三角铃：作为广州美国人国际学校的新校长，您对未来的工作有什么期待与展望？
SJL : What aspect of your new role as Director of the American International School of Guangzhou are you most looking forward to?
我非常期待与广州美国人国际学校全体师生合作，为我们的未来构建一个共同的愿景。目前，学校正处在一个具有特殊意义的时期：我校已经扎根广州办学38年，并且跻身广州一流国际学校的行列，我们希望巩固这一领先优势。新的一年，广州美国人国际学校有许多新的规划。在经历了18个月的过渡期后，我于今年7月正式加入了广州美国人国际学校。当下，我们正全力推进主教学楼建设计划，该教学楼未来将成为标志性的学习空间，为我们动态、协作和启发式的教学模式提供更多支持。在我看来，广州是中国最具活力的城市之一，广州以及更广阔的大湾区也正以惊人的速度发展，能够生活在这样的城市令我非常兴奋，并且迫不及待地想要加入它发展的大潮，让广州美国人国际学校能够与城市共同前行。
I am most looking forward to working with the AISG community to build a shared vision for our future. It is a unique time in the school’s history: we are in our 38th year of operation as we look to strengthen our position as the leading international school in Guangzhou. There is a lot going on this year at AISG! I officially joined the AISG community this past July following an 18-month long transition, we are full-steam ahead on our Master Facilities Plan which will see iconic learning spaces designed to support dynamic, collaborative and inspiring pedagogy. Guangzhou itself and the wider Greater Bay Area is experiencing an incredible amount of growth and is, in my opinion, one of the most dynamic places in all of China. It is an exciting time to be living in this part of the world and I cannot think of a more vibrant environment to be leading this community in.
三角铃：贵校现在有多少学生?他们的学习情况如何?
SJL : How many students do you have now and what does learning look like for them?
目前，我校有1060名学生。若要满足未来发展的需求，基本要素之一便是对学习空间进行重新设计，以促进我们的师生养成“面向未来”的技能和观念。所谓“面向未来”，是我校既定的使命和愿景（于2016-17学年制定），旨在通过改变教育方式以培养学生成为未来世界的佼佼者，而一处具有前瞻性的学习空间正可以促进学生的学习。实践愿景的这一过程令我们站得更高、看得更远，意识到未来10年、20年或30年的世界将是多么不同，因此，培养德才兼备、有能力直面未知未来的人才变得尤为重要。
Currently, we have 1060 students. One of the essential elements of a future-ready school is learning spaces redesigned to facilitate the development of ‘future-ready’ skills and attitudes in our students and faculty. As part of our Mission and Visioning process (completed in SY2016-17) the school looked at the way in which education is changing to produce future-ready students and the corresponding way in which learning spaces are changing to facilitate that learning. This process afforded us incredible insight into how very different the world will look in 10, 20, or 30 years, and the importance of developing students with the skills and dispositions to be able to meet that unknown future head on.
我们许多人都是在非常传统的教育模式下长大的，关门闭户，面壁而读。在旧的模式里，老师只是一个传输知识的工具（而学生只是机械地接收信息！），在课堂上，老师和学生之间进行互动或协作的机会有限。然而，未来教育的发展方向与我们小时候所经历的教学模式有天壤之别。
Many of us experienced a very traditional style of educational experience; boxed classrooms with four walls, closed doors, a teacher presenting to students (and students simply receiving the information!) with limited opportunities for interaction or collaboration across classes and amongst teachers. The future of education is very different to what we experienced as children.
我们的总体设施计划将对教学空间进行改造和重新设计，以满足学生的需求，从而为学生提供个性化的学习机会和丰富的互动机会，这包括采用反传统的教室设计、灵活的桌椅安排，以及具有创意的空间布局。
Our Master Facilities Plan will see spaces rebuilt and redesigned to meet the needs of students to allow more personalized learning for students, greater opportunities for co-teaching, implementing less traditional classroom design with flexible furniture and creative use of the classroom spaces.
我们现在教授的学生，终有一天会长大成人、步入社会。他们所处的环境需要合作、钻研等21世纪所需要的各种技能。我校的使命之一就是确保学生为将来做好准备。他们将步入各种领域，并在全球范围内开展合作，进行创造性的工作。我们希望未雨绸缪，营造一种能够适应未来竞争的学习环境，帮助学生做好应对未来的准备。
The students we currently teach are going to be adults in environments that demand collaboration, inquiry and a myriad of 21st century skills. Part of our mission is to make sure our students are future-ready. They are going to be going into those spaces to be collaborative and work globally and creatively. We want to create the environment that will foster those skills now, so they are prepared for the future.
当主设施计划完成后，广州美国人国际学校将不再是传统的独立学校。我校正在建设一个安全、温暖、滋养和鼓舞人心的学习环境。这里不仅是教学空间，更是文化交流和民族融合的空间。我校有来自50多个国家及地区的学生，正如一个国际社会的缩影。这里没有任何单一的主导思想统领一切，而是互相学习、求同存异。这一发自内心的观点，成为我们之间互动与交流的基础，充分体现着平等的观念。
When our Master Facilities Plan is completed, AISG will be anything but a traditional learning environment. We are building safe, warm, nurturing and inspiring spaces. These are not just spaces for teaching, but spaces for relationship-building and international understanding between cultures. We have students from over 50 different countries. We really see ourselves as an international community. There isn’t any single dominant perspective and we know that we can learn something from one another. We understand that we have so much in common. We really leverage that from our spaces and the way we approach people.
三角铃：您曾在全球各地任教，桃李遍布东西方国家。您是否认为存在普适的教学理念，可以应用于世界范围内的教学呢？
SJL : You have educated students in multiple locations in both the East and the West. Do you believe there is a universal philosophy that ought to be applied to teaching worldwide?
我喜欢这个问题。答案是肯定的！不同教育理念之间的共同点多于分歧。不幸的是，我认为目前我们还没有聚焦在如何达成共识上。共同点在于，我们都希望学生学习到最先进的知识，为他们未知的未来做好准备，期盼他们取得成功。虽然对成功的定义千人千面，但人们的渴望是相通的。什么才是达成这一目标的最佳方式，每个人心中有不同的答案。
I love this question. The answer is a resounding yes! There is more in common between educational philosophies than there are differences. Unfortunately, I don’t think we are focusing on a shared understanding. The common ground is that we all want what is best for our students. We want them to be equipped for a future we don’t know about. We want them to be successful. We may define success differently, but we all want the same thing. We just all have different philosophies on the best way to get there.
我认为，不同教学理念的共识在于，人们只有在自己觉得安全的环境中吸收知识，感到自己受到照顾与关爱，在面对风险时有承担能力，才能有动力进行反思和学习。我们为学生的成功献上祝福，但若事与愿违，则在适当的时刻鼓励他们成长。而实现这些都需要适当的环境。对我来说，当我们把学生放在中心时，便会体会到彼此有很多共同点，更加理解孩子的感受。我认为所有的教育工作者都是在不遗余力地践行此道，因为这就是教育的最终目的，而这如此令人兴奋。不管是结果、标准或测试都无关紧要，以孩子为核心的教育才最重要。
I think that part of that shared philosophy is that for anyone to learn, they must feel that they are in a safe environment. They must feel they are cared for and that can take risks, that they are encouraged to reflect and learn. We must celebrate their successes but encourage growth from times when this is not the case. It takes the right environment for that to happen. For me, when we put the student at the centre, we have so much in common. I think we all seek to do that, because that’s ultimately what education is about. And that’s very exciting. Whether you are talking about outcomes or standards or tests, it doesn’t matter. The most important thing in education is the child.
三角铃：您认为教育系统需要做出哪些改进，以适应技术快速发展的21世纪？
SJL : In what ways do you believe the education system needs to adapt to accommodate the rapid technological growth of the 21st century?
教育系统必须、也不得不适应新的趋势。传统的教育体系已有近200年的历史了。这套体系曾经行之有效，但在新经济、新环境下，它已经落伍了。作为教育工作者，我们必须适应、必须改变，这意味着我们需要将目光放长远，看到不同的结果。旧的教育观念是交互性的，教师站在‘我有信息’而我要和你分享的立场，而你必须向老师证明自己已经掌握了知识。然而这种交互方式已然不再有效，现在的重点不是你是否知道这些信息，而是你能用这些信息解决什么问题。
It must adapt. It has to adapt. The traditional educational system is almost two hundred years old. It was effective then, but it will no longer work in the new economy, in the new environment. We must adapt and we must change. This means that we need to be looking at different outcomes. The old concept of education was transactional. It followed the idea that ‘I have information. I am going to share it with you and then you must show me you know it.’ This transactional approach is no longer efficient. Now, it’s not a question of whether you know the information but a question of what you can do with it.
尽管知识仍然很重要，但更重要的是如何应用知识，它关乎你的技能和性格。教育的范围已经拓展到更全面的领域，否则，我们所拥有的仅仅是高智商、高学历，而拥有这些的人却无法应用所学的知识解决问题。这些人不一定具备跨文化和跨环境工作的技能、性格或态度。未来将更强调合作，而不是单打独斗。虽然一个人可以带来巨大的变化，但是只有所有人共同努力才会带来不断地进步。
Although knowledge is still important, what is important about the knowledge is how it can be applied. It is about your skills and your dispositions. Education has broadened to be much more holistic in its approach. Otherwise, what we have is highly intelligent, highly educated individuals who cannot apply what they’ve learned. These individuals don’t necessarily have the skills, the character or the attitude to work across cultures and across situations. The future is going to rely on collaboration, not individuals doing things. An individual can make a big change, but sustainable change is going to take all of us working together.
协作能力，批判性思维，创造性思维，探索精神，知道如何研究，如何自学以及如何分辨高质量信息，对于我们的学生来说都是非常宝贵的技能。我们需要的是具有创新精神的学生，愿意用新方法解决现有问题并提出新的解决方案。这确实是未来所需要的人才，因此教育体制必须给学生提供掌握这些技能的机会。思维不是一成不变的，而是在与时俱进。我们相信你当下的智商并不能代表你的极限，而你是可以不断成长的、进步发展的，我们知道你可以立志成为更伟大的人。教育必须抓住这个机会，并提出这样一个问题：如何在我们的学校环境中提供这些经验?
Collaboration, critical thinking, creative thinking, risk-taking, knowing how to research, learning how to learn and knowing how to discern quality information over poor quality information are all highly valuable skills for our students. What we need is students who are willing to be innovative with new approaches to existing problems and come up with new solutions. This is really what the future requires and so the education system must provide the opportunities to learn those skills. The mind is not fixed. We believe in a growth mindset. You are not just your IQ anymore. We know you can grow, we know you can develop, and we know you can aspire and become something much, much greater. Education must embrace that opportunity and ask the question: how we can provide these experiences within our school setting?
近日，我们为有兴趣了解我校的家庭举办了一次开放日活动，超过三百个家庭参加了这场活动。了解到如此多的家庭希望孩子进入我校学习，我们感到非常高兴。我们的目标不仅仅是培养聪明的学生，而是希望每个学生能成长为善于思考、人格健全、勤于动手的复合型人才。你所学习的内容肯定会对你的感受产生影响，并塑造你的行为。例如，我们的幼儿园学生最近参加了一些艺术创作活动，他们的作品美妙、生动，虽然带着稚气未脱的凌乱，但其中传递着灵动与美。之后，我们为父母举办了一场艺术展，父母可以购买孩子们创作的艺术品，而所得收入将用于慈善事业，这是孩子第一次筹集善款，而他们选择用自己的作品创造价值、帮助别人。他们仅仅是五岁的孩子，却非常成功地筹集了大量资金，数额惊人。教育需要给孩子们机会，让他们运用所学，以有意义的、鼓舞人心的方式影响世界。
We recently held an Open House event for prospective families. Over three hundred families attended. We are so excited to hear that so many families want to be part of the environment we are providing for our children. Our goal is not just to produce smart students. We want each student to connect their head and their heart to their hands. What you learn must impact how you feel. It must result in an action. For example, our kindergarten students recently did some creative art. It was beautiful, messy, wonderful art. Afterwards, we had an art show for the parents. We asked the parents if they wanted to purchase the art to take home. These young students wanted to raise money for charity. They wanted to use their art to take action. These are five-year olds. They were very successful raised a lot of money, a fabulous amount. Education needs to give children opportunities to impact the world in meaningful and inspiring ways by applying what they’ve learned.
三角铃：现在，您作为创新型城市——广州的一份子，您计划如何将这些想法贯彻于您在城市中担当的新角色？
SJL : How will you apply these ideas to your new role in the innovative city of Guangzhou?
广州有着丰富的资源能为我们提供了渴望的各种协作环境和可以借鉴的方法。学校曾经被简单地看作是“建筑”，但最终，教育的目标是摆脱砖瓦的束缚，提供成长的体验。我们拥有非常良好的环境和绝佳的机会与创新发展的初创公司合作。我校的目标是打造一所与学生合作共赢的学校。诚然，我们的学生将取优异的考试成绩，良好的平均分并达到所有的学业成绩。但实际上，这并不重要。我们有5000名这样的学生。当广州美国人国际学校的学生申请大学时，他们可以自信地说：“我与这家初创公司合作过，我有独特的现实世界经历，这使我与其他学生截然不同。这些机会塑造了优秀的我。”我们经常看到这种情况。不仅是我们的校友，现在的学生也是如此。
Guangzhou is an incredibly rich environment for providing the kinds of collaboration and experiences we wish to create. School used to be viewed as simply a “building” and it still is that but ultimately, education is about the experiences that are not bound by a building. We have a very rich environment and great opportunities to work with innovation, incubation, and technology start-ups. We aim to do things collaboratively as a school to work with students and do things for a purpose. Yes, they’ll have good test scores, they’ll have a good GPA, and achieve all the academic outcomes. But really, it doesn’t matter. There are 5000 students like that. When AISG students apply for university, they will be able to say: “I worked with this company, with this start-up. I have had unique, real-world experiences that set me apart from other students. Through these opportunities I have made a positive impact.” We see this all the time. Not just with our alumni but even within our current students.
例如，我们成立了多个俱乐部，其中之一是学生主导的无人机俱乐部，与当地初创企业合作，他们使用无人机进行农业和研究。学生们也动手制造无人机，并与企业主创一起试飞，他们在与这些企业家合作的过程中学习技术。这太棒了，而这就是现在的教育，不再受时间和地点的限制。教育需要学会放手，让学生在充裕的时间中产生丰富的经历，这些经历是革命性的。当学生对某项事物产生激情时，他们将在这种激情的驱动下夜以继日地学习。学习，需要连接和利用学生的热情，并向学生展示各种可能性，这是教育所真正追寻的目标。在广州美国人国际学校，我们相信学习与他人息息相关，你不是一个人在学习。
For example, one of our clubs is a student-driven drone club who work with local start-ups. They use the drones for agriculture and for research. The students are building the drones and flying them with these people. They are working with these entrepreneurs. They are getting to learn what that’s like. It is fabulous. That’s what education is now. It is no longer bound by time and location. Education needs to learn to let go of its structures so there is time for these rich experiences to happen. These experiences are transformational. When a student discovers a passion, they will work night and day on that passion. Learning needs to connect and harness what their passion is and show what is possible. That is the aspiration of education. At AISG, we believe that learning is connected with others. You are not by yourself with your learning.
我校提供26个不同的学生社区服务组织，这些学生组织与广州的其他社团密切合作。独特的地理位置和新校园使我们有机会展望未来的战略愿景。有很多机会可以改变大湾区，而我们该如何回馈我们所在的城市？如何回馈广州和中国？目前，我们正在寻找新的战略伙伴关系，以帮助我们进行这一努力。
We offer 26 different services clubs in the school that are very active working with other societies in Guangzhou. Our unique location and new building gives us the opportunity to look at our strategic vision for the future. There are lots of opportunities for change in the Greater Bay Area. How can we give back to our host city? How can we give back to Guangzhou and to China? We are really looking for new strategic partnerships to help us in that effort.
广州美国人国际学校支持了大湾区的英语辩论比赛，举办了英语辩论决赛，促成了当地学生的无人机竞技团队和我校的无人机俱乐部合作，并共同在我校举办的教育科技大会上为500名教育工作者进行展示，学生们展示、演示、教授、协作。我们还邀请了当地学校舞蹈团及中国舞蹈老师，参与我校举办的亚太地区国际学校舞蹈节，为国际学生展示中国传统舞蹈。我们正在寻找更多像这样的机会，希望能够参与其中并做出贡献。我希望能通过加大与当地企业及媒体合作，为社会带来深远影响。
Some examples include AISG supporting the Greater Bay speech contest and we recently hosted the final of the English debate. We had the local student drone racing club work with our drone club. They were presenters at a technology conference for 500 educators in Guangzhou. The students presented, demonstrated, taught, and worked together collaboratively. We also had a dance group and their teacher came over to our campus and we hosted a dance festival for international dance groups in Asia. We are looking for more of these opportunities. We want to be involved and contribute. We want to make that kind of an impact. I’m really interested in reaching out to the business community and local media. We are looking for partnerships that will have a distinctive impact.
三角铃：简单地引用您的话：“社区越团结……学校就越有效。”为什么您觉得社区对学校的成功至关重要呢？
SJL : To loosely quote your own words, “the more the community comes together… the more effective a school is.” Why do you feel the community is such a crucial part of a school’s success?
一所学校若想取得成功，需要所有参与者的共同努力，并与其使命、愿景和宗旨保持一致，教育不是单一孤立的行为。旧的模式就像是“我带我的孩子迈入学校的大门，16-18年后，他们作为一个受过教育的孩子从大门里走出来”。至于我们，我们邀请并鼓励学生家长参与其中，视父母为教育孩子的合作伙伴，并致力于引导亲子共同成长。我们需要作为一个社区共同努力，才能达成更好的教育目标。
For a school to be successful, everyone needs to be working together and align with its mission, vision, and purpose. Education is not done in isolation. The old style was something like ‘I take my child to the gate, 16-18 years later they come out as an educated child’. As for us, we invite and encourage our parents to be involved. We view parents as our partners in the education of their child. We work to educate parents as much as the children. We need to work together as a community for education to happen.
以我校的幼儿园学生拍卖他们创作的艺术作品为例。父母并不是在为一件物品买单，而是将其视作孩子学习过程的产物。父母想要支持孩子，因为他们知道，通过向慈善机构捐款，孩子可以得到更难得的回报，帮助孩子成为乐于助人、富有同情心的世界公民。我们希望与家长团结一致，并且非常庆幸，我们拥有共同的价值观。
Take our kindergarten students auctioning their art, for example. It’s not about parents just giving money for something, it’s about them knowing that this is an outcome of their child’s learning process. They want to support this because they know that by their child giving to a charity, the child gets something back. They develop an attitude of helping others, demonstrating compassion and being a global citizen. We want to work at aligning ourselves in celebrating these shared values together.
当许多人认同学校的宗旨、愿景和意图时，学校的影响力就会扩大。通过这一联合，学校变得愈发强大。我们现在真正看到的是，这些事情汇聚在一起，形成了各种可能性的合力。我们充满雄心壮志，希望成为充满活力、协作精神和互联学习的领导者。我们的目标是成为华南地区的领路人，而不仅仅是在广州。因此，我们还有更多工作要做，而做这种工作不是为了我们自已，是为了使我校站在高处，影响更多的人。我认为，通过与其他合作伙伴的合作，我们将有机会实现这些目标。
When a lot of people are aligned with the purpose, vision, and intent of the school, the impact is amplified. It becomes so much more powerful through this alignment. What we are really seeing right now is these things coming together as a synergy of possibilities. We are very bold in wanting to be seen as a leader in dynamic, collaborative, and connected learning. We want to be a leader in South China, not just in Guangzhou. And so, there’s more we can do. It’s not about us. It’s about putting ourselves in a position so we can amplify that impact. I think with the partnerships of others, we will have that opportunity.
在广州美国人国际学校悠久历史中的这一特殊时期，我非常激动能作为校长率领学校继续发展。
I am just so excited to be here leading the school at this place, in this unique time in AISG’s rich history.
三角铃:如果您有机会给世界上每个第一天上学的孩子分享一句话，您会说什么?
SJL : If you had the opportunity to share one message with every child in the world on their first day of school, what would that message be?
我希望每个学生和每个孩子都知道，他们内在拥有无限的潜力、价值和可能性。 还有一些人将热情与希望寄托于这些孩子，希望他们激发出自己的潜力并茁壮成长。我认为每个孩子都需要有个拥护者，而这就是好的教育者所承担的角色。我不在乎教育体系的差别，我认为每个孩子都值得拥有一个好的领路人、拥护者。
I want every student and every child to know that they have infinite worth, value and possibility within them. There are others who are passionate about wanting them to realise their possibilities and thrive. I think every child needs to have a champion and that’s what good educators are. They are champions of the children. I don’t care what the system is. I think every child deserves that.
我相信教育从业者是这个世界上最伟大的职业。我们有机会以非常积极的方式去塑造和影响未来，与我们一起工作的年轻人将会成为未来的领袖。这是一个多么谦卑而令人兴奋的机会啊，而它就在我们眼前！
I believe that being in education is the world’s greatest vocation. We have the chance to shape and impact the future in a really positive way. The young people we are working with will be the leaders of tomorrow. What a humble and exciting opportunity we have before us!
在此过程中，我们有幸被邀请参加了有关中国教育政策的对话，讨论探究式教育以及标准化教育的利弊。我们还讨论社会情感学习的重要性，谈论语言以及我们日常如何学习语言的问题，我们擅长英语和其他语言教育。在不透露太多信息的情况下，我可以说我们将在春季末宣布我们将成为亚洲地区该类教育的区域中心。
Along the way, we get to be invited into conversations about education policy in China, about what is inquiry-based education versus stand-and-deliver education. We get to talk about the importance of social emotional learning. We talk about language and the questions of how we learn to acquire language in general. We do an excellent job at this in English and other languages. Without giving too much away, we will have an announcement at the end of Spring about us becoming a regional centre in this part of Asia for this type of education.
我们有所期待能够扩大影响力。我校有一支精英教师队伍和优秀的团队，而他们有决心和热情将事业做到完美。当人们听到关于广州美国人国际学校的相关话题时，我希望他们立即能够联想到充满活力、协作精神和互联的学习氛围。我希望广州美国人国际学校的名字能够成为未来教育的代名词。在我看来，这就是我们公羊队的方式。
We have these aspirations so that the impact is shared. We have a fabulous team and a wonderful community. They are committed and passionate about doing just that. When people hear the words American International School of Guangzhou, I want them to think of dynamic, compassionate and connected learning. I want the AISG name to be synonymous with future-ready education. That, in my opinion, is the Ram Nation way.
