Beijing lures educator of vision
By Zhou Liming (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-29 07:50

What would an educator do if he or she was offered the job of heading a brand-new school in Beijing?

"From a professional point of view, any educator would give his or her right arm" for the opportunity, says Christopher Edmunds, who recently arrived in the Chinese capital for just such "an exciting challenge."

Edmunds, who is leaving his position as principal of an international school in Frankfurt, Germany, is a British citizen who was born in Germany. A musician and historian by training, he has an instant appreciation for what Beijing has to offer - vibrancy and a promising future, and the 2008 Olympics, a "magnet" for worldwide investment, attention and thinking.

He calls the city a very "happening" place and explains that the international teachers' circle is quite small and some of his colleagues with Beijing experience highly recommended it to him.

As a newcomer, Edmunds has noticed a dichotomy, or rather a synthesis.

"This is a hugely organic city," he observes. On the one hand, "it's bustling, sprawling and developing in ways that, even to those who have lived here for many years, are almost unpredictable."

On the other, he has found it to be "remarkably understandable" and he, "with my Western eye," can easily make sense of it by simply looking at a map.

Now Christopher Edmunds has the daunting task of transferring this mixture - a vast tapestry of rich culture and long history with an in-the-moment dizziness of fast changes swirling all around - onto an operable model for education. To make it more electrifying, it is education for a polyglot group of students and he will watch the school literally sprouting from the ground up.

Edmunds believes in the appeal of multicultural exposure. He has taught in West Africa and Southeast Asia as well as Western Europe. He is an advocate for the "ethos of international mindedness."

With Beijing City International School (BCIS), Edmunds, the new headmaster, has a chance to see his vision come alive on a brand-new canvas.

He enthuses about the ICE Box, which is short for "International Cultural Exchange," a BCIS programme designed to enhance cross-cultural interactions.

In this "box," there will be support for both student and adult language tutorial work, a range of school activities to develop students' potential and diverse interests, including music, arts and crafts, drama and performances, sports and athletics. And there will be outreach work in the community, Edmunds says, his eyes lightening up as he talks about children and how they'll be groomed to be leaders and responsible world citizens of tomorrow.

English will be the official language at BCIS, although Chinese will also be taught by the best teachers from the No 2 Experimental Primary School attached to the Beijing Normal University, one of the top institutions in the capital. But children's capability for their native languages will be scrupulously nourished through special tutoring and collaborative programmes developed with various embassies.

Will cultural sensitivity training unify something as simple as the way teachers are addressed by children? Will students at BCIS address their teachers in the English way, Chinese way or some kind of hybrid? Assuming "Mr Edmunds" will be the norm, will "Teacher Edmunds" be accepted? Will "Mr Christopher" be tolerated?

The new headmaster of BCIS insists that appropriate standards will be taught and grammatically incorrect or socially unacceptable ways quickly rectified, but "we'll do it with some flexibility and guided tolerance."

Christopher Edmunds clarifies that BCIS will be "curriculum driven," but the curriculum will only provide a framework, a "coat hanger" so to speak, so that the school can decide what "style of clothing" to hang it on.

He questions how relevant Euro-centric themes will be in the future, adding that BCIS will adapt its course of social studies. But "there will be a unifying factor," that is, "values and ethos have to be shared." It's something that does not "change with the location, but adapt to it."

Edmunds mentions that BCIS will be authorized by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) for its educational programmes. It also aims to follow the IBPYP (Primary Years Programme) for its kindergarten to grade six classes, which will focus on the development of the "whole" child in both the classroom and the outside world, and simultaneously meet needs on several fronts: academic, social, physical, emotional and cultural.

There are five essential elements of the PYP curriculum: knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action. The programme will help students acquire a holistic understanding of the main organizing and trans-disciplinary themes through the inter relatedness of these essential elements, he elaborates.

Asked how he will reconcile the more formal and structured curriculum of a typical Chinese education with the more informal and integrative Western curriculum, Edmunds says BCIS will combine the best from both worlds and adapt to the needs of individual students.

This line of thinking will be reflected not only in the curricula, but also in the recruiting of teachers.

"We're seeking teachers with previous experience in the international context, qualified and properly licensed, but more important, their values have to resonate with ours," he maintains.

He is content that, so far, the teachers recruited from Australia, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, the United States and other regions of the world have higher qualifications than required by their job descriptions.

BCIS is a prospective member of the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) and the Council of International Schools, he adds.

Christopher Edmunds can hardly conceal his exuberance when he talks about the facilities of the school.

It is totally state-of-the-art, yet subtly tailored to the needs of a multilingual staff and multicultural students, he says.

The school, built at a cost of 450 million yuan (US$54.41 million), sits on a 40,000-square-metre campus on the south side of the central business district in the Chaoyang District. Designed by Australian Elvio Brianese, it has several buildings interconnected with doors and corridors, but is clustered in such a way as to create courtyards similar to Beijing-style siheyuan. The corridors line both sides of the buildings to let in maximum daylight.

"The use of space is intended to facilitate the sharing of culture, ideas and energy," says Edmund, "and it is a physical testament to our philosophy of East-meets-West and blending the best from both worlds."

He quickly goes over the models of 25-metre indoor swimming pool, the 400-person capacity theatre, the library, the music studios and science labs, indoor rock climbing wall and gymnasium as if he is giving a house-warming party, showcasing the environment while more or less letting the gadgets speak for themselves.

There will be special ancient trees planted on the campus, which in Chinese tradition symbolizes the cultivation of talent for the far future.

When asked what will stand out foremost among all the claimed strengths, he takes on the confidence of a real estate developer, laughing, "Location. Location. Location."

"We are located within a one-kilometre radius from the China World Trade Centre and in the heart of Beijing, close to the diplomatic compounds and accessible to various expatriate residential developments along the airport expressway," he says, adding, "Students don't need to spend hours in traffic congestion. Rather, they can use the time to play on the school ground or with their parents."

Looking outside at the construction site and the flying sand and dust that typify a Beijing spring, Edmunds ponders his role of "building BCIS into a world leading school," a place where a solid foundation is laid for healthy growth down the road.

"It has been a liberating experience," he says. "For me there is less restraint and constraint here, and I have more freedom to develop the school in line with our vision."

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