北京乐成国际学校小学新任校长：让全球“文化分享”随时发声
来源：国际学校信息网
时间：2023-03-04 21:30:02
今天小编搜罗了北京乐成国际学校小学新任校长：让全球“文化分享”随时发声希望给择校的家长们提供参考。
BCIS would like to extend a friendly welcome to our new Elementary School principal, Fred Schafer. Hailing from Ohio, USA, Fred brings many years of teaching and leadership experience, and he will spice up our school with his unique perspectives on culture and education. He has spent the last 8 years here in China, leading international schools and diving into the rich traditions of the nation, including cooking. His wife and her family taught him recipes, and now he can often be found in the kitchen whipping up a Chinese meal, even at 4:30 am! He appreciates the unique position BCIS enjoys as an international school that values Chinese cultural heritage in its approach, and he will bring all the ingredients here together to concoct a future-focused learning environment with a distinct Chinese flavor for all our students in the ES.
After completing his bachelor's degree in education, Fred began his teaching career in the United States. However, after hearing about the possibilities to learn about other societies, see new sights, and gain professional development, Fred decided to turn to international education. He has always been curious about other cultures, and especially keen to learn about his favorite subject: ancient civilizations. "I was very interested in ancient civilization growing up, and even as a teacher," Fred describes. This interest made working in China a perfect fit. Fred is excited to begin his new role here at BCIS, as it allows him to utilize his leadership and communication skills, while still being close to the young learners he is so passionate about instructing.
China was not the initial stop in Fred's lengthy education career. He initially accepted a teaching position in Saudi Arabia, where he gained valuable insight into working with children in an international environment, as well as solid advice from his surrounding colleagues. While there, he was able to complete his master's degree in curriculum and leadership and move into a role as the Director of Learning at a school in the United Arab Emirates. Here, he was able to translate his strong background in teaching into helpful work on the school's curriculum, as well as gain new experience working and communicating with other school staff. Eventually, Fred was chosen for a vice-principal job here in China. His interest in the country itself: its history, its people, and its culture, made it clear that he wanted to be here as soon as he made his first visit.
BCIS is dedicated to providing students with a strong international education while still keeping them linked closely to traditional Chinese culture. Fred appreciates the mission of BCIS, and how the school remains connected to its Chinese roots. In addition to integrating culture into the school curriculum, one of the most important actions he takes in this regard is simply conversing with others. "When I'm out on the playground talking to kids I'm learning about their culture and they're learning about mine. It's a natural and interesting way for kids to stay connected to their culture but also broaden their experiences," he elaborates. Fred himself exemplifies the importance of such cultural sharing, and his experience makes him an excellent fit at BCIS.
The integration of Chinese culture across the curriculum isn't the only thing that stands out to Fred about BCIS. He believes that the school enjoys a unique situation as both a top-notch international school and a community-based Beijing school, explaining, "It's rare in an international school setting that you have a place that feels like a neighborhood school where everybody knows everybody." The feeling of community and connectedness at BCIS were major reasons why Fred chose to bring his talents to our school, and he is excited and humbled to accept the position of ES principal. He will bring his own knowledge to add to the experience of our whole BCIS community.
The "neighborhood international school" will benefit greatly from Fred's ability to guide our students. He joins us at a critical time, where the most pressing question asked by educators everywhere is what learning will look like in a post-pandemic world. Fred's rich experience will help our ES provide top-quality future-oriented instruction to our students. He embraces the recent challenges to schools, stating, "Unfortunately education is like a cruise ship turning; to turn a cruise ship you turn it, but it takes many kilometers to turn. Education is really slow to change. The hope is that the pandemic has forced us to rethink education, we had to turn fast and meet the needs of our students." One way he plans to meet students' needs is by further leveraging technology to help personalize learning for students, as well as providing new ways for them to contribute. With Fred at the helm of our BCIS ship, our ES will sail in the right direction!
“当下世界各地的教育就像一艘正在急转弯的游轮，如此庞大复杂的体系转弯是需要时间和慢慢转变的。教育的改变有时真的很慢，然而疫情迫使教育者们重新思考，我们必须快速转变来满足学生的成长需求。”
—— Fred Schafer今天我们与北京乐成国际学校（BCIS）小学部新任校长Fred面对面，谈谈关于BCIS这艘“大船”的蓄能与远航。
跨文化教育在乐成的表达
Fred的笑容极具感染力，像极了邻家某位告诉我们“中国年由何而来”的循循善诱的父辈。作为BCIS小学部新任校长，他非常认同一所国际学校重视中国文化浸润的独特教育角色，致力于为学生们打造了一个以未来为中心、具有中国文化特色的国际学习环境。除了将全球多元文化融入学校课程外，Fred十分注重在团队管理和教学实践中的“文化分享”嵌入。“我经常会在操场上停下来和学生们交谈，在这个过程中他们在学习我的文化，而我也在学习他们的文化。文化分享是一种自然且有趣的链接方式，让学生们可以随时随地地为文化发声，从而拓宽视野，丰富个人经验。”
在乐成小学部，师生们在不同的文化背景下开展探究式学习和项目研究，引导学生作为世界公民参与到真实的项目中，为全球性、社会性问题提供解决思路和方案，从小建立全球意识，尊重他人的差异性。对于中国学生而言，对中国文化的认同和理解是跨文化学习的基础，学校坚持为学生提供高品质的国际教育，同时保持他们与中国传统文化的紧密联系。小学部PYP单元探究重视跨学科、跨文化的学习，包括中文、英文、科学、视觉艺术、音乐、游泳等。
Fred认为在课程中融入中国文化并不是这所学校唯一的惊喜之处，乐成学校的社区感和链接感更是让人欣喜不已，这也是吸引Fred来到这里工作的原因之一。“在国际学校环境中，很少有BCIS这样的社区学校，人们互相认识，彼此热情的问候和交流。这是一个中外人士互相关怀、和睦相处的社区，大家深受乐成教育理念的激励和启发。集体效能在这个社区里真实落地且正在发挥最大的学习功效。”
被华夏文化吸引而至的国际教育家
Fred的家乡在美国俄亥俄州，这是他长达26年之久的国际教育生涯的始发站。他年轻时曾远赴沙特阿拉伯的一所国际学校任教，在身处多元化的国际环境中，与不同国家和地区的儿童、教育者们一起学习成长，这段宝贵的一线执教经验，让Fred收获并建立了自己对国际教育的独到见解和教学方法论。Fred确信，教育者应该保持学习，了解先进的教育理念、探索最佳的教学方法，这样才能把最好的教育带给更多的学生们。因此他怀揣一颗国际教育的赤子之心前往菲尼克斯大学继续深造，并顺利获得教育领导与管理硕士学位。
东方华夏一直是Fred心驰神往之地。“我爱中国，爱热情的中国人，爱美味的中国菜，爱雄壮的万里长城...... 毫不夸张地讲，我踏上中国土地的那一刻起就深深爱上了这里。” 8年前Fred终于实现了儿时的梦想来到了中国，如今再回首自己对中国的初印象他依旧激动不已。更让Fred时刻保持激情和感动的，是他在这片热土上继续深耕的终身事业，而这份事业此时此刻正在乐成土壤上悄然绽放。
Beijing City International School
北京乐成国际学校
T +8610 8771 7171
W www.bcis.cn
No. 77 Baiziwan Nan Er Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100022, PR China
北京市朝阳区百子湾南二路77号,100022
An IB World School Accredited by CIS & WASC
