Creating An Ethic of Excellence | 养成追求卓越的品质

On Monday, January 6th the gates at the Yew Chung International School of Beijing opened for our staff to kick-start the second half the school year. To get the entire staff enthusiastic and motivated for the new semester,  Mr. Mark Adams, our Regional Director gave a workshop on Ron Berger’s book, “An Ethic of Excellence”. A book focusing on how as a collective we can achieve excellence for the betterment of our school.

1月6日星期一，北京耀中国际学校的大门再度开启，我们正式开始了下半学年。为了让全体教职员工对新学期充满热情和动力;我们的区域总监Mark Adams先生主持了一场工作坊，主题是罗恩·伯杰的著作《An Ethic of Excellence》。这本书重点讲述了作为一个集体，我们可以如何改善我们的学校以实现卓越。

We spoke to Mr. James Sweeney, Vice-Principal - Head of Primary, about what was shared in this workshop and how we, at YCIS Beijing, strive to achieve excellence on a daily basis, touching upon the five most important points to take away from the book.

我们与副校长—小学校长James Sweeney先生进行了交流，讨论了本次工作坊的内容，以及在北京耀中，我们如何在日常工作中追求卓越，同时也谈到了书中最重要的五个要点。

1. Caring

It is important to ensure that teachers and the students care and they take pride in what they are doing. We also aim to give students work that matters. This is work that they care about and want to do. An example is of a year 6 student, who is currently undertaking to build a website about the Australian bushfires and how to raise awareness, by himself. This is a project he cares about. 

1. 在意 

确保老师和学生在意，并为他们所做的事情感到自豪是很重要的。我们还致力于给学生提供有意义的工作，即他们在意和想做的工作。例如，一名六年级的学生，他目前正在着手建立一个关于澳大利亚丛林大火的网站并努力提高公众意识。这是他在意的一个项目。

2.  Children need to be exposed to excellence 

Whether it is a project or Science fair, children should know what excellence looks like. In our Primary School, we have what we call What A Good One Looks Like (WAGOLL) in most lessons. This way children can see WAGOLL and learn from it. This is to give them an idea of what they can possibly achieve.

2. 孩子们需要认识优秀

无论是通过项目还是科学展览，孩子们都应该知道什么是优秀。在我们小学的大多数课程中，都有一个“什么是优秀(WAGOLL)”环节。通过这种方式，孩子们可以看到WAGOLL并从中学习。这是为了让他们知道他们能够实现的目标。

3.  Building a culture of critique

This is from the belief that children and teachers give each other feedback and work from it. On most pieces of work, we have self-check, teacher check and peer check. Although it takes some time to establish the language, this system is already in place where children are used to feedback. 

3. 建立批判性文化

这源于孩子们和老师们互相给予反馈并从中学习的信念。在大多数的工作中，我们有自我检查、老师检查和同伴检查。虽然建立这种交流需要一些时间，但是这个系统已经存在于孩子们的反馈中了。

4. Requiring multiple revisions 

Children, just like adults do not like doing things more than once, but we try to encourage children that the first draft isn’t the final draft and that we can always improve. 

4. 需要多次改进

就像成年人不喜欢重复做一件事超过一次，但我们依旧尝试鼓励孩子们，第一稿不是最终稿，我们总是可以改进的。

We also have Reflection Hour where students will go over their work from the week or project, sit with the teacher and spend time reviewing what they’ve done and try to improve.

我们也有反思时间，学生们可以回顾他们一周的工作或项目，与老师坐在一起，花时间回顾他们做过的事情，并努力提高。

5. Provide opportunities to share

Children want to do better when they know that their work will be seen by other people other than themselves. In our School, these are called "Learning Celebrations" or “So What?” moments. Children know that we do certain activities for learning, but also because an expert or parents will see their work.

5. 提供分享的机会

当孩子们知道他们的工作将被更多的人而不只是他们自己看到时，他们希望做得更好。在我们学校这些被称为学习庆典或“那又如何?”时刻。孩子们知道我们做某些活动是为了学习，也是因为有专家或家长会看到他们的工作。

To read the full article, click the “Read More” button below.

如欲阅读全文，请点击下方的“阅读原文”。

[EMERGENT CURRICULUM] The Key Benefits of YCIS Emergent Curriculum  我校生成课程的益处

[DR JANE GOODALL] YCIS Beijing Students meet Dr Jane Goodall   北京耀中学生与珍妮·古道尔会面

[IMPRESSIVE RESULTS] An Impressive Start of the Volleyball Season  排球赛季开局令人印象深刻