浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长Cavon Ahangarzadeh：我们希望激发学生内在的学习动力

导语

创新是引领发展的第一动力，培养创新性人才是我国教育的重要使命。如何培养适应时代发展和变革的创新性人才？是我国当今国际化教育发展中面临的重要挑战。

为进一步了解国际学校人才培养模式，深度挖掘国际学校办学特色，由教育部主管的中国教育国际交流协会中学分会与京领创新人才课题组联合多位哈佛、剑桥、牛津、北大、清华的专家学者共同发起，北京大学教育学院高中教育大数据实验室提供学术支持的“国际学校百校调研”于2020年7月正式启动。

校长领导力是此次调研的重点环节，国际学校校长作为掌舵人不仅需要具备一系列超越普通教师能力的素质，还需要具备强有力的领导力、品牌意识、创新意识以及优质教育教学人才的鉴别与吸引能力。校长领导力是学校办学成功的关键所在，本次百校调研团队专门对浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长Cavon Ahangarzadeh先生进行了专访。

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校（GSN）于2019年9月正式开学，其前身为宁波至诚学校美国部。该学校为一所获得美国西部院校教育联盟(WASC)认证的美国国际学校，为学生提供一个全面、富有挑战的美式学习课程，帮助学生充分准备，达成作为世界公民的责任和期待，同时培养高尚品德，强调信任感和同理心。

学生在一个基于研究、大学预备式的国际学校学习，由教学能力突出、和蔼、关爱学生的老师教授美国课程。通过学校Tribes这个弘扬美德的项目，学生将发展习惯、特长、性格，并在实践中不断成长，从而促使其今后在社会上获得成功，并成为优秀的世界公民。

嘉宾介绍

Cavon Ahangarzadeh先生

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长

哥伦比亚大学教育学院 Klingenstein 中心校长奖学金获得者（2017年）

马里兰大学，儿童心理学

德克萨斯州立大学，教育领导学

校长培训中心（PTC）

20年的教育领导经验

12年的中国生活经历

京领：您认为学校的核心文化是什么？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：学校的座右铭很好的浓缩了学校的文化：包容，挑战，成功。

如同许多国际学校和海外大学一样，我们也探索了这些词背后的根源。我们学校座右铭的意义源自拉丁语。包容是指接受所有不同类型的人，他们的文化、背景、思维方式、以及过往。它还包括认知不同的文化以及人类状况的多样性。我们试图将这种包容融入到我们所做的所有事情中，从老师的聘用到我们教授的课程，再到我们具有远见的思维和卓识。我们需要考虑如何进一步将不同的人群纳入我们的社会研究和课程中。

第二部分是挑战。我们认为拥有严谨的学术知识非常重要。具有挑战性的学术知识可以激发学生尝试取得更大的成就。同样，真实性也十分重要，例如，学生必须通过亲身体验来了解一个事物。并且，学生可以更加了解他们自身能够通过什么样的努力来促进课程目标的实现，或是提高自己在班级内的成绩。对自己有一个很高的期待，这属于“挑战”类别。老师必须对学生有很高的期望，学生也必须对自己有很高的期望。

最后一部分——成功。这是一个看起来十分明朗的词。我们对此成果十分坚信，并将这份信念融入到我们所做的一切当中。我们在工作中付出的所有努力和取得的所有成果都因它们的学术贡献而闪闪发光。我们在开始做一件事情时便要预见其结果。

包容，挑战，成功。这是我们校园文化的核心，也是老师和学生双方在校园生活中的核心。在学校这一个社区内，我们将这些想法融入到我们所做的所有事情中。

京领：和其他学校相比，您所在的学校最具竞争力的是哪一点？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：我认为最令我们学校感到骄傲是学校的“心脏”。不仅是我们学校，所有一流的学校都会认为，学校的“心脏”是老师。如果说老师是学校的核心，那么作为校长，我必须认真地为我们学校寻找合适的老师。我们花费大量时间和精力寻找的老师，不仅是学术上合格的老师，还是真正热爱孩子，热爱学习的“伟大”的老师。他们热爱教育，热爱我们的职业，对自己的工作充满热情。这仅凭高学识是不够的。每个员工都应该是高学识的，但是老师同样也必须善良、富有同情心、关心他人。否则，他们无法协助学校实现增强学生的品格和学术能力这一目标。

为了实现学校的目标，老师需要先认可这些想法。我们花费了大量的精力来寻找能够满足上述所有要求的老师。我认为这是我们学校在当地脱颖而出的一个主要原因。

我们的课程同样也具有竞争力。我认为一个学校必须有明确的课程体系。我们应该明确学生现在的水平和目标达到的水平，并与其他课程体系中的学生水平做出比较。我们一直坚信和致力于实现的理念是：我们学校的所有人——教师，行政人员和教职工——必须深深地尊重和热爱学生。作为一个整体，我们需要有共同的目标和愿景，并向一致的方向前进。这些理念的建立和实现并不容易。因此，我认为这也是我们最具竞争力的地方。

京领：您认为校长领导力的核心是什么？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：在一个学校中，校长需要在任何情况下都能保持学校的愿景和目标并推动其实现。同时，他们也需要引领其他人理解学校的愿景并一同促进学校的发展。因此，校长就像一名船长。船长需要操控罗盘，而这罗盘就是学校的名声和愿景。船长也需要寻找一同航行的人，带他们上船并一起朝着正确的方向前进。我希望用这个比喻来表达我眼中校长的主要责任。

为了确保船始终朝着正确的方向航行，船长和船员需要不断根据情况和需求进行调整。在教育领域里，新技术和研究不断出现。校长需要在持续保持对最新行业动态了解的同时，将新技术应用于学校课程体系中，以维持学校发展的正确方向。

校长需要帮助教职工建立共识，并齐心追求学校的愿景。这是校长的长期任务。所有教职工都必须爱护学生，尊重学生。我们的最终目标是建立一个更美好的社会，这也是教育的最终目的。我们必须不断地调整工作重点，以确保所有人的努力都集中在同一个正确的方向上。

京领：在学校发展过程中，校长最重要的责任是什么？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：无论面对什么情况或障碍，校长都要保持学校的目标和愿景。在学校的发展过程中会出现各种各样的阻碍，可能是一些小事，亦或是家长的意见、董事会成员的意见、外界的意见。这些因素有时确实会发挥积极的作用，但是在面对这些困难时，最重要的是校长对学校目标和愿景的坚守。校长需要不断激发团队对于追求愿景的热情，让老师们始终致力于学校的目标和愿景。

京领：您认为校长与董事会的职责应该如何划分？校长在哪些方面需要有决策权？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：这个答案的核心在于信任。在学校里，董事会成员与学校负责人或校长之间必须建立牢固的信任关系。这种信任关系可以帮助学校克服许多障碍。学校的目标和愿景是学校建立初期董事会和负责人共同制定的，这些管理人员共同致力于这一目标。董事会和校长必须非常认真地对待目标和愿景的设定，因为我们都知道，校长在学校发展过程中不会偏离这一目标和愿景。

因此，如果每个人都认同了学校的目标和愿景，便可以进行下一步的分工。校长需要对学校的全部领域负责，包括学术领域的相关事务，如教师的聘用、课程的建立以及课程资源的提供，也包括对学校目标和愿景的不断促进。校长需要与董事会商定明确的预算和计划。董事会的职责实际上是支持校长的工作，提供必要的资源，并将校长的角色囊括到学校未来的战略规划之中。如果在未来三年左右的时间里，目标和愿景将发生必要的转变，校长应当清楚地明白这一转变背后的意义并参与到制定过程中，从而保证校长可以带领学校追求新的愿景。董事会与校长之间的讨论是基于二者的信任关系以及学校清晰的目标之上的。

京领：您认为如何评价一个校长是好的校长？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：校长首先要热爱孩子、热爱学习、热爱教育以及热爱与学生的家庭合作。教育与其他任何行业都不一样。我们正在做的事情对社会的目标而言极为重要。

因此，我们必须考虑到谁需要参与到教育的过程中，以及以何种方法参与其中。校长必须是学生的最大粉丝，成为每个学生的后盾。拥护成绩好、表现好的学生可能很容易。对于目标与我们自己目标不同的学生，我们也必须成为他们的拥护者和支持者。这些学生也许更有艺术性与创造力。校长必须在万事开头的时候就对事情的结果有所预见。如果我遇到一个孩子，并且预见这个孩子有成为领导者的潜质，那么在培养这个孩子的过程中，我将做一些必要事情，以帮助孩子达成这种期望；或者我会更多地了解他们自己的目标和愿景，并帮助他们实现这些目标。

另外，中国的文化包括不同文化的融合。在此背景下，我认为校长不仅必须要谦虚，还必须非常灵活。只有如此，校长才能确保学校在秩序下运转，从而确保学校的发展朝着愿景和目标前进。

京领：您认为创新性人才需要具备哪些要素？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：教孩子们事实和数据等虽然在学习过程中有一席之地，但是，我认为学校真正的作用不仅在于教授这些东西，更在于教学生如何将这些信息同化到自己的思想和行动中。例如，一个学生非常善于语言表达，他可以很好地表达自己的意见，但他也应该知道如何为实现特定目标而创造一些独特的想法。我们希望为所有学生创造这种内在动力。这种动力一方面可以促进孩子的学习，另一方面，如果我们能够激发他们对学习的热爱，那么他们就会产生内在动力，从而产生对学习的热爱。在拥有内在动力的情况下，学生的学习行为便只是这种内在动力的产物。我们不仅提高学生的成绩，也要强化他们的人格。这种教育方式可以帮学生形成良性循环。即使学生不在学校，也会因为他们拥有对学习的热爱和内在的学习动力而进行持续的学习。

京领：您认为学校应该如何培养创新性人才？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：如果聘请的老师符合学校的需要，具备很高的学识以及对教育工作的内在驱动力，那么在他们开始工作以及与其他老师一同沟通交流的过程中，会不断将教师的职业目标与学校的短期及长期的目标融合在一起。这会帮助老师达成其职业目标，也会增强老师培养人才的能力，从而形成双赢的局面。在我们学校任职的老师，如果有意愿在学校担任行政或者领导职务，学校则会尽一切努力来支持其发展方向，因为我们认为对教师的支持总会在学校的发展或是学生学业的质量上有所回报。

校长和老师之间需要存在指导关系。老师们乐于与校长分享他们的经历、理想、以及他们对于教育的热爱。同样，校长和领导也乐于和老师们分享他们的建议。在这种指导关系下，校长可以对老师进行适当的批评，但这是积极的批评。校长与老师共同商讨确定需要改进的地方。有时老师的专业发展需要集中在某个特定领域，但我们的目的始终是最大限度地发挥老师在学校的作用和发掘老师自身的潜能。我们给老师以足够的成长空间，让他们在一定的空间内拥有扩展知识和挖掘自身潜力的自由。

京领：您能详细介绍一下学校的Tribes项目吗？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：Tribes是一个弘扬美德的项目，也是一个“社区建设”项目。Tribes项目是围绕一本叫做《Tribes：创建学习型社区》的学术书籍构建的。这本书以五个共识为中心，提供了在学校内建立通用术语的方法。在此基础上，我们学校也建立了五个共识。学生在校园生活中参考这五个共识。我们让他们相信这些共识在所有人之间都是有效的，包括所有学生以及老师。

以其中一个共识为例：相互尊重和友善相处。这说起来可能感觉很简单，但是在实践中更具有挑战性。因为在教室里，学生可能无法与所有的同学都和睦相处。出于某种原因，他们可能会不喜欢彼此。此时，必须有适当的方法来帮助他们理解彼此之间的差异。于是，我们利用Tribes和Tribes中的各种活动来帮助学生实现这些目标。

同样，这五个共识在学生与老师的互动中同样发挥作用。在我们学校，整个学年都会不时地有人说出这些术语。例如，学生们在操场上时，你会听到有人说“你没有做到相互尊重和友善地表达”。你还可能听到学生要求老师以相互尊重的口吻与他们交谈。

因此，对于老师和学生来说，这五个共识是双方都接受的。这是我们在学校里建立的框架，它在解决冲突、集体协商、项目学习等过程中发挥着作用。学生们不断尝试在学校应用这些共识。Tribes也包括各种不同的活动，所有的这些活动都致力于提高学生“社区建设”的意识和性格的发展。

京领：国际学校发展迅速的当下，您认为新建国际学校应当如何打造特色品牌？老牌国际学校如何维持优势，提升品牌？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：在决定建立学校之前，创建者必须明确其学校的战略规划，包括确定他们将要完成什么工作，他们可以在哪一个教育领域实现卓越等。例如，一些学校将重点放在STEM或STEAM的学习。如果管理层决定将此设为学校的目标领域，那么该学校接下来所做的一切都需要围绕STEM或STEAM的学习进行。所有战略规划以及学校发展过程中的所有努力和精力都需要围绕学校的发展核心领域进行调整。在学校建立之始便确定发展的核心领域，这可以避免后期的很多麻烦和时间的浪费，因为学校所有教职工都清楚这个学校可以做到最好的领域是什么。

学校在随后的计划中需要从目标开始反过来推导其规划，而不是尝试做所有事情。在现实中，许多学校都在试图做所有的领域，包括A-Level课程，美国课程，加拿大课程等。我认为，以具体的确定学校可以真正实现卓越的领域作为创校起点，这有助于学校的品牌发展，因为在此发展策略下，品牌推广途径、方式和侧重都会更加明确。

除此以外，学校的发展过程需要不断接受外界的意见。学校需要进行必要的研究以确定学校在哪个领域可以真正的实现卓越。如果是STEM或者STEAM，那么学校便需要接受外界的批评或建议。外部顾问也可以帮助学校明确发展方向，了解如果想在这一领域内取得卓越的成就将会面临哪些特殊挑战，以及在发展过程中将需要聘请哪种类型的老师或投资哪些设备。

俗话说，不要试图闭门造车。学校必须对各种批评和数据研究持开放态度，且在思考和研究这些因素的基础上不断建立自己的品牌。

京领：您对当前国际教育发展趋势的判断是什么？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：当下国际教育的发展趋势很让人兴奋，特别是中国。全国各地涌现出许多新的国际学校和双语学校。我注意到，其中许多学校由房地产开发商或其他行业创建，并不完全与教育行业有联系。这未必是一件坏事，但这个创建过程必须有另一层支持，以确保在建立学校的过程中将学术发展放在最优先的位置。

如一个学校的创建方致力于房地产开发，那么他的思路可能更多侧重于出售房地产或收购新土地。但是，要建立和发展一所成功的学校，不仅需要这些，还需要以学生的需求高于一切为信念，采取相应的行动，聘请合适的人和团队来推动学校学术水平的发展。

这个趋势之所以令人兴奋，是因为这让我感觉到国际学校成长的背后又增加了更多的动力。但是人们需要极其明智和谨慎地处理这些发展动力。我来中国已经十二年了。我和我的家人如此热爱中国的原因之一便是中国对于教育的重视，这与我的世界观相符。

在教育行业中，一个学校的成功是因为他们在本质上了解教育。教育不是生产线，我们需要认真地去对待教育事业。因此，我很欣赏中国，我认为中国国际学校的发展有着很光明的前景。

这也是我留在中国的原因之一。我和我的家人于2009年来到中国。到现在，我们已经看到了很多变化，教育行业与中国的其它行业一同蓬勃发展。通过更多地了解中国文化和语言，我对教育在社会中的作用有了新的认识。我希望帮助孩子取得更多成就，为社会做出更多贡献。我所说的并非是物质层面的贡献，而是帮助学生增加学术知识和研究能力，促进教育行业的发展。这些对我来说非常重要，也是我家庭和我选择留在中国的动力。

京领：您认为未来什么样的国际学校最受家长欢迎？

浙江宁波乔治亚外籍人员子女学校校长凯文先生：随着越来越多的国际学校的出现，我认为学校将继续发展其与众不同之处，而非覆盖各个方面。

他们将继续使自己与众不同，而不是每件事都去做。除了我之前提到STEM或STEAM以外，还有更多同样重要的发展领域。比如有一些学校是围绕着生态可持续性发展的绿色学校。还有一些专业特色的学校，例如音乐特色学校等。

我认为随着许多学校的出现，它们将通过聚焦于不同的重点来建立自己的品牌，并在此特定领域朝着卓越的目标发展。这些学校给家庭提供了更多的孩子的发展方向。有些家庭已经帮孩子确定了成长方向。例如，有些家庭说，我的孩子倾向于学习艺术或音乐，我想帮助孩子发展这项兴趣。此时如果有一所学校专门致力于音乐和艺术方面的学习，那么这所学校自然就会与孩子的发展相契合。

因此，我认为，国际学校的未来发展趋势以及家长希望看到的国际学校形势为，学校提供的产品和服务有更大的差异性和专门性，并且与国际社会之间有更加紧密的联系。比如，与其他国家的合作关系将使一个学校的学生有机会到另一个国家进行学习或者做研究，我认为这些对家庭都是非常有吸引力的。

我们学校与美国乔治亚州的威斯敏斯特高中建立了合作伙伴关系。在疫情之前，我们带领学生前往危地马拉为当地的社区建造房屋。这个活动对学生和老师来说都是意义非凡的。这项活动帮助学生将日常学习付诸于实践，这也是我认为所有学校的教学目标：帮助学生将学习到的知识付诸于实践。

Georgia School Ningbo (GSN), formally known as the International School of Ningbo (ISN), was opening on September, 2019. The school is an American-style international school accredited by Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). It provides a comprehensive and challenging American academic program that prepares students to meet the responsibilities and expectations of global citizenship while supporting the development of a virtuous character, with an emphasis on trustworthiness and compassion.

At GSN, students are engaged in a research based, college preparatory, American international curriculum delivered by highly qualified, kind and caring teachers. Through our school’s Tribes character development program, students put into practice habits, traits and virtuous characteristics that will enable them to succeed and lead as global citizens in society.

Mr. Cavon Ahangarzadeh, Principal of Georgia School Ningbo

Columbia University, Teacher’s College Klingenstein Heads of Schools Fellowship recipient (2017)

University of Maryland, Child Psychology

Texas State University, Education Leadership

Principals Training Center (PTC)

20 years of Educational Leadership Experience

12 years in China

KingLead: In your mind, what is the core culture of the school?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :I think the core culture of the school is best summarized through our school’s motto – Inclusion, Challenge, Success.

As many international schools and universities around the world, we look to the roots of those words – the Latin roots. We came up with a kind of Latin motto for our school. Inclusion is about acceptance of all different types of people, cultures, backgrounds, ways of thought, histories. It is also about identifying and learning about the different facts of each of these cultures, the diversity of the human condition. We tried to have this level of inclusion integrated into everything that we do, from the hiring of our teachers to the curriculum that we teach in the classrooms to our forward-thinking, our visionary thinking. We need to think of how we can further include different groups and demographics within our social studies and our curriculum.

The second part is Challenge. We believe it's important to have rigorous academics – very challenging academics that inspire students to try to achieve more. We also believe that authenticity is very important that the student has to tap into themselves to identify what it is, what authentic and sincere work they can produce to further the aims of the course or of their own grades within the class, for example. To have high expectations, this is under the category of Challenge. The teachers have to have high expectations for the students, and students have to have high expectations for themselves.

The last part – Success – is a look so light. We strongly believe and integrate this into everything we do. The fruit of all of this work and the dedication of hard work are the light of knowledge that can emerge from all of these works. We have to see the end in the beginning of everything that we do.

So, these three things: Inclusion, Challenge, Success. I think that's the core of our school, our school’s culture, and both of the teacher side and the student side. Within a school community, we have to integrate those ideas throughout everything that we do.

KingLead: what do you think is the most competitive part of your school compared with other schools?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :I think one of the things that I'm most proud of our school is what I would consider “the heart of the school”. The heart of the school, to me, not just our school but all great schools, is teachers. If the teachers are the heart of the school, then as a head of schools, I have to pay careful attention to finding the right type of teacher for our school. We spend a lot of time and energy identifying not just good teachers or not just qualified teachers, but truly “great” teachers who love children, love learning. They love education, they love our professional careers. They're passionate about what they do. It's not enough to be highly qualified. Everyone should be highly qualified and all of our teachers are highly qualified. Teachers have to be kind, compassionate, caring individuals. Otherwise, they're not able to fully deliver on the aim admission of our school, because of our focus on strengthening character, and also strengthening academics.

In order to deliver on that, you have to have teachers that are committed to those ideas up-front. It takes a lot of energy to find teachers who can meet all those expectations. I think that is one major area where we stand out within our region.

In the other areas, our curriculum is also competitive. I think schools must have a clearly identified curriculum. You should be able to identify where a student is and where they should be, where they compare with other schools in terms of their schools’ curriculum. We committed to and we deliver on the idea that all of us – teachers, administrators, staff, and faculty –have to have a deep respect and love for students. By having this integrated, you have a common terminology and a common vision that you can work towards. These are difficult things to establish. I think that is why it makes these items the most competitive areas.

KingLead: what do you think is the core of principal leadership?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :What really at the heart of principal leadership is the idea that principals are – in an analogy – like a captain of a ship. The responsibility of the principal is to maintain and drive the vision of the school under all circumstances. In addition to that, they have to inspire others to join in the vision and drive of the school. So, it's kind of like a compass. You have to hold fast to the compass, which is the vision and name of the school, but you also have to seek out and find others who can join, get on the ship, and move the ship in the right direction. I think that's the primary responsibility.

Then, they keep the ship headed in the right direction and adjust as needed. New technologies and new academic research emerge within the field of education. The principal’s responsibility is to, on the one hand, remain informed of these new developments, and on the other, implement wherever applicable to the aim of the school those new developments and technologies within the school’s curriculum.

You build consensus among your faculty and your staff, getting them behind your vision. You're also maintaining that momentum over time, and ensuring that at all times. All faculty and staff take on the idea that we have to love and respect students, and that our ultimate aim is to build a better society. That is the ultimate aim of education in general. We have to refocus our efforts from time to time to make sure we're all focused in that direction.

KingLead: In the process of school’s development, what is the most important responsibility of a principal?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :Maintaining the aim and vision of the school despite obstacles. There can be things that get in the way of the school's delivery, on the mission name of the school. It is important that the principal will be the one that holds fast to the aim and vision. Sometimes those can be minor things. Other times they can be perhaps opinions of parents, opinions of board members, opinions of the outside. Sometimes those things can factor in. They do have their role, it is important that under all circumstances, the principal maintains the vision and the aim of the school. You need to inspire the team to be passionate about that name and vision, and then seek out those teachers that are truly great and passionate, and that can be committed to the school's aim and vision among the multitude of teachers.

KingLead: how do you think the responsibilities of the president and the board of directors should be divided? In what aspects does the principal need to have decision-making power?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :At the core of the answer to this question really is the trust. Strong trust relationship has to exist between the board of directors in some school environments, the executive committee in other environments, and the head of school or principal. If that connection of trust is there, a lot of obstacles, a lot of challenges can be overcome quite easily. On the one hand, initially, together the board and the head develop the aim and vision of the school, and they commit to it. They have to take that process very seriously because it should be known upfront that the head of school will not deviate from this aim and vision.

So, if everyone is in agreement with that, then they can move to the next step, which is giving the head of school or principal the responsibility for all areas, having to do with academics and furthering the aims and vision of the school. Academics can include the hiring of teachers, establishment of programs, and resources for those programs, all within the framework of it. Articulated budget and plan, that is agreed upon with the board. The responsibilities of the board are really to support the head of school or principal, provide necessary resources, and involved the principal in strategic planning. If there is going to be a necessary shift in the aim and vision across the next 3 years or so, the principal is involved in that, so that the principal can get behind that vision. Again, it's an important dimension that trusting relationship, clearly identified objectives, those things are critical on the front end of those discussions.

KingLead: in your mind what kind of principal is a good principal？

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :I think principals, above all else, must love children, love learning, love education, and love working with families. Education, in general, is unlike any other sector, we're not manufacturing equipment. We're doing something that's much more critical, much more important to the aims of society.

So, we have to take care for consideration that who is involved in that, how we implement that. Principals have to be students’ biggest fans. We have to be advocates for every student. While it may be easy to be an advocate or fan of a student that gets good grades and is well behaved. We also have to be advocates and supporters of those students whose aims may be unlike our own, maybe they are more artistic, maybe they're more creative. We really have to be fans and advocates for those students as well. The principal has to see the end in the beginning of everything. If I meet a child and I can see this child one day as a leader, then I'll do what I need to do in the interim to get them to be what I envision them to be, or to learn more about what their aims and their vision are, and help them to achieve those aims.

In addition, I think principals have to be, on the one hand, humble, and on the other, very flexible, particularly with the China context or any context where you have the coming together of different cultures and backgrounds. You have to be humble and you have to be flexible, because you will need to have both of those things in order to ensure that you hold true to the vision of the school.

KingLead: what elements do you think an innovative talent should require?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :It's one thing to teach children facts, data, memorization, all of those things have their place within learning. However, the role of truly great schools I think is to teach those things and in addition teach students how to sympathize that information into their own thoughts, and ultimately into their own actions. You have students that are very articulate in terms of their language, they can express themselves very well, but they also know how to create unique thought and unique ideas towards the furtherance of a particular objective. We also want to foster a sense of internal motivation for all students. It's one thing to push a child to learn. But if we can ignite their love for learning, then they become internally motivated, and the learning just happens as a side effect of this internal motivation, which is love for learning. We teach them to be strong in academics and also strong in character. It is an approach that can perpetuate itself over time. By using this approach, the learning doesn't cease because the child is not in school if the child has a sense of love for learning and internal motivation to continue the learning.

KingLead: how do you think the school should cultivate innovative talents?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :At the beginning, when hiring a teacher, I think if you find the right type of teacher who meets the needs of the school and is highly qualified, internally motivated, then once they're on board, really working with the teacher, speaking with them and identifying what are the teachers’ professional aims, and what are their motivations and aims upfront, then comparing and adding to that, what are the school’s short term and long term aims, and how can those things kind of cross over, how can the school help the teacher to achieve their objectives professionally. Then you have more of a win-win situation. If the teacher comes on board at the school and it really has a desire to move into administration or leadership in the school, as long as they agree with that idea, then the school should do everything they can to support that idea, even though it may mean that in maybe 3 to 5 years the teacher may leave us for other positions. In every case, I think supporting the teachers always pays off, in terms of the quality of the school and of academics.

A coaching relationship has to exist though between the principal and the teacher. The teachers are not afraid to share their true intentions, true desires, and passions with the principal. The principal or the administrator is not afraid to share their suggestions. So, there's a level of criticism that can take place, but it is a positive criticism because it's a coaching relationship. Together, we identify areas in need of enhancement. Sometimes professional development is needed within technology in a particular subject area. The aim should always be to maximize the teacher's potential, both for the school and for themselves, professionally. We give the teachers room to grow. They have to have freedom within a certain room to expand their knowledge and to achieve their own potentials.

KingLead: could you please tell us more about the Tribes program of the school？

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :Tribes is actually a character development program. It's also a community-building program. This Tribes program is built around a book, which was an academic book called Tribes of building a learning community. It provides practical ways for the establishment of a common terminology within the school, centered around these five agreements. So, at our school we have these things, we called five agreements. Students refer to these, they can count on these being in effect all the time, with their peers, with other students, but also with other teachers. As an example, one of them is mutual respect and kindly speech.

So, it sounds simple to say we should all respect each other mutually and you should all get along, I'll have the highest respect to one another. In practice, it can be a little more challenging, because in the classroom, students may not get along, they may not like one another for one reason or another, but there have to be tools in place to help them to appreciate the differences among each other. We utilize Tribes and different activities within Tribes to help achieve those aims. The student can also count on applying those five agreements within their interactions with teachers. We hear this terminology pop up throughout the school day and throughout the school year. Students use it with one another on the playground. For example, “you're not treating me with mutual respect, more kindly speech”. You might hear that. You may also hear that a student is asking a teacher to speak with them in a mutually respectful tone.

So, it's something that is acceptable, both for the teacher and for the student. It's a framework that we can build on. It comes into play with things like conflict resolution, consultative process for reaching decisions, project-based learning in the classroom. Students are broken into trying within their classes. Within those times they focus on different activities, that are all geared towards community building and character development.

KingLead: with the rapid development of international schools, how do you think new international schools should create their own distinctive brands? How should established international schools maintain their advantages and upgrade their brands？

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :I think it's very important that the onset before deciding to launch it to a school, the individuals around the strategic planning process really have to identify what they choose to accomplish and what area of education can they achieve with excellence. For example, some schools have a focus that is driven around STEM or STEAM learning. If an organization decides that this is going to be the foundational aim of our school, everything that we do needs to be geared around STEM or STEAM learning. Then all strategic planning, all efforts and energy need to be geared around that one thing that they identified to be the distinguishing feature of their school.

I think, by identifying that upfront at the onset, you can avoid a lot of headaches down the road, a lot of wasted time, because you really have identified the area where you think you can be the best.

Then, you make your plan to meet those aims, instead of trying to do everything, because a lot of schools try to do everything – A-Level, American curriculum, Canadian curriculum, I know schools like this. Instead of that, being more specific and identify where you can really achieve greatness. The onset I think that really helps to develop the brand too, because then you have a very clear path for your branding within your local community and regional needs.

One other thing to this point is constantly seeking external validity. You have to do the research needed to identify what it is that you can really accomplish with greatness. If it's STEM or STEAM, then you have to be open to criticism or maybe an external consultant that can tell you that if you want to achieve greatness within this area, you're going to have these particular challenges, you're going to have to hire this type of teacher or invest in this type of equipment.

There's a saying that one should never try to build a car behind closed doors. You have to be opened to all kinds of different criticism and all types of different data, then build your brand around what comes of that discussion.

KingLead: what is your judgment on the current international education development trend?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :On the one hand, it's so exciting, especially in China, there are so many new international schools and bilingual schools that are emerging all over the country. What I've noticed is that many of these are coming from property developers or other industries that are not necessarily linked to education. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has to have another layer of support that is needed in order to make sure that the academics come first and foremost when it comes to the establishment of the school.

If an organization is geared towards property development, its mindset may be more around the selling of properties, or the acquisition of new lands. It takes more than that in order to drive a successful school, you have to have those things, but you also have to say the needs of the student above everything else, and then act accordingly, hire the right people and the right team to drive your academics.

It is exciting because I think there is a lot of motivation and a lot of momentum behind the growth that is taking place. It just needs to be handled cautiously with a high level of wisdom. I've been in China for 12 years now. One of the reasons that my family and I love China so much is because the priority of education in the lives of the Chinese people. It seems like such a natural fit to the way that my worldview.

In education industry, the companies or properties are successful because they intrinsically have an understanding that this is education, this isn't manufacturing T-shirts or something. This is a very important business. We have to take it seriously. So, I appreciate that about China in general. I think there's a great bright future for the country and the development of schools in China.

This is a big part of my motivation for staying here. My family and I came to China in 2009. Since that time, we've seen so much change take place. The school sector has just flourished along with every other sector within the country. I think that by learning more about Chinese culture and language, there comes a new appreciation or an enhanced appreciation for the role of education in society.

I think that's one of the things that makes me and my family want to stay here indefinitely because it is a driving force to constantly want to strive for perfection, achieve more for children, and achieve more for society, not materially necessarily but academically, increase knowledge, increase research and education. The motivations are very important to me and those are probably the driving force behind my family and I choosing to remain in China for this long.

KingLead: what kind of international schools do you think will be the most welcomed among parents in the future?

Mr. Cavon, the principal of Georgia School Ningbo :As more and more schools begin to emerge, I think they will continue to differentiate themselves more and more, rather than trying to do everything. They will have maybe niche areas of focus, I mentioned STEM or STEAM, and I think there are also other areas that are equally important. There's a group of schools, some in China, some outside of China that are really geared around ecological sustainability, perhaps green schools.

There are focus schools, music-focus, for example. I think by differentiating the focus over time as many schools emerge, they will be able to establish their brands and proceed towards excellence. You give a lot of other options for families. Families that have already identified within their children, like I want my child and my child has a tendency towards art or music and I want to enhance that interest. If there's a school that is identified and aims to be music and art-specific, then you have a kind of a natural fit.

So, I think that the future of international schools and what parents want to see is probably greater differentiation in terms of the offerings, and also greater connectivity with the global community. Partnerships with other countries that will allow them to do surveys or training in another country that those types of things I think are very appealing to families.

Our school has a partnership with the Westminster school in Georgia in the United States. Prior to the Covid times, we travel to Guatemala to build some houses for the local community and it's very fulfilling for students and for teachers to be involved in that, because it puts your learning into action. I think what all schools really want to do is they want to see their learning put directly into action.

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