Throughout history, schools have been adapting and evolving in order to catch up with developments in modern society.
Today, students are offered an increasing number of post-secondary education choices. High school graduates can open a number of glossy brochures from a choice of Universities (often further and beyond their own native country). The sheer subject selection and combinations of Degree courses is vast compared to one or two decades prior. This, combined with higher expectations of the next generation of students, raises questions: What are the school’s goals for children today? How is this being achieved? Will graduates gain enough knowledge from their high schools and be equipped to specialize in their desired degrees of study?
Schools have a responsibility towards each child’s preparation for life; provide the necessary steps towards personal development, communication, strong all-round knowledge, and high critical thinking skills. Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS), predominantly in Mainland China key cities and Hong Kong, are that bridge in through-train preparation. Deepening the core value of communication and all-round preparation is very much alive and flourishing in YCIS programmes.
Open any newspaper, cast your eye over any news website, business and economic documentaries on television – sure enough a repeated topic is China, China and the West, the West meets the East. Undoubtedly the world has never been as interconnected as it is today; finance, banking, global economics, inter-political relations, international security, manufacturing, media, business and marketing are constantly challenging the next level of success.
On December 22, 2010, The New York Times published an article entitled “East Meets West, But It Takes Some Practice”, and debated the topic of cultural training within work forces to spur on better business and working relationships between western parties dealing in China and vice versus. Consultancy companies are continually being called upon to prepare the generation of successful professionals who had no such inclusion during their schooling years. More likely is the fact that this is a generation of top end professionals who were not privy to the opportunities some school children are privileged to gain today. Increasingly, companies are seeking professionals who have strong soft skills – including adaptability, foreign language skills and ease in other cultures. The job descriptions of top managers now require chief officers to be diplomats between the East and West.
Getting an Early Start
YCIS students, from as young as two years old, are submerged in a bi-lingual learning environment – Mandarin and English being delivered by native speaking Co-teachers. Language is the perfect tool for adopting shared thinking skills, mannerisms and profound understanding between different people and interpersonal behaviour. Each language, Mandarin and English, concentrates on a complete acquirement of oral, written and writing skills. Students moving through Primary Years continue to receive daily access to YCIS unique co-teaching time The result is evident in the children of “tomorrow” with their fluidity of communication and cultural awareness. Students are breaking down frontiers, usually sitting alongside
classmates hailing from different continents. Scientific research proves there are all-round benefits to the brain’s development for a bi-lingual student; furthermore the bi-lingual student invariably overtakes the
monolingual student is cognitive testing. The remunerations and rewards for such international preparations for tomorrow’s workforce are immense.
Education today for tomorrow’s workforce must be global – no longer based on one nation; whilst instilling western and eastern bridges as a person’s second nature. Easy, fluid and natural – for a YCIS graduate to
attend cultural awareness workshops will not be a necessary company’s burden.
Today, students are offered an increasing number of post-secondary education choices. High school graduates can open a number of glossy brochures from a choice of Universities (often further and beyond their own native country). The sheer subject selection and combinations of Degree courses is vast compared to one or two decades prior. This, combined with higher expectations of the next generation of students, raises questions: What are the school’s goals for children today? How is this being achieved? Will graduates gain enough knowledge from their high schools and be equipped to specialize in their desired degrees of study?
Schools have a responsibility towards each child’s preparation for life; provide the necessary steps towards personal development, communication, strong all-round knowledge, and high critical thinking skills. Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS), predominantly in Mainland China key cities and Hong Kong, are that bridge in through-train preparation. Deepening the core value of communication and all-round preparation is very much alive and flourishing in YCIS programmes.
Open any newspaper, cast your eye over any news website, business and economic documentaries on television – sure enough a repeated topic is China, China and the West, the West meets the East. Undoubtedly the world has never been as interconnected as it is today; finance, banking, global economics, inter-political relations, international security, manufacturing, media, business and marketing are constantly challenging the next level of success.
On December 22, 2010, The New York Times published an article entitled “East Meets West, But It Takes Some Practice”, and debated the topic of cultural training within work forces to spur on better business and working relationships between western parties dealing in China and vice versus. Consultancy companies are continually being called upon to prepare the generation of successful professionals who had no such inclusion during their schooling years. More likely is the fact that this is a generation of top end professionals who were not privy to the opportunities some school children are privileged to gain today. Increasingly, companies are seeking professionals who have strong soft skills – including adaptability, foreign language skills and ease in other cultures. The job descriptions of top managers now require chief officers to be diplomats between the East and West.
Getting an Early Start
YCIS students, from as young as two years old, are submerged in a bi-lingual learning environment – Mandarin and English being delivered by native speaking Co-teachers. Language is the perfect tool for adopting shared thinking skills, mannerisms and profound understanding between different people and interpersonal behaviour. Each language, Mandarin and English, concentrates on a complete acquirement of oral, written and writing skills. Students moving through Primary Years continue to receive daily access to YCIS unique co-teaching time The result is evident in the children of “tomorrow” with their fluidity of communication and cultural awareness. Students are breaking down frontiers, usually sitting alongside
classmates hailing from different continents. Scientific research proves there are all-round benefits to the brain’s development for a bi-lingual student; furthermore the bi-lingual student invariably overtakes the
monolingual student is cognitive testing. The remunerations and rewards for such international preparations for tomorrow’s workforce are immense.
Education today for tomorrow’s workforce must be global – no longer based on one nation; whilst instilling western and eastern bridges as a person’s second nature. Easy, fluid and natural – for a YCIS graduate to
attend cultural awareness workshops will not be a necessary company’s burden.