IN May, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Affiliated School (XJTLU-AS) was proclaimed in Suzhou. As the affiliated school of a new international university approved by China’s Ministry of Education, XJTLU-AS is an internationalized boarding school with a 15-year curriculum.
It is a new brand in internationalized education, one dedicated to exploring not only a fusion of West and East but also the development and demands for the future of basic education. It’s also an extension into basic education from the perspectives of concept and culture.
Hou Youwei, the principal of XJTLU-AS says the school aims to develop positive, active and well-rounded future leaders. The International Communication and Cooperation Department (ICCD), one of the most important departments at XJTLU-AS, aims to promote the internationalization of the school.
Liu Guangtao, the director of ICCD, is promoting a common internationalized education. He says that in the future, XJTLU-AS is going to become an internationalized school. With the international network and resources, ICCD is developing multiple study/ continued-study routes for students.
All five main divisions (kindergarten, primary school, junior high school and senior high school for both domestic and international programs) of the school, are dedicated to designing their own styles of common internationalized education.
Dr Seuss’s Day
Theodor Seuss Geisel is an American writer, best known for authoring popular children’s books under the pen name Dr Seuss. Dr Seuss’s Day is celebrated annually on March 2 — Geisel’s birthday. Thousands of schools, libraries and community centers all over the world participate in this celebration of literacy. On this day, children at XJTLU-AS Kindergarten read Seuss stories such as “Green Eggs and Ham,” paint pictures and do fun craft activities with their teachers.
English speech competition
The English speech competition is regularly held at the school. It helps students develop logical thinking skills and hone their public speaking abilities, increase their knowledge and build confidence in expressing themselves. The theme of the last competition was “Light Em Up.” Ten senior high-school students stood out from their peers with speeches under themes like “Light Up Friendship,” “Light Up The World” and “Light Up Your Dream.”
Model United Nation conference
To cultivate global citizens, the school encourage students to attend activities that will broaden their horizons. Last year, 36 students from XJTLU-AS attended the Model United Nation Conference. At the event, they discussed current affairs with other students from around Yangtze River Delta region, had a brain storming session and tried to find solutions to issues like Middle-East refugees, African education, economic equality in third-world countries and women’s rights.
Imaginary exhibition
An international traveling exhibition on display at XJLTU-AS has drawn students to experiencing the beauty and culture of mathematics.
The Imaginary Exhibition is a non-commercial traveling exhibition that presents visualizations, installations, virtual worlds, and 3D objects along with their theoretical background in algebraic geometry, singularity theory and differential geometry. It aims to simplify sophisticated mathematical concepts in a visitor-friendly manner.
Mathematics professor Rinus Roelofs was invited to the school and gave students an interactive mathematics and arts design workshop. During the workshop, he introduced 2D and 3D paper models and demonstrated how math and art can be combined. He guided the kids through making paper mathematical models.
Bring your own device to school
With the help of broadband networks and network learning spaces, XJTLU-AS integrates the most advanced digital network technology, promotes U-learning and M-Learning according to the BYOD (bring your own device) method. It also integrates information technology with education and teaching, learning and living, school management and social communication so as to establish the most appropriate digital campus for students’ development.
On May 19, the Suzhou iPad Mobile Teaching and Curriculum Integration Seminar was held in XJTLU-AS. Teachers from Apple Inc, experts in mobile teaching from Nanjing and Guangzhou gave lessons on BYOD solutions for education.
After a brief introduction on the ecosystem and related items supporting mobile classrooms given by Apple technical advisor Kong Wenda, there came the most vivid experience of the event: seeing iPads in action in the classroom.
With everyone holding an iPad, teacher He Xin led students on an extraordinary high-tech Chinese lesson. In the mobile classroom, teaching contents were shown on each student’s iPad simultaneously and student’s answers to questions were conveyed to the teacher at the fastest speed.
The lesson showed that involving mobile terminals into teaching has three advantages.
First, it can brake the traditional way of teaching and made the blackboard become a unique operation panel for every one. Second, it expands the capacity of classroom teaching and helps teachers offer multi-dimensional and more timely feedback during teaching. Thirdly, it improves teaching efficiency. Equipment data monitoring enables each student to actively get involved in the classroom teaching and also allows teachers to pay attention to the study and development of each student.
Later, Ji Jun, professor from Shanghai Normal University delivered a research report on changes to teaching brought by educational technologies. Ji discussed the huge changes brought by the development of education technologies. He discussed these changes as they related to methods of learning; and relationships between teachers and students, and teachers and parents.
At the end of the seminar, president Liu Guangtao of XJTLU-AS Junior High School delivered a concluding speech. He said that XJTLU-AS adhered to the same educational philosophy as Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and promotes “supporting the school with technologies” and “using technologies to change class” so as to create better educational services.
This can promote a balance in children’s physical and mental development as well as Western and Eastern education so that children will have broader views.
[Source:-Sanghai Daily]
