Irish playwright Bernard Shaw said: "You have an apple, I have an apple, we exchange each other, each person still has only one apple; you have an idea, I have an idea, we exchange each other, each person can have two ideas .”
When the management team of Hangzhou Dingwen School meets Wu Zijian, the former principal of Shanghai Pao Yugang Experimental School, what kind of educational sparks will be generated and what innovative ideas will it bring? This is the bright future that Dingwen looks forward to seeing, and it is also the common concern of parents and friends who came to attend the information session of Hangzhou Dingwen School.
On November 29, Hangzhou Dingwen School's information session was successfully held again. School Wu attended and gave a speech for the first time as Dingwen's superintendent, sharing his educational philosophy and encounter with Dingwen with parents.
Afterwards, Wu and his parents visited the campus.
When we first saw it, it was a piece of yellow land, but now there are high-rise buildings and complete hardware facilities. Wu Xiao, who has established a deep relationship with Dingwen, is still shocked by the Dingwen campus that "changes every day and changes drastically in two years." “The facilities are richer than those at Pao School”, Wu School gave a very high evaluation to the campus construction.
In addition, the admissions teacher’s explanation of the whole process, the graphic annotations on the signboards, various tips and marks, and the handling of small details also made School Wu see Dingwen’s intentions and said he was “very touched”.
“When I visited the campus, I saw a lot of details, and the feedback from parents was also very good, which shows that I was right to choose Dingwen.” The integration of school running philosophy and campus construction makes Wu School look forward to Dingwen’s future development even more.
After the campus visit, Wu Xiao accepted an exclusive interview and shared his thoughts and educational concepts immediately, and provided many valuable suggestions for the future development of Dingwen to help Dingwen become better.
Wu Zijian丨Inspector of Hangzhou Dingwen School
Former Principal of Shanghai Pao Yugang Experimental School
British Council Global Partner Schools
Advisory Chairman, China
Explanation of teaching management over forty years
A good principal is a good school
"Only progress is what makes it new every day."
In 1993, the "Outline for China's Educational Reform and Development" was released. In order to conform to the development trend of the times, international education also took advantage of this trend and began to innovate. As one of the earliest teaching staff to participate in international education reform, Wu School is on the front line of education reform and has more than 40 years of theoretical and practical experience in kindergarten, primary school, and middle school education.
Wu Xiao once served as a member of the Academic Committee of the International Characteristic School Branch of the China Private Education Association, director of the Shanghai Nine-Year Education Professional Management Committee, vice president of the Shanghai Association of Private Primary and Secondary Schools, and a distinguished professor of the Youth Development Research Center of East China Normal University. He innovatively proposed the educational concept of "Studying students is studying education" and published the monograph "Where is Education", for which the famous educator Mr. Lu Xingwei wrote a preface.
In decades of teaching management, many practices of Wu School coincide with Dingwen’s philosophy. Such as "environment is education", "focus on children's personalized development", "emphasis on reading and library construction"... For this reason, when Wu Xiao was invited to join Dingwen in early July 2021, he was attracted by the founder's Impressed by the educational ideal, he has been actively participating in the design and construction of Dingwen’s school philosophy, teaching courses, talent introduction, and hardware facilities.
2. Pay attention to the implementation and practice of concepts. Studying students is studying education.
1. Every child is unique, respect individual development
"Are you different from others? What is different about you? Do you want to be different from others?" When entering first grade, children will face the above three questions. This is also the implementation of Wu School’s concept of “studying students is researching education” in the teaching management process.
"Every child is unique. Without children, there is no room for development in education." Wu School has always implemented the concept of "studying students is studying education." For this reason, School Wu often interacts with children and stays with them to observe and understand the characteristics of each child and help them grow better.
Wu Xiao added as an example that a student had a high interest in writing novels and continued to write even after the lights were turned off. Later, the teacher prepared a place specifically for him to concentrate on his creation until he finally successfully published it. "The care of our teachers is the minimum requirement to prevent children from being harmed on campus." Wu School believes that teachers' care should be reflected in all aspects and details, giving children sufficient space and time to grow.
2. The library is the best carrier of school philosophy
Borges, the former director of the National Library of Argentina and writer, once wrote: "Heaven should be like a library." For schools, libraries are also the best carrier of school-running concepts.
"Education experts want to visit a school to see how the school is doing? There are two places they must visit, one is the library and the other is the laboratory." For this reason, at the beginning of the construction of Dingwen Library, School Wu put forward many valuable suggestions. For example, "everything is student-centered". The high school library is modeled on the construction of university libraries, integrating school-running concepts into the library design to provide children with sufficient reading space.
“Librarianship is a university course, and children start learning it in primary school.” School Wu said that after learning librarianship, first-grade children can not only learn how to choose books, how to read, but also learn to write their thoughts after reading. The average number of books borrowed by each grade-level child per year reaches 110." The children's large accumulation of Chinese and English reading has actively contributed to the improvement of children's academic performance and the improvement of their ability to explore interdisciplinary themes.
In addition, Wu School also emphasized that the school’s educational philosophy should be integrated into every detail of campus construction and school running. It should not just stay at the slogan level, but should be visible and tangible to parents. This is the key to education.
3. Message to Dingwen: A first-class team builds a world-famous school
1. Every employee should become a teacher for students
"The core of education reform is the curriculum, the core of the curriculum reform is the curriculum teaching model, and the focus of the classroom reform is the professional development of teachers." Wu School emphasizes first-class team building and should ensure the stability and innovation of teachers and strengthen The evaluation and training of the teacher team provides students with a more efficient classroom teaching model and higher-quality educational resources; the practice and exploration of integrated Chinese and Western courses are constantly polished, and high standards and strict requirements are implemented in the construction of the teaching staff, curriculum design, teaching models, etc. Integration of all aspects.
In line with Dingwen’s vision, Wu School also emphasizes building a learning community. "Every teacher, every principal, and even every administrative employee should listen to children's ideas." He believes that all administrative staff should become students' teachers and create a good educational atmosphere so that children can enjoy better quality education. educational environment. This is not only an effective way to care for students, but also an effective practice in implementing the concept of whole-person education.
2. Pay attention to science and technology innovation, arts and sports education, and implement personalized development
How to cultivate children's innovative ability? School Wu emphasized: "It must not be cultivated by chewing books in the classroom."
No two leaves are the same in the world, and neither are children. Every child is unique and has his or her own talents and expertise. Education is about discovering children's potential and protecting their talents. Educators only need to fertilize and water, so that children can grow freely in a comfortable and healthy environment, and help break through the upper limit of children's excellence.
For example, through a variety of scientific and technological innovation competitions, sports events, etc., children can gain something in practice. For elegant and slow art education, Wu School recommends getting into students, tracking and cultivating them, discovering each child's personality and strengths, and implementing personalized education so that children can shine on the world stage.
3. Accumulate academic research results and cultivate more practical soil
School Wu believes that any world-famous school starts from the "baby stage". Dingwen is now in the "baby stage", but its campus construction and management team have reached first-class standards.
Wu’s proofreading team has many members, such as Director Zhu Jie who has rich experience in school investment, operation and management, Superintendent Shan Guangrong who has rich teaching management experience, and Alan, a foreign principal with nearly 30 years of international education and management experience, who is responsible for curriculum design. , Ms. Pan Fan, the dean of the Education Research Institute who evaluates and trains, Yao Yao, the principal of the kindergarten, and Ms. Ju Linlin, who was in charge of national business at the British Council in Beijing, etc. "all come from well-known schools at home and abroad, or are very famous industry practitioners." With such an excellent "international team", Wu School believes that Dingwen should accumulate its own academic research results and share excellent educational practices with the industry by holding some global education forums.
"There is such an excellent leadership team, there are so many expectant parents and students, there are such first-class hardware equipment, and there is such a good location." Wu School believes that under the guidance of the concept of "rooted in China, globally competent, and philanthropic", Dingwen will be able to "base itself in Hangzhou, base itself on Zhejiang, go abroad, and become a world-famous school with Chinese characteristics."
Whether it is the Dingwen team, students, or parents, they will all be able to enjoy the joy of success at Dingwen in the future.
The education career experience is an epoch-making change. As a witness of the times of international education reform, he never forgets his original intention of education, always advances in the exploration of educational ideals, and maintains enthusiasm and vitality. This love is worthy of admiration and worthy of learning from Dingwen people.
"If you take advantage of everyone's wisdom, you can do anything; if you use everyone's strength, you can win everything."
We believe that Wu School’s participation will bring unlimited possibilities to Dingwen and provide richer experience for educational practice.
Dingwen also takes the mission of "pursuing academic excellence, developing holistic education, and cultivating new forces to promote global progress" as its mission, accumulating academic research results, and bearing fruit of personality development, serving practitioners and the development of international education. Explore the possibility of "ideal education", cultivate more practical soil, and become a world school with Chinese characteristics.