上海金山区枫叶学校Surina校长专访，国际教育的探界者。
Surina校长
An interview with Program Principal Surina Wang, a pioneer in international education
Surina女士是枫叶上海校区的国际项目负责人，自2018年起也担任集团数学教学系统协调者一职。Surina女士来自加拿大不列颠省哥伦比亚省温哥华市，她持有UBC课程和教育学硕士学位以及UBC数学学士和学士学位。此外，她也一直是枫叶世界学校课程团队的积极成员，也是ML数学课程的课程编写者。
Mrs.Surina is the International Program Principal in Maple Leaf Shanghai campus, and she is also the System Mathematics Coordinator since 2018. Mrs.Surina is from Vancouver, BC, Canada, and she holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Pedagogy from UBC, and B.Ed. and B.Sc. in Mathematics from UBC. She has been an active member of the Maple Leaf World School curriculum team and is a curriculum writer for the ML Math curriculum.
01 一位执着教育的“校长”
A principal who is committed to education
您为什么选择成为一位枫叶的校长？
Why do you choose to be a principal at Maple Leaf?
“我并没有自主的选择在枫叶学校当校长，而是枫叶给了我在领导岗位上成长和发展的前景和平台，最终带来了担任校长的机会。今年是我在枫叶工作的第七个年头，在今年成为校长之前，我担任过数学老师、课程开发员、部门主管、系统协调员、教育协调员和副校长。通过这些不同的角色和职位，我对枫叶学校以及学生和教师有了更全面的了解，这丰富了我对教育的理解，也塑造了我的一些教育信念和理念”。
“I did not choose to be a principal at Maple Leaf. It is Maple Leaf that gives me the prospect and platform to grow and thrive in leadership, which eventually lead to the opportunity of principalship. This is my seventh year working in Maple Leaf, and before becoming a principal this year, I worked as a math teacher, a curriculum developer, a department head, a system coordinator, an educational coordinator, and a vice principal. I learned so much about the Maple Leaf school system and its students and teachers through these different roles and positions, which enriched my understanding of education and shaped some of my educational beliefs and philosophies.”
您如何看待枫叶世界学校课程？
What do you think of the Maple Leaf World School Program?
“枫叶教育集团通过开设枫叶世界学校课程，做出了勇敢的、具有前瞻性的行动。变化总是可怕的，这就是为什么人们不喜欢变化。但没有变化就没有进步，同样的逻辑也适用于课程和教育。我曾教过几年BC课程，它是一个伟大的课程，它以能力为基础，以学生为中心。然而BC课程也有一些缺点：首先，它的数学和科学课程对中国学生来说太容易了。其次，他们将许多人文课程的重点仅仅放在了BC省上。然而，随着枫叶的毕业生开始进入世界各地的大学，BC课程已经不能满足我们学生的需求。我们需要一个更加严谨的课程，并且更加关注世界，而不是某个地区。在枫叶，我们的目标是将学生培养成世界公民”。
“Maple Leaf is making a courageous and forward-thinking move by upgrading to the World School program. Changes are always scary, and this is why people don’t like changes. But with no change, there is no progress, and the same logic applies to curriculum and education. I taught the BC curriculum for a few years and it is a great curriculum, its competency based and student centered. However, the shortcomings of the BC curriculum is that for one, its Math and Science courses are too easy for Chinese students. And the second is that many of the humanities courses, such as geography, history, and social studies, they put too much focus on BC. However, as Maple Leaf graduates start to go to universities all around the world, the BC curriculum is no longer serving the needs of our students. We needed a curriculum that has more rigor, and focus more on the world instead of a particular region. In Maple Leaf, we are aiming to educate students becoming world citizens.”
02 一名高期许的“数学老师”
A high-expectation math teacher
对于中国和加拿大的学生是否有着相同的要求？两者之间又存在着哪些差异呢？
Whether the requirements for students in China and Canada are the same?
Are there differences between students from those two countries?
“中国学生十分有礼貌，他们往往对于上学非常认真。我个人对中国的国家课程评价很高，因为它的标准很高，对学生十分严格，特别是在初小阶段，我非常喜欢这种严格性。对孩子们来说，在低年级阶段打下坚实的基础非同小可，这为学生以后在学校的成功做了准备。然而，来自公立学校的学生通常有一种“畏惧感”，他们害怕说出自己的真实想法，他们更多的是在迎合老师想要的答案。当学生从公立学校转入枫叶后，他们最需要适应的是他们将被鼓励独立思考，在这里没有正确答案。教师会因为学生的创新能力而对他们提出表扬。而对于加拿大的学生来说，他们更富有创造力。这也是世界学校课程的一个目标，我们希望培养学生的创造性、批判性，并且享受学习的过程”。
“Chinese students are polite and they often take school very seriously. I personally speak highly of the Chinese national curriculum because of its high standard and its rigor, especially in the elementary and middle school level, and I really like that rigorousness. It is important for children to have a solid foundation at lower grade levels, which prepare them for success later on in school. However, for students coming from the public school system, there is usually a fear of students speaking their true mind freely. Students are often searching for the “correct” answer that they think the teachers might be looking for. One of the biggest adjustments that students usually need to make as they enter Maple Leaf from a public school is that they are encouraged to think independently and there is no right answers. Students are praised for giving unique answers and asking questions that are outside of the box. Teachers are facilitators of knowledge, and students often treat them like friends. Students from Canada, on the other hand, are more spontaneous and creative. This is also an aim of the World School curriculum, and we want to train our students to be creative, critical, and enjoy the process of learning.”
03 一位学霸型的“学生”
A student who is a top student
听闻您是一名学霸，您在学习上有着哪些小技巧呢？在遇到困难时您又是如何克服的呢？
We heard that you were a straight-A student, what are your tips for studying and how did you overcome the difficulties you encountered?
1. 保持井然有序
2. 确保目标明确
3. 做你热爱的事
4. 不要害怕风险
“首先，作为一名高中生是不容易的，对于一个国际高中生来说更是如此。学校中的任务或许积累得非常快，在你得知前，就到了测验或考试的时候。同时，在生活中还会发生其它你热爱的事情。因此，你很容易感到不知所措和焦虑。这就是为什么我总是将"保持井然有序 "作为给学生的第一个建议，以取得成功和克服困难。
当我还是个学生的时候，我喜欢使用计划表，这上面印有详细的时间节点，我会在上面写下所有的重要事件，这有便于我记住它们，同时我可以根据它安排我做事情的优先次序。随着技术的进步，我已经开始使用电子计划表和日历，这样我就可以随时随地查看我的计划表。
在我还是一名学生时，我总是逆向规划我的时间。我会确认每件事情的截止时间，再根据我认为该事件所需的时间进行倒推。通过有条不紊的工作，我感到十分冷静，有着充分的准备工作，并倾向于把工作做得更好。
其次，有一个明确的目标很重要，几乎对任何事情都是如此，这也是达到终点的动力。有一个明确的、可实现的目标会让你保持有条不紊，同时你也不会轻易放弃。举一个简单的例子：我的目标是 "学习一些西班牙语"。其中，我没有一个明确的目标，我也无法评估我的成就，所以我或许只能坚持几天便放弃了。相反，当我把目标设为："每天看10分钟的西班牙语版的电影，每五天学会一个新句子"。这是一个可以轻松完成的目标，并且我很容易检阅自己是否达到了目标。如果我能一直坚持下去，我将在1年内学会73句西班牙语！我认为这很了不起！一旦你对你的目标感觉良好，就能更好的坚持完成这个目标。
最后，做你热爱的事，不要害怕风险。我认为这两者是相辅相成的，因为很多时候，当你挑战去做一件你通常无法完成的事情时，你就会发现自己对它的热爱。待在舒适区很容易，因为在这里你感到很安全，但事情很快就会变得索然无味。渐渐地事情变得沉闷，人们失去了动力。我曾接触过的许多人，特别是那些成功的人，他们曾经都接受过挑战或走出他们的舒适区并尝试他们从未经历过的事情。他们都对这种经历心存感激，因为那是使他们成功的原因。此外，如果没有经历过生活中不同的事情，就很难找到那些你真正热爱的东西。因此，趁着年轻，参加不同的课程，尝试不同的食物，做一些你未曾经历过的事情，你会因为这些独特的经历而感到惊讶”。
1. Stay organized
2. Be goal orientated
3. Do what you love
4. Don’t be afraid to take risks
“First of all, I have to say this: it is not easy being a high school student, and it’s even more so for an international high school student. School work can build up really fast, and before you know it, it’s time for tests and exams. At the same time, there are other things happening in your life that you would like to enjoy. So it is easy to feel overwhelmed and anxious. This is why “stay organized” is almost always my first tip to students for success and overcome challenges. When I was a student, I liked to use a planner, which is a booklet with month and dates printed in it, and I like to write down all the due dates and important events on it, so that I don’t forget them and I can prioritize my time accordingly. With advancing of technology, I’ve moved onto digital planners and calendars, so that I can access my planner anywhere, anytime, and I receive reminders for important meetings. As a student, I always plan my time backwards. I would look at the due date of a project or an exam, and plan backwards based on the number of days that I think I would need to prepare for it. By being organized, I fell calm, well prepared, and tend to do a better job.
The second tip is to be goal orientated. It is important to have a goal, for almost anything, and that is the driving force for reaching the end point. Having a clear, do-able goal will keep you stay organized, and it is less likely for you to give up. Let’s look at a simple example. Say that I would like to learn Spanish, and I have a goal “I want to learn some Spanish.” In this statement, I don’t have a clear goal, and I cannot assess my achievement, so it’s easy for me to give up after a little while. Instead, I can have a goal like this “I will watch 10 minutes of Spanish movie everyday, and learn to speak a new sentence every five days.” This is a goal that can be easily checked off as completed, and it is easy for me to access myself whether or not I have achieved my goal. If I can keep up with this goal, I will be able to speak 73 sentences by the end of the year! I think that’s pretty amazing and I feel good about it. Once you feel good about something, you are more likely to keep up wit it.
I can talk about the last two together, which are do what you love and don’t be afraid to take risks. I think the two go hands in hand with each other because a lot of time the realization of passion comes after challenging yourself to take on a task that you would not normally do. It is easy to stay in your comfort zone because it feels safe, but then things can get boring real soon. With boringness, things become dreary and people lose their drive. Many people that I’ve talked to, especially those who are successful, they all had an experience of taking on a challenge or doing things that are outside of their comfort zone. And they are all thankful to that experience because that’s what made them successful. Also, without experiencing different things in life, it is difficult to find or realize what you are truly passionate about. So while you are young, take different courses, try different food, do things that you would not normally do. You’d be surprised of what you get out of that.”
04 一位前瞻性的“母亲”
A forward-looking mother
从学生和家长两个不同的角度来看，中西方教育有着什么不同？
What are the differences between Chinese and Western education from the perspectives of both students and parents?
“作为一名学生，我很欣赏中国教育的严谨性。我记得在加拿大读高中和大学时，总有一些来自中国的学生在学业上胜过其他人。同时，我也珍视加拿大学生的创造力，在课堂上的自由，以及所得到的 "与众不同 "的鼓励。
我是两个孩子的母亲。我的儿子已经8岁了，我的女儿再过几个月就7岁了。他们是我和我丈夫选择来中国工作的重要原因之一。我希望我的孩子在入学初期打下坚实的基础，并在学校中学习礼仪和自制能力，希望他们能有一个良好的汉语基础。中国在世界的影响力越来越大，我相信随着我的孩子渐渐长大，中国在世界的影响力也会电照风行”。
“As a student, I admire the rigor in the Chinese education system. I remember back in high school and university in Canada, there were always students from China that outperformed everyone else academically. At the same time, I cherish the creativity of Canadian students, and the freedom we had in classes, and the encouragement we got to be “different.”
I’m a mother of two children. My boy is 8 years old, and my daughter will be 7 in a few months. They are one of the key reasons why my husband and I chose to come to work in China. I want my children to have a solid foundation in their early years of school, and learn manners and disciplines in school. I also want them to have a good strong Chinese foundation. China’s influence in the world is getting stronger and stronger, and I do think that as my kids grow up, its influence will be even stronger.”