By: Dr. Walter He, President, AHEAD Education
Date: 2013, Aug 10
Venue: Conference room, Headquarter, AHEAD Education
First of all, I’d like to congratulate all of our WASATCH-AHEAD American program colleagues on your successful arrivals in NJ. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to the efforts you have ever made for this trip and the trust your have given to WA and AHEAD. Thank you for flying across the oceans to this ancient and modern country. Also great thanks to all of our Chinese colleagues for your excellent endeavors to make such an event happen so smoothly. With your presence in this room, I believe all our efforts and pains are worthy as we will make history together. We will be running the first and the only registered U.S high school diploma programs in 3 top schools in Jiangsu province. The programs will become a management and teaching model for all similar international programs in the region and it is also designed as an important platform to showcase the education value of American schools.
I know for many of you this is the first time that you set foot in this country. I believe you all will be proud of the choices you have made because from now on you will be on a wonderful journey to explore the unique culture and lifestyles of modern China. I trust you will also make a lot of reliable and warm-hearted friends here.
About 100 years ago, we already had international education programs here in Nanjing, which were funded, and run by Americans. Then western high schools started to appear in southern part of Jiangsu Province. At that time, students in those schools were using western textbooks written in English as their peers in U.S. Also Nanjing University, one of the top and most prestigious universities of China was founded 110 years ago in partnership with Cornell University. During that period, the international education system produced a great many influential scholars, great thinkers and successful entrepreneurs who all contributed tremendously to the modernization of this country. Indeed, Nanjing and southern part of Jiangsu have always been the base for educational reforms and innovations.
Finally, I’d like to share with you my understanding of our American program. In my view, our program has such a few features. First, it should represent the traditions and values of American private high school system. In particular, it should reflect the education ideas of WA which is centered upon global vision and innovation. Second, it also needs to follow the values and traditions of the Chinese hosting schools. I know it is very hard to combine the strengths of Chinese and American education systems as they are hugely different, but I think it will be an interesting thing to try. For quantitative subjects such as math, Chinese education system may excel in terms of learning outcomes while for arts subjects I guess American education system may be ahead of us by at least 20-30 years as Chinese teachers get used to passing knowledge rather than encouraging students to give independent thinking which is key to the study of arts. Chinese students are rarely rewarded to be innovative. I believe you may have a good idea how you can deal with the difference and help our students in their transition to a more creative and flexible learning mode. I am sure agony, confusions and frustrations are inevitable along the way. But with the shared objective for offering the best to our students, we could overcome any difficulty and ensure our prescribed teaching goals are perfectly achieved. Let’s join hands and make a difference to the life of our students.
May you enjoy your remaining holiday in Nanjing and please feel free to seek help and support from our friendly staff. Remember, we are now your family.