted the teaching approach of integrating IGCSE with the Chinese national curriculum. In the high school, CKWA provides two curriculum options, A-level and IBDP, for the students to choose.

On top of this, CKWA also has two specialist programs, the Kaiwen Arts Program and the Kaiwen Music Program, for students who have special talents in these areas. These programs are also guided by IB philosophy. By combining traditional subjects with the arts and music, these curricula have made a breakthrough in the traditional arts and music teaching methods, by adopting multi-dimensional and cross-disciplined teaching approaches to motivate and inspire the students.

On top of this, the school has also invited admission officers from many world-famous arts colleges to visit CKWA. In this way, students can have direct face-to-face consultations and attend interviews with admission officers. In the past 9 months, the first cohort of graduates from KAP have received 12 offers from UCA, one of the top arts universities in the UK, which is a very eye-catching achievement.

In addition, the school also recognizes the importance of Chinese culture and integrates many elements of Chinese culture into various classes. This has enriched the children’s learning in Chinese history and culture learning. At the same time, history class and inquiry-based learning has provided children with richer modern Chinese stories to help them understand the development of China.

Innovation is key in the future development of China. STEM classes have always been an outstanding feature of CKWA. Our Robotic Club Hugo has won several international awards both this year and last year. Under the guidance of CKWA chemistry teacher Dr Edward, our G9 students have worked with two US universities, and recently published a research thesis in Toxins, an influential magazine in the industry, which has shown the academic and research level of the school.

Arts Education that has been underestimated

Based on principal Xu’s years of observation, arts have been underestimated in our culture. “Many people think that only students who do not have a good academic performance will choose to study arts. Art is a sidelined subject. Nobody in China believes that the arts are essential for growth. However, if you have a look at the UK, you will see that people who study arts are very excellent people. Many great actors and actresses are graduates of Oxford or Cambridge. From this perspective, we can see the emphasis the UK has put on the arts. In my mind, arts are the most prominent presentation of one’s creativity. Creativity is not only simply performance and drawing. I am talking about the creativity and potential that are inspired by performing and painting. This kind of creativity is transdisciplinary and is a quality that we desperately need in future society. Children who are exposed to the arts extensively in foundation education will not only improve their artistic culture but, more importantly, build up their personality and gain confidence and strength.”

It was never in Sophia Li’s mind that she would one day perform on stage when she transferred from public school to CKWA. Indeed she initially had a tricky time adapting to the new educational approach. But with the help of her teachers, she has made the adjustment. Now, she has not only improved her ability to learn and adapted to the new school, but she has also won the 2019-2020 Fledging Crane scholarship for outstanding performance.

She told us frankly that drama brought her a lot of energy during this process. As arts, music and drama are compulsory class for G7 students, she started to attend regular drama classes. “I liked Mr Omar very much from the very beginning. He understands every student and gives individual guidance. I learnt the ropes of drama step by step. I became bolder, learnt how to find my voice, and gradually gained confidence.”

In the 2018-2019 CKWA annual drama Once Upon a Stormy Night, Sophia was assigned to play the role of the witch. She did not find it easy in the beginning, but finally convinced herself. “Drama comes from within. All actors and actresses, no matter whether they play positive or negative characters, are closely connected. It is hard to impress the audience. There were quite a few scenes for the role of the witch, which were a challenge for me, but I took the role.” The show turned out to be a huge success, and the old witch she played successfully scared some little kids into crying when she came on stage. From barely speaking to surprising everyone, Sophia knows herself better from the experience, and has grown a lot from cooperating with others.

To enrich students’ drama study, CKWA has actively developed the cooperation with Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre this year. We have not only held drama workshops, but also arranged a series of activities including a winter drama camp which will allow students to study and cooperate with the world’s top drama practitioners.

Sports, a tool to shape characters

As an international school that is famous for its sports program in Beijing, CKWA’s rich and professional sports program is the reason why many parents choose the school. “I believe that sports are a way of cultivating growth, a way of life. Sports do not only exercise our physical bodies, but also strengthen one’s will. They are also key to developing leadership skills. This is also the reason why sports are especially important in international education. Sports can cultivate children’s coordination skills and shape their character through developing persistence, especially the ability to learn from setbacks and mistakes. These are all important embodiments of sports in nurturing leadership skills.” said Principal Xu.

CKWA not only benefits from top-tier sports facilities, such as football pitches, basketball courts, tennis courts, a 400m running track, an ice rink and a swimming pool, but also partnerships with lots of world leading sports organizations at home and abroad, including Manchester City Football Club and Major League Baseball. Through these partnerships, we have employed professional sports coach from home and abroad to give our students outstanding guidance in a wide range of sports.

No matter whether it is swimming, ice-skating, ice hockey, football, tennis or fencing, all CKWA students have the chance to experiment on their own and find the sports that they love. They can then choose corresponding sports in after school clubs to further extend their training. On top of this, students can also attend Kaiwen camps during vacations to continue this specialized training.

Informative Happiness Class, a practical family education handbook to parents

Since joining CKWA in May, Principal Xu has interviewed quite a few parents, and done a lot of interviews with the families of current CKWA students. Through data analysis, she has found that many parents are not that “anxious” and “blind” as some media have suggested.

From the “Ten Expectations for Kaiwen Parents” compiled by Principal Xu and her team, the top expectation is surprisingly “a positive relationship between teachers and children”. Therefore, Principal Xu summarized, “after doing so many parent interviews, I realized that the reason that parents choose international school is not simply about how mind-blowing the facilities are and how fascinating the international curriculum is. The emerging middle-class parents hope education can lead their children to happiness and an exciting future. That is why they expect to see high quality relations between teachers and students. This is totally in line with the principle of education, because the positive relationship between adults and children can inspire their learning motives and emotional resonance.”

The results of the parent survey also show that families who choose CKWA are more focused on the individual growth of their children than average. “Besides the expectation of parents on children’s education, Principal Xu has also observed that currently many parents have a high awareness of scientific education. But when it comes to an action plan, most parents are still confused and do not know where to start.

To help with parents’ issue, Principal Xu launched a Happiness Class in August with the support of her team. The lecture series is not only updated weekly on CKWA’s official wechat account, but has also entered the Himalaya open course, which has earned increasing popularity among parents.

When we do the interview, principal Xu has just finished shooting her latest Happiness Class. Speaking of her feeling towards this class, she says that it is essential to transform her years of educational experience into practical strategies that parents can use at home, because “the anxiety of parents actually comes from incorrect conclusions and the lack of an action plan. To thoroughly eliminate their anxiety, they need the support of the school. We need parents to transform their anxiety to strategies, to make changes through practical actions, and to grow with their children together.”

In the future, she plans to invite parents to participate in the Happiness Class and share their puzzlement and strategies in child education. In this way, they will not only be listeners to the class, but also builders and participants in the class. Together, we will create a cradle for happy children.