他如何凭最具挑战的A Level全球视野课程脱颖而出

对于擅长学习理科的中国学生来说，他如何凭最具挑战的A Level全球视野等文科类课程在大学申请中脱颖而出。

一直以来，剑桥注重培养学生的五大品质——乐观自信、认真负责、勤学善问、 勇于创新、积极主动。

而随着时代的迅速变化，剑桥意识到了必须要做好迎接未来世界的准备。

为此，剑桥针对5-19岁的学生开设了一门创新型课程——全球视野。

这门课程一推出就受到广泛欢迎，目前已在小学，初中及高中阶段全面开设，以帮助不同年龄段的学习者发展研究、分析、评估、思考、合作和沟通技能。

——顶思

不列颠哥伦比亚大学（University of British Columbia，简称UBC，又名“英属哥伦比亚大学”），始建于1908年，是加拿大著名公立研究型大学，环太平洋大学联盟（APRU）成员 ，是不列颠哥伦比亚省历史最悠久的大学，学校位于温哥华市。

UBC包含温哥华校区（总校区）和奥肯纳根校区，与麦吉尔大学、多伦多大学并称加拿大大学“三强”，并在经历了百余年的长足发展后，逐渐成为蜚声全球的顶级综合研究型大学，在加拿大国内的排名中始终保持前三名之列，其学术实力多年保持在世界前35，是全球最顶尖的20所公立大学之一。

施罗德的UBC录取通知书 施罗德初二在我校入读

五年的成长有目共睹看施罗德如何评价自己五年的成长和变化

玩电脑，睡懒觉，上课不听讲，这就是我初中生活的全部写照。

刚来到新学道时，当时凭着自己的较为良好的英语基础就在班上“颓废”。

全然不觉我周围的同学都在奋起直追，而我还在“坐吃山空”，直到初中毕业考试中我最擅长的英语也只得了B，而别的科目，尤其是理科，更是惨不忍睹。

看着眼前的成绩单，我不禁开始思考这样的学习状态真的是我想要的吗？在父母和Nash校长的开导下，我的学习态度重新步入了正轨。

在2015下半年，我们迁到了新校区，同时意味着我的A Level课程开始了。

无论是历史，生物还是全球视野都对我造成了不少挑战。

因为这些科目里充斥着大量晦涩难懂的生词，即使是英语自认不错的我也感到焦头烂额。

为此我甚至五点半到教学楼背单词，晚上下晚自习之后也会强迫自己留下来整理笔记学到十一点半。

在学期结束的考试中我从之前的举步维艰变得游刃有余。

而且上课听讲效率有了显著的提升，之前我的历史课只能勉强听懂一半，现在甚至可以轻松的和历史老师谈笑风生，这对于当时刚刚学习A Level的我来说是完全无法想象的。

2018年3月6号对于我来说是个特别的日子，当时正在上生物课的我收到了我的第一个大学offer，是来自加拿大排名前二的UBC大学。

这对于我来说是对于我勤奋最好的肯定。

难以想象如果没有新学道提供的平台；没有Nash校长的谆谆教诲；没有各科老师对于我学习的指导；没有来自家长的支持与肯定，今天的我又何去何从呢？

雅思7分

没有校外补课

学习三门对于中国学生最具挑战的

A Level全球视野、生物、历史

此次收到UBC的Offer

我们全校师生都为他高兴外方校长纳什校长

来自外方校长纳什校长：

在新学道教育体系下，我陪伴着施罗德学习了5年。

眼看着他从一个激情又单纯的少年，如今长大成为一个聪明阳光、言谈睿智的小青年，并具备了入学国际名校的能力，这对我来说是一段非凡的教育历程。

当然，对于这段历程来说，施罗德是一个不可或缺的好苗子。

而正是我们的教师团队和新学道的教育理念，使得这段历程得以顺利进行。

以英语学习为例。

在英语国家留学，高水平的英语口语和写作能力无疑是必须的。

通过新学道5年的学习，逐步地进步，施罗德的英语已经达到了接近英语母语者的水平，并获得了雅思7分的高分。

这得归功于他面对一门新语种时那种无所畏惧的心态。

焦虑或许是学好一门外语最大的障碍。

施罗德带着自信和沉着跨越了这个障碍。

然而，他之所以有此成就，是因为新学道为每个孩子所提供的高素质、经验丰富的英国师资。

新学道教育并没有因为着重于孩子们的英语教学而忽略掉中国的课程，对于像施罗德这样的孩子，这种教育无疑太局限了。

事实是，新学道教育向孩子们提供的是英语和中国文化互相协调与融合的一个当代全球化世界的缩影，从而给孩子们塑造全新的文化和理念。

在新学道的双语学术环境里，不论用中文或是英文，学生们都能与新学道在全球招募的优秀中外籍教师进行苏格拉底式对话。

施罗德在过去的5年里，每天面临着的都是数不尽的机会，因此他的智慧也得以与日俱增。

关于这次教育历程，我想说的第二方面是创造力和表现力。

当然，在这方面上，施罗德也为我们提供了一个好的素材，即一个开放的头脑，一个总是寻找方法去表达其观点和兴奋的头脑。

然而，新学道深知，没有训练和自我约束的话，创造力将会是一种不可预测的能量。

和其他所有学生一样，施罗德经过了书法和武术的训练，这些都是极富创造力的艺术，通过实际操作并体会其含义，我们的学生学到了如何控制他们的创造能量并使这些能量专注。

正如在书法中去构造一个字一样，写一篇A Level历史论文同样需要有点有面、对重要论点进行阐述、避免无关的拼凑、以自信优雅的姿态对主题做出回应。

有了外教指导老师的引领，施罗德从只能用英语来组织观点，进步到用精确而地道的词表达复杂的观点，就像书法家精于运笔一样。

同时施罗德的巨大进步也得益于新学道教育环境所融合的文学熏陶。

可以说，正是那些可以比肩查尔斯迪金斯和中国鲁迅的老师们，开化了施罗德的大脑。

2016年，他有幸遇到了来自英国东安格利亚大学、对文学和创造艺术深有研究的Morton老师。

他们共同导演了英国作家查尔斯狄更斯的名作“圣诞颂歌”。

在剧中，施罗德担任主演，不但提高了自己的表达能力，还锻炼了话剧的编剧和导演能力，成功地将故事的核心思想呈现给观众。

该剧还被推到一个国际水平，因为Morton先生鼓励施罗德参加由英国莎士比亚协会组织的国际莎士比亚专题讨论会。

当施罗德用双语向Skype观众毫不畏惧地表演着“罗密欧与朱丽叶”中的台词，然后用英语探讨该剧在中英文化的解读时，这对于新学道，是一个无比自豪的时刻。

最后，我想说说施罗德教育中的国际元素。

他带来学校的，是一颗开放的心，既想融入近在眼前的中国，又想了解远在天边的全世界。

在我们的国际文化课上，他是明星学生，从美国土著文化，到美国总统的杰出成就，他都侃侃而谈，呈现给我们深刻而丰富的报告。

这门课为高中A Level全球视野和世界历史课程做了完美的准备。

这些预修课程体现出的教育哲学是：只学习客观事实是不够的，而是要通过解读与辩论这样的辩证过程来获得真相和贯通。

换句话说，新学道已经将他那开放的头脑培养成了一个具有批判性思维、热爱提出问题的头脑，这样的头脑不仅可以对世界提出机智的问题，还武装了寻找答案的有力的方法。

所以，当您看到施罗德带领学校辩论队参加国际比赛，也就不奇怪了。

丰富多样的新学道教育，为他申请去加拿大最好的大学学习国际关系提供了平台。

在他的申请中，核心的一部分是个人陈述。

在此我想对他的个人陈述说一点看法。

我们所有学生均参加了学校的“社团与领导力”项目。

施罗德也曾和团队一起去山西农村支教。

在那里，他十分投入，一边帮助孩子们学习，一边努力去体会当地教育所扮演的角色和存在的问题。

在他的个人陈述中，他对教育这个复杂的话题从地方、国家和世界的角度进行了深入阐述，展现了他独到的知识和理解。

更重要的是，他还以无比谦逊和自我批评的方式，描述了自己学业上的不足，以及纯粹的想要用大学知识来纠正和提高自己的愿望。

我相信，施罗德就是新学道教育核心和灵魂的代表。

接下来的大学生活，我们将继续共同努力，使这个来到我们学校的青年才子，发挥出他完全的潜力。

来自全球视野、历史外教Mr.Cunliffe老师：

我叫Cunliffe，是Andy(施罗德)的A Level历史和全球视野课老师。

历史尤其需要学生对过去的事件具有丰富的知识。

我教给Andy的技能使他在这些科目上取得了优异的成绩。

写作技能

两门科目均要求学生用学术英语进行论证。

Andy的英语非常好，为A Level课程的成功奠定了重要的基础。

在给Andy上课的过程中，我着重培养他以下几方面的写作技能：

论证；

用清晰的脉络解释复杂的信息；

设计合理的结构，使其可用于不同类型的论文；

在A2学习阶段，学习主题和史料编撰式写作方法

提升Andy的写作水平最有效的方法是一对一的个性指导。

这种方法很费时，但对于拓展和挑战学生的水平非常有必要。

分析了以往考生的范例和评分标准后，我对考试要求有了清晰的了解，然后开始了对Andy的一对一指导。

根据AS和A2阶段以及大学阶段的写作要求的理解，我采取了一些方法来提升他的写作。

每次辅导后我都更加明确他有待提高的方面，于是每次作业我都会侧重培养这个方面的能力。

我会先判他的作业，然后安排时间和他一起讲评，分析他做哪些改进来提分，着重讲解有待提高的方面，下次要交上不同的作业。

思维技能

除了费时，一对一指导的另一个缺点，是学生会变得依赖，可能得完全靠我告诉他如何答题。

Andy取得好成绩是因为他已经培养了对学术研究进行批判思考的技能。

这种技能的培养，主要通过学写学术论文的方法实现。

课程进行到哪，相关的真题论文就布置给他。

此时，学生需要在黑板上写出论文的大纲，我就在旁边指导。

根据我个人的了解和评分标准，已经形成了固定的论文撰写结构。

我给予了他一些空间，有助于他找到属于自己的问题解决方法，同时我也给予了最小限度地帮助来让他做出正确的思考。

我只需要给他一些适当的意见，他就会努力去思考，深入地、批判性地、和有主题性的制定一个他自己的计划。

慢慢地，他需要的帮助会越来越少，因为他已经具备了这样的能力，即没有给定的大纲，也可以独立构思出越来越多的内容。

来自科学外教Mr.Hartley老师：

我给Andy上了两年A Level生物课。

第一年，他学了AS内容，使用剑桥国际考试中心（CIE）提供的教材和素材，一周四次课，每次一小时。

实验课帮助他掌握了专业科学工作者使用的操作技巧。

随着学校继续引进实验室设施，会有更多的实操课。

Andy也做了一些具体的考试练习。

第一年结束时，Andy要做一个实地勘察项目，包括数据统计和分析。

第二年，Andy学习了A2内容，为最终的A Level考试准备。

课外我也给予了Andy一些辅导，他一直都非常热情地与我讨论生物。

From headmaster Mr.Nash,

It has been a privilege to guide Shi Lou De through 5 years of the Xinxuedao Education system and observe how we have been able to transform him from being an enthusiastic but naive boy into an intelligent and articulate young man ready for admission to an international university. It has been an extraordinary educational journey.

Of course Shi Luo De supplied the raw materials of that journey but our team of teachers and the Xinxuedao educational philosophy have made the journey possible. Let us take the example of learning English. Of course a high standard of written and spoken English is the foundation of international study in an English speaking country.

Over five years with Xinxuedao Shi Luo De has progressed to near native speaker standard with an IELTS 7.0. His contribution to the learning partnership is a quality of fearlessness in learning a new language.

Anxiety is probably the single biggest barrier to learning and performing highly in a foreign language. Shi Luo De has leapt over this barrier with confidence and elegance. However he has been able to do this because of the Xinxuedao pedagogy of providing access to qualified and experienced foreign teachers, specifically from the UK.

The Xinxuedao approach is not just to provide English lessons with such teachers, isolated amongst an otherwise entirely Chinese curriculum. This would be far too limiting for a mind like Shi Luo De’s. No, the Xinxuedao method is to provide in a miniature a model of our modern global world where English and Chinese jointly and in co-operation are shaping new cultures and new understandings.

The everyday reality of this is that Shi Luo De has had countless opportunities over the last five years to develop his articulacy in both Chinese and English in Socratic dialogue with the best teachers Xinxuedao can source in an integrated learning environment.

The second aspect of this education journey I would like to focus on is creativity and expression. Again Shi Luo De has supplied the raw ingredients of an open mind that is looking for ways to express his excitement about ideas. But Xinxuedao recognises that without discipline and self-discipline creativity is an unpredictable energy.

Shi Luo De, like all of our students, has been through the training of Shufa (Caligraphy) and Wushu (Martial arts). These are profoundly creative arts, but through experiencing not just the practice but the meaning of these arts, our students learn to control and focus their creative energies. As it is with forming a character in calligraphy, so it is with writing an A Level History essay.

The successful student must be able to focus, to clarify what is necessary, to eliminate what is extraneous and to express a response with confidence and elegance. With the guidance of his foreign teacher mentors, Shi Luo De has progressed from being able to organise ideas in written English, to being able to express sophisticated ideas with subtlety and nuance, the finest strokes of the calligrapher’s pen that are the marks of mastery.

In his creative growth Shi Luo De has also benefitted from the engagement with Literature which Xinxuedao has provided for him. His mind has been opened by teachers who can parallel Charles Dickens and Lu Xun. In 2016 he worked with an English graduate, Mr Morton, from East Anglia University in the UK which is famous for its study of Literature and Creative Arts.

Together they directed a performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’, the famous story by Charles Dickens where Shi Luo De was able to combine improving his self- expression by taking on a leading role in the play, with learning the skills of a theatre producer and director, how to convey the story’s inner heart to an audience.

This was taken to an international level when Mr Morton supported Shi Luo De to participate in an international Shakespeare symposium, organised by a Shakespearean society in the UK. It was a proud moment for Xinxuedao when Shi Luo De was able to perform lines from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ fearlessly in English and Chinese to a Skype audience in the UK, followed by a discussion in English about interpretations of the play in Chinese and English cultures.

And finally I would like to turn to that international element in Shi Luo De’s education. To the partnership the young Shi Luo De brought an open mind that wanted to learn about both his immediate world in China and the global wider world.

He was the star student in lesson after lesson on our International Culture course, giving thoughtful, well informed presentations on everything from Native American culture to the achievements of leading American presidents. This course was the perfect preparation for progression to our High School A Level courses in Global Perspectives and World History.

At the heart of both of these advanced courses is the educational philosophy that the learning of facts is not enough, but that truth and understanding emerge from a dialectical process of interpretation and debate. In other words Xinxuedao has transformed that open mind into an enquiringly mind, able to ask intelligent questions about the world and equipped with a powerful methodology for finding answers. It will not surprise you then to hear that Shi Luo De has very ably led the school debating team in international competitions.

This rich and varied Xinxuedao education was the platform for his application to study International Relations at the best universities in Canada. At the heart of his application was his Personal Statement, and I would like to conclude by reflecting on an aspect of that statement. All of our students take part in service to the people through our Community and Leadership scheme at the school.

Shi Luo De was part of a team who went to support the education of a rural school in Shanxi. He devoted his time there both to helping the students and trying to understand the role and problems of education in this part of China.

In the Personal Statement he displayed great knowledge and understanding of the complex local, national and international issues around this topic, but more importantly an extraordinary humility and self-criticism in describing his own intellectual failures and his simple devotion to using his university study to improve and correct himself. In this I believe Shi Luo De is an ambassador for the heart and soul of Xinxuedao education.

In his university years to come we will continue to work together to bring the youthful talents which he brought to our school to their full potential.

From Mr.Cunliffe,

My name is Mr Cunliffe and I teach Andy A-level History and Global Perspectives. History in particular requires students to have a lot of knowledge about the past. However, it is the skills that I have given Andy that have allowed him to excel in these subjects.

Writing skills

Both subjects require students to be able to argue in an academic way. Andy’s English was already fairly strong and it was an essential foundation for A level success. During my time teaching Andy, I have worked to develop the following aspects of his writing:

Writing to argue;

Explaining complex information in a clear manner;

Structuring his writing to fit many different types of essays;

At A2 level, writing in thematic and historiographical styles.

The most effective way that I have developed Andy’s writing is through personalised feedback on a 1-1 basis. This can be very time consuming but also necessary for stretching and challenging students. I begin the process by having a very clear idea of the exam requirements through analysing example candidate responses and mark schemes.

I use my knowledge of how students need to write at AS, A2 and at University level to decide which steps need to be taken to advance his writing to the next level. Then, I look for the main area for improvement each time – focussing on one aspect at a time every time I set essay homework.

I mark the work and then I make the time to read through Andy’s work with him, offering personal guidance on how to improve his writing generally to gain marks, but focussing on that one aspect that I want him to do differently next time. This process is repeated several times each term.

Thinking skills

As well as being very time consuming the other problem with this method is that students can become reliant on me to tell them how to answer any questions. Andy has achieved success because he has also developed his thinking skills that allow him to think critically about academic study. The main method of developing these skills is through planning academic essays.

An area of the course is taught and a past exam essay set on this topic. Then, my students need to plan their answers on the board, under my supervision. I already have my set structure of how I would answer the essay, taken from my own knowledge and the mark scheme. I allow Andy some freedom to answer things in his own way— but I only give him the smallest amount of help that he needs to get it right.

He is allowed to struggle and is made to think deeply, critically and thematically with only just enough guidance to make him create the plan. Over time, less and less help is needed because Andy has developed the skills because he was not given the plan, he had to create more and more of it himself every time.

From Mr.Hartley，

Andy was taught A-level biology over two years. He studied the AS content during the first year where he was taught using the CIE coursebook and CIE teaching support materials which were delivered in four 1-hour classes per week. Wherever possible, practical laboratory classes helped Andy develop techniques used by professional scientists.

As the school continues to build the laboratory facilities practical classes will become more frequent. Andy was also given specific exam preparation. The end of the first year finished with a large field-work project with data handling and statistical analysis. During the second year, Andy was taught the A2 content to prepare him for his final A-level exams. Throughout his two years Andy was offered tutor time outside of classes, and in fact, Andy was always very enthusiastic about discussing his biology studies.