专访上海耀中浦东新任外籍校长Edward Beechey，解读"严谨与关爱"并重的教育理念。学校开放日可预约参观，与领导团队交流，了解双文化课程。详情请咨询021 2226 7666。
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By Ned Kelly
Having joined the YCIS Shanghai community in 2023 as Head of Teaching and Learning, he has spent the past two years working closely with colleagues across the city to strengthen academic standards, refine curriculum, and deepen the school's commitment to authentic bicultural education.
Now, as he looks ahead, Mr. Beechey is focused on building on the strengths that make YCIS distinctive—its warmth, its community, its deep-rooted East-West foundation—while sharpening the academic intentionality that sits alongside them.
In a wide-ranging conversation, he shares his philosophy on balancing rigor and care, his vision for academic excellence, and why he believes the most important skill for the AI age is not technical, but human.
Congratulations on the new role. First, please tell us your understanding of the YCIS philosophy.
For me, the YCIS philosophy can be summed up in one word: integrity.
It means genuinely integrating elements that other schools often treat as separate.
It's the belief that you don't have to choose between academic excellence and student well-being—that a rigorous education and a caring community are two sides of the same coin.
Most fundamentally, it's about the authentic alignment of East and West—not a token gesture, but a deep conviction that the best international education equips students to move fluidly between cultures, drawing strength from both.
It's an education for the whole child, in the whole world.
YCIS is proud of its mix of Chinese and Western culture. How do you make sure both sides get equal attention?
This is a crucial question, and the answer lies in understanding that academic excellence is not culturally neutral. True academic strength at YCIS means being excellent in both traditions.
When we talk about strengthening our English program, we are simultaneously deepening our students' ability to engage with the Western world.
But that cannot come at the expense of the Chinese program. We will give it equal attention because it is the anchor that grounds our students in their local context and gives them the profound cognitive benefits of bilingualism.
My partnership with the Chinese Co-Principal is the safeguard. Dr. Sissy Shen and I will lead together, ensuring that every academic initiative is viewed through both a Western and a Chinese lens, so that our focus on standards never becomes a narrowing of perspectives.
Chinese Co-Principal, Dr. Sissy Shen
What are the best things you've recognized about the YCIS community that you want to keep and grow?
The best thing is the palpable sense that every child is known. It's a family school.
When I visit our campuses, I see teachers stopping in hallways to ask a student about a sibling, or a coach checking in on an athlete who had a tough game, or mentors intentionally scheduling time to review how things are going with their mentees.
That culture of personal connection is precious and must be protected at all costs.
What I want to grow is the academic intentionality that sits alongside that care. We have a warm community; now I want to ensure it is also an intellectually rigorous one.
I want to grow our capacity to challenge every single student appropriately—not just the ones who are already exceeding expectations, but also those who are quietly capable and need a gentle push to unlock their potential.
You talk about balancing "rigor and care." For a teacher in the classroom, what does that balance look like in action?
It looks like a teacher who knows when to push and when to support.
In action, it means a teacher designing a lesson that asks students to grapple with a genuinely difficult concept—that's the rigor.
But it also means that teacher checking for understanding not just with a show of hands, but by quietly kneeling beside the student who is struggling and saying, "Let's work through this together"—that's the care.
It means giving feedback that is honest enough to sting a little, but constructive enough to show a clear path forward.
It means holding a student to a deadline, but also asking if everything is okay at home when they miss it.
Rigor without care is cold; care without rigor is sentimental. Together, they create trust, and learning thrives on trust.
You focus on three areas: consistency, challenge, and academic standards. Can you tell us about the importance of each, and how you maximize them?
These three are like a three-legged stool; if one is weak, the whole thing wobbles.
Consistency is about fairness and clarity. It means a student in Year 7 knows what excellence looks like, and a student in Year 12 is assessed against the same high bar.
We maximize it by ensuring our departments are aligned in their expectations and our teachers are supported with clear curriculum guides and teaching expectations.
Challenge is the engine of growth. Without it, students coast.
We maximize it by using data intelligently to identify what each student is ready for next. It's about stretch-and-challenge for the high-flyer, but also for the student who is quietly capable and needs someone to say, "I think you can do more."
Academic Standards are our benchmark. They are the destination we are all walking toward.
We maximize them by rooting our teaching in evidence, by continually moderating our assessments to ensure they are accurate, and by never confusing high standards with high pressure.
Standards give us direction; consistency gives us the path; challenge gives us the energy to walk it.
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You hope students will have "diligence"—working hard with enthusiasm. How can a school teach or encourage that attitude, especially as we enter the AI age?
You cannot teach diligence by lecturing about it. You can only cultivate it by creating conditions where it is valued and visible.
First, we model it. When students see teachers who are passionate about their subjects, who are lifelong learners themselves, that enthusiasm is contagious.
Second, we give students autonomy. Diligence flourishes when students have some ownership over their learning.
If we are constantly directing every step, they learn compliance, not diligence. We need to give them projects, problems, and inquiries that are meaningful enough to warrant hard work.
In the AI age, this becomes even more critical. If a machine can do the easy work, then human diligence becomes about the hard work—the persistence to refine an idea, the commitment to see a long-term project through, the enthusiasm to tackle problems that don't have a pre-programmed solution.
We need to celebrate that effort, not just the final answer.
With AI changing everything, what is the most important human skill you think schools need to protect and strengthen?
The wisdom of judgment. In a world where AI can generate an essay, write code, or summarize a book in seconds, the premium skill will be the ability to evaluate that output.
Is it true?
Is it ethical?
Is it kind?
Does it make sense in this context?
AI can process information, but it cannot yet exercise wisdom. That requires perspective, empathy, and an understanding of human consequences—all things that come from a rich, holistic education.
We must protect the skills of critical analysis, ethical reasoning, and interpersonal understanding.
We need to produce graduates who can command AI to do their bidding, but who also possess the character to know what is worth bidding for.
You promised parents more academic focus, but not less warmth. How will parents be able to see this balance in their child's daily experience?
Parents will see it in the little things and the big things.
They will see it when their child comes home exhausted but energized by a challenging project.
They will see it in parent-teacher conferences where the conversation is not just about a letter grade, but about their child's growth as a thinker and a person.
They will see it when their child speaks with pride about a presentation they gave, or a problem they solved.
They will feel it when they walk through the gates and are greeted warmly by name.
They will hear it when their child talks about a teacher who pushed them to revise an essay five times because the teacher believed they could do better.
The warmth is in the relationship; the academic focus is in the high bar that relationship is built upon. You can't have one without the other.
You're working on a new framework to track student character, not just grades. How are you going about this?
It's less about tracking student character than about creating a framework through which to observe and give feedback on the competencies and characteristics that longitudinal academic research shows matter most—both to effective learning and to living happy and fulfilled lives.
It's very exciting.
At the moment, we are working with academics to review our existing competency frameworks, like the YCYW Learner Portrait, against their research to validate our current understanding of the competencies that count, and to make any tweaks necessary based on the research.
From there, we will be working with internal teams and possibly one external partner to harness AI in developing tools that allow our teachers to observe competencies in action in and beyond the classroom, and to pull them together into a portfolio.
This will let parents, students, and teachers look at how a student is showing up in and around school, and think about what that means for their learning, their relationships, and their own understanding of self.
This will equip students to better know themselves and provide them with more opportunities to reflect on their own values in action, so they can grow in the areas that matter to them.
Overall, what is the one big change or achievement that would make you think, "Okay, now we are truly preparing these kids for a great life"?
I don't think this is ever a single moment, but a gradual realization. This comes from hearing from our alumni—five or 10 years out—talk about their lives.
They wouldn't just tell us about the prestigious university they attended or the job they landed. They would tell us about the challenges they've navigated with resilience, the diverse teams they've led with empathy, and the sense of purpose they feel in their work and relationships.
The achievement would be knowing that our students left YCIS not just with a transcript full of high grades, but with a compass.
They would have the academic credentials to open doors, but more importantly, the character and perspective to choose the right doors to walk through.
That is what a great life is made of: not just success, but significance.
Yew Chung International School (YCIS) of Shanghai
YCIS Shanghai is more than just a place for academic learning—it's where future global citizens are nurtured.
During the Open Day, you'll explore their state-of-the-art facilities, from cutting-edge science labs to art studios and performance spaces, all designed to support our students' holistic development.
A key feature of our Open Days is the opportunity to engage directly with the School Leadership Team (SLT) and teachers.
You'll gain insights into the YCIS curriculum and teaching methodologies, learn how they foster academic excellence and creativity, and discover how they prepare students for success in a rapidly changing world.
The admissions team will also be on-site to answer any questions about the application process, admission criteria, or school fees, ensuring you leave with a clear understanding of how YCIS Shanghai could be the right fit for your child.
To book your place, email [email protected], call 021 2226 7666, or simply scan the QR code below.
Addresses
YCIS Shanghai Puxi Ronghua Campus
ECE Years 2-6 (ages 2-6)
59 West Ronghua Avenue, Puxi
上海市长宁区荣华西道59号
YCIS Shanghai Puxi Hongqiao Campus
Primary Years 2-6 (ages 6-11)
11 Shuicheng Road, Puxi
上海市长宁区水城路11号
YCIS Shanghai Puxi Gubei Campus
Secondary Years 7-13 (ages 11-18)
18 West Ronghua Avenue, Puxi
上海市长宁区荣华西道18号
YCIS Shanghai Pudong Regency Park Campus
Kindergarten 2 to Primary Year 5 (ages 2-10)
1817 Huamu Road, Pudong
上海市浦东新区花木路1817号
YCIS Shanghai Pudong Century Park Campus
Primary Year 6 to Secondary Year 13 (ages 10-18)
1433 Dongxiu Road, Pudong
上海市浦东新区东绣路1433号
YCIS Shanghai Lingang Campus
Kindergarten 2 to Primary Year 6 (ages 2-11)
No.1 Yinlian Road, Nanhui New Town
上海市浦东新区临港新城银莲路1号
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