-Ron Roukema, Ed.D., Middle School Principal, Pudong Campus
Welcome, all, to the 21st Century! But perhaps that
sounds too cheery. After all, as parents and teachers, we may be
struggling with the fact that the expectations of the world we live in
are different from our own youth; we may be struggling to change the
way we prepare students for high school and beyond.
But struggle we must.
It encourages as much in SAS’s vision statement:
“By 2012, the
Shanghai American School will be recognized as a leading international
school in Asia and the world by providing a rich cultural and social
learning environment for families who seek an exemplary core American
educational program”.
In other words, our charge is to develop strategies to support student
learning in ways that prepare students for the world around them. As
part of that process, both campuses are helping students develop a
strong base that exemplifies our values and commitment to excellence.
Our objective is for each SAS alumnus to be recognized not only for
excellent academics but for character, leadership and ability to work
in this new age.
In my former role as a high school principal, I would explain to
parents that there are more than 4,000 valedictorians throughout the
United States every year but fewer than 2,000 slots for incoming
freshman at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton combined. To be considered for
these universities, one must possess more than grades on a page.
No longer can students simply rest on the laurels of high SAT scores or
impressive GPA’s; numbers alone do not guarantee entrance to top
universities.
Students today must be able to articulate their learning in ways
never asked of our generation. At the same time, teachers can no longer
drill students on rote facts and figures. In our world today, students
must know the impact of historical decisions and the reasons why
mathematics works. Companies and universities want students able to
apply knowledge to new learning as opposed to those simply trained to
complete information-based tasks.
Developing the whole child
And so more and more, we as educators talk to parents using terms
such as ‘developing the whole child’ or providing opportunities for
students to be ‘empowered’ and ‘learn authentically’. What is it that
we are actually talking about?
The terms may be new, but in fact, the values they embody are as old as
education itself. Education is a concept that spans several thousand
years, over six if not all seven continents.
The purpose of education (as opposed to training) is not simply to
be academic but also to know how to apply what is learned and to relate
it to the world in which we live. The early Greeks taught students the
importance of community, and knowledge was shared for the purpose of
promoting the democratic state.
Hundreds of years later, in a report to the Commissioners for the
University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson noted that “such qualities as
morals, understanding of duties to neighbors and country, knowledge of
rights, and intelligence and faithfulness in social relations” were
paramount responsibilities of education. n both examples, students were
to be educated in how to use their knowledge to uphold the values of
the society and to improve not only themselves but nothing short of
their world.
Learning in meaningful context
Our two campuses thus strive to create learning within a meaningful
context (‘authentic learning’) and to develop well-rounded citizens
aware of and comfortable with (‘empowered by’) their potential beyond
the classroom (‘the whole child’). The EAGLES and our school’s core
value exemplify this endeavor. And it is an endeavor worth
contemplating a moment longer, based as it is on the belief that
children have to be exposed to a variety of activities in order to
develop their personality and interests.
Research suggests that students in middle school should have the
opportunity to engage in art, drama, music, sports, and language. Too
often, as adults, we wish to imprint our likes on our children based on
our own experiences rather than on their abilities and interests. It is
imperative that we allow students to find areas that they themselves
enjoy, which is where Pudong Middle’s exemplary electives program
shines.
Developing students’ sense of self-awareness and joy by no means diminishes SAS’s high academic expectations, however.
We have a reputation for getting students to excel in the traditional
subjects and indeed, we have begun to have students compile portfolios
of their work to showcase this excellence.
To be clear, portfolios-done-properly are more than collections of
random ‘good tests’ or ‘best assignments’; in the form they take at
Pudong Middle, they are a key element in teaching our students to be
empowered, life-long learners. Good portfolios help children to
articulate their learning – both its process and its products.
Student-led parent conferences
And so on November 7 and 8, Pudong Middle School students will
invite their parents to join them for a Student Led Conference. These
conferences will do much more than allow parents and students to sit
together and look over the projects, papers, and tests that have
resulted in certain numbers on a report card (although this in itself
is time well spent with your child). It will also provide an
opportunity for parents to better understand the perspective of their
child in terms of how and why their learning takes place. The
conferences will further allow parents and students to set goals
together for the second quarter and to outline possible courses of
actions to achieve these goals.
The latest research data tells us that by providing opportunities
for students and parents to reflect on learning together, students will
be encouraged to take even further ownership of their education. And
the latest research data also tells us that Student Led Conferences,
portfolios, interdisciplinary tie-ins to the EAGLES and core values,
experimentation with electives are all excellent initiatives. But we
won’t stop there.
The studies are out there, and the results are in; we at SAS are
tapping into the research and the best practices to create a
learning-rich environment that will stretch your child’s abilities and
better prepare today’s middle schoolers to lead us in to tomorrow’s New
World.
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