Chinese Visitors Find 'Education Heaven' at Shore
On September 21 a delegation of two dozen Chinese education leaders on a tour of a handful of Massachusetts schools spent a day at Shore to study discussion-based teaching, experiential and hands-on learning, student-centered classroom models, and best practices in the teaching of English.
According to the visiting educators, they got far more than they expected to from their time at Shore: this was “education heaven,” one said.
The group of mostly principals and administrators of “training” schools in China—private institutions that may see enrollments of thousands of students at a time for intensive instruction in English and other subjects outside of the public school system—discovered Shore by way of a Cambridge-based education training company, Excelorators. The organization's business development director, Bowen Gao, said his company arranged the trip for the Chinese educators to experience best practices at successful schools around Massachusetts. Ultimately, he explained, “The goal of the tour is to define the difference between the two nations’ schools and figure out how Chinese schools can be improved.”
The learning experience began the moment the visitors stepped off their bus in front of the Center for Creativity, where they were welcomed by Head of School Clair Ward and the entire ninth grade class. “One ninth grade boy told us he was passionate about history," said Alyssa Lai with a laugh, “and he explained to us the history of the Massachusetts state flag. We were very impressed.”
Encounters with Shore students throughout their day-long visit would yield a number of revelations for the curious educators. Sitting in on a sixth grade English class, several of the guests were surprised to see a group of students leave in the middle of a writing session and strike up a lively and interactive discussion about the assignment on a nearby sofa in the hallway.
“You give the children so many opportunities to develop their own ideas and to be in charge of their own learning,” observed Shirley Zhang, the principal of an English-language training school that enrolls more than a thousand students in Zhongshan City. “In China, we spend years learning how to pass a test in English, but here, learning to read and write is so much more closely related to critical thinking and creative thinking.”
Astonishment at witnessing students in charge of the learning process, and at teachers patiently guiding children to make discoveries on their own, was a recurring theme for the Chinese educators.
According to Sunny Liang, a leader of two training schools with more than 3,000 pupils, “One student told me that discussion is a part of almost every class, and now I can see how important this is in inspiring students to think more deeply about a subject. I know I can’t change the entire industry of education in China, but still, this is perhaps one small change I can make in the classroom in the way we look at students.”
Shore’s Head of Lower School, Sara Knox, affirmed, “For students in our Upper School, discussion around the Harkness table is one of the hallmarks of our program. But even for the youngest students, the job of our teachers is to pull back as much as possible and let the children guide the learning process, and figure out their own rules for navigating the conversation and collaboration in the classroom.”
Head of School Clair Ward agreed, explaining to the visitors that the child-centered culture of the school is always the “other teacher” in the room. “The teachers we are privileged to hire are among the best in the region,” she said, “but that’s just the beginning. What really inspires our faculty is seeing examples daily of their colleagues putting the learning process in the hands of the children.”
The delegation of Chinese educators clearly felt deep respect for their American peers at Shore. “I realized that what you have here is not just teachers, but educators,” observed one visitor. “They are so focused on kids’ creativity, and encouraging them to consider an idea in new ways. I was shocked, actually, to see in a history class that the discussion was a combination of social studies, geography, reading, and writing.”
Avril Xu, a principal from Fujian, added, “In a kindergarten class, I observed a math lesson, but it started with a storybook about long and short. This is an example of how your teachers encourage kids to think more broadly about what they're learning.”
Reflecting on the differences between Chinese and American education, Christiana Lee, one of the directors of the teacher-training program that sponsored the educators’ Massachusetts tour, admitted, “In China, we, too, are very proud of our kids and know they are very smart, but unfortunately we are not preparing them well for the new world. Your model of group discussion was amazing to see, and really broadened our horizons; it is a new direction for us to consider.”
Ardel Liu, another principal of an English-language training school, crystallized the enthusiasm of the visiting educators. “I’m a mother, like many of us here,” she explained. “My son is four-and-a-half years old, and I’d really like for him to be able to come to Shore. Your school offers children so many opportunities that I was telling my colleague it’s a heaven of education.”
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Ninth grader Linden Adamson greeted Chinese school principal Rose Tan.
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Head of School Clair Ward welcomed educators.
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Fourth grader Anne Wang and her brother, second grader Terrance, welcomed guests in the Trustey Family Theatre.
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Visitors posed with sixth grade English teacher Ellen Wright.
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First grader Alex Capuano explained her writing project.
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One visitor photographed the Lower School's leveled library.
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Fifth graders demonstrated a science experiment.
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Head of Upper School Walter Morris pointed out athletic fields.
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Shore Country Day School’s mission is to provide an education that inspires a love of learning and encourages children to embrace academic challenge. We seek to build character, cultivate creativity, and value diversity as we help our children become healthy, compassionate citizens of the world.
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