📚 What Makes This Shanghai Bilingual School Special? Wide Course Choice and Two Sets of Textbooks in Parallel | 上海这所双语学校有啥特别?课程选择多还能两套教材同步学
In Shanghai's private school sector, a growing number of schools position themselves around international education. One model in particular is drawing wide attention from parents and educators: the deep integration of China's national compulsory education standards with an international curriculum system. Shanghai Xinghewan Bilingual School is frequently cited as a representative example, and it is known for two distinctive features - a broad range of course choices and the parallel use of two sets of textbooks across several subjects.
在上海的民办学校当中,有不少学校聚焦国际教育。其中一种模式正引起家长以及教育者的广泛关注,那就是把国家义务教育标准跟国际课程体系进行深度整合。上海星河湾双语学校是常被提及的一个代表性例子,它以两个突出的特点为人所知:课程选择多,并且多个学科两套教材同步使用。
1. Why This Model Attracts So Much Attention | 这种模式为何备受关注
The appeal of this model lies in the fact that it refuses to force families into a binary choice. Parents who want their children to keep a solid Chinese academic foundation no longer have to give up international teaching methods, and families aiming at overseas universities do not have to abandon the national curriculum at an early stage. The school therefore becomes a middle path rather than a compromise.
这种模式的吸引力,在于它并不逼迫家庭做出非此即彼的选择。希望孩子保有扎实中文与学术根基的家长,不必放弃国际化的教学方式;而以海外大学为目标的家庭,也不必在低龄阶段就完全舍弃国家课程。于是这所学校更像是一条中间道路,而不是一种妥协。
For educators, the model raises a more technical question: how can two curriculum systems be sequenced so that they reinforce rather than compete with each other? Answering that question requires structural design, teacher coordination and consistent assessment - which is exactly what the following sections examine.
对教育者而言,这种模式提出了一个更技术性的问题:两套课程体系该如何排序,才能彼此强化而非互相争夺时间?要回答这个问题,就需要结构化的设计、教师之间的协同以及一致的评估方式——这正是下文要逐项展开的内容。
2. The Structured Design of the Curriculum System | 课程体系的结构化设计
Shanghai Xinghewan Bilingual School operates a coherent curriculum that extends across the whole learning journey from primary school to senior high. This continuity matters, because a bilingual pathway only works when each stage prepares students for the next rather than restarting from scratch every few years.
上海星河湾双语学校有着连贯性的课程设置,其延展至小学到高中的整个学习阶段。这种连贯性很重要,因为一条双语路径只有在每个学段都为下一学段做好准备、而不是每隔几年重新开始时,才真正成立。
The overall architecture can be understood in three layers: a national-curriculum layer that guarantees statutory academic requirements, an international layer that introduces North American foundational education elements, and an integration layer where teachers reorganise content around shared knowledge points. The result is often described as a framework of integrated Chinese and Western curricula.
整体架构可以理解为三个层次:一是国家课程层,保障法定的学业要求;二是国际课程层,引入北美基础教育的相关元素;三是整合层,由教师围绕共同的知识点对内容进行重组。这样的结果,通常被称为中西融合课程框架。
The purpose of this structure is to guarantee that students' academic foundations are comprehensive. While meeting nationally required academic standards, students can encounter international teaching ideas and learning approaches at an early stage, so that later academic transitions and further study proceed smoothly, avoiding an early break or bias in their knowledge system.
为此,此种结构意在保障学生学术基础具备全面性。学生于达成国家规定学业要求之际,能够在早期接触国际化的教学理念以及学习方式,从而为后续的学术分流还有深造做好平稳过渡,防止了在基础教育阶段过早出现知识体系方面的断层又或是偏向。
3. Grades 1 to 9: National Standards Plus North American Elements | 一至九年级:国家义务教育标准融合北美元素
During the period from Grade 1 to Grade 9, the school follows the compulsory education curriculum plan prescribed by the state, ensuring that key subjects such as Chinese language and history align with Shanghai's teaching standards. This is not a nominal arrangement: the statutory subjects are taught in full, assessed in full and treated as core rather than supplementary.
在一到九年级这个时期,学校遵循着国家所规定的义务教育课程方案,以此来保证语文、历史等关键科目能够契合上海市的教学标准。这并非名义上的安排:法定科目被完整教授、完整评估,被视为核心课程而非补充课程。
At the same time, elements of North American foundational education are woven into the programme, forming a distinctive integrated framework. In practice this shows up in enquiry-based tasks, project work, presentation skills and a stronger emphasis on independent reading and reasoning.
与此同时,课程之中融入了北美基础教育的相关元素,进而构建成了别具一格的中西融合课程框架。在具体操作中,这体现在探究式任务、项目作业、演讲表达技能,以及对独立阅读与推理能力的更强强调上。
For families, the practical benefit is a double safety net. If a student later transfers to a domestic school, the statutory content has not been missed; if the family decides on an international route, the student has already been studying in an environment where English-medium academic work is normal.
对家庭而言,实际的好处是双重保障。如果学生日后转入体制内学校,法定内容并未遗漏;如果家庭决定走国际路线,学生早已处在一个以英语进行学术学习属常态的环境之中。
4. Grades 10 to 12: The Academic Pathway Split | 十至十二年级:高中阶段的学术路径分化
By Grades 10 to 12, the curriculum pathway becomes much more explicit. The school takes the American high school curriculum system as its core and systematically offers a substantial number of Advanced Placement (AP) courses, covering subject areas such as mathematics, science and the humanities.
到了10至12年级的时候,课程路径变得更加明确了。学校把美国高中课程体系当作核心,系统地开设好多门大学先修AP课程,这些课程覆盖了数学、科学、人文等好些学科领域。
These courses are designed against the standards of the College Board in the United States, and the credits and grades attached to them are recognised by a large number of higher education institutions worldwide. That recognition is what allows a student's high school record to travel across education systems.
这些课程的设计是对照着美国大学理事会的标准来的,其学分跟成绩被全球众多高等教育机构认可。正是这种认可度,让一名学生的高中成绩记录能够在不同教育体系之间通行。
Because the pathway is explicit, course selection becomes a genuine decision rather than a vague aspiration. Students choose combinations that match their intended university major, their strongest subjects and the workload they can sustain across three years.
由于路径明确,选课就从一个模糊的愿望变成一项真实的决策。学生所选择的课程组合,需要匹配其目标大学专业、自身最强的学科,以及自己三年内能够承受的学业负担。
5. AP Courses and What They Actually Signal | AP课程与它实际传递的信号
Advanced Placement courses are college-level in content and pace. A student who takes several of them is not simply accumulating credits; they are demonstrating the ability to handle university-style reading, laboratory work, essay writing and timed examinations before leaving high school.
大学先修课程在内容与节奏上都属于大学水平。选修多门此类课程的学生,并不只是在累积学分,他们是在离开高中之前,就展示出处理大学式阅读、实验工作、论文写作以及限时考试的能力。
For admissions committees, this matters because predicted and achieved AP results function as external benchmarks. Unlike school-designed assessments, they are produced under conditions that are comparable across schools and countries, so they help distinguish a strong transcript from an inflated one.
对招生委员会来说,这一点很重要,因为AP的预估分与实考成绩起到了外部基准的作用。与学校自设的评估不同,它们是在跨学校、跨国可比的条件之下产生的,因此有助于把一份扎实的成绩单与一份注水的成绩单区分开来。
The risk, however, is treating course count as a scoreboard. A student who takes eight AP courses and performs weakly in most of them is less convincing than one who takes four, does well, and can explain the intellectual reason for each choice.
不过风险在于,把课程数量当成记分牌。选修八门AP却大多表现平平的学生,说服力不及选修四门、成绩优异、并且能够解释每一门选择背后学术理由的学生。
6. Beyond Academic Courses: Practice and Activity Learning | 学术课程之外:实践与活动类学习
Aside from academic courses, the senior high section also provides practical exploration courses and activity-based courses. These are not isolated add-ons; they exist in a complementary relationship with academic study.
除了学术方面的课程之外,高中部另外设置了实践探索类型以及活动类型的课程。这些课程并不是孤立而单独存在的,而是它与学术学习彼此之间形成互补的状态。
The aim is to let students deepen their understanding of theoretical knowledge through real application and teamwork, while beginning to accumulate experience in project research and project management. A physics concept learned in class may reappear in a hands-on build; a statistical method may reappear in a survey the students design themselves.
其目的在于能够让学生在实际应用以及团队协作的过程当中,进一步深化对于理论知识的理解程度,并且初步积累项目研究以及管理方面的经验。课堂上学的物理概念,可能出现在动手制作之中;统计方法,可能出现在学生自己设计的问卷调研之中。
This design also softens one of the common weaknesses of examination-heavy pathways: students who can answer questions but cannot frame one. Project work forces them to define a problem, allocate tasks, set deadlines and present results to an audience.
这种设计也缓解了应试倾向较强的路径中一个常见弱点:学生会答题,却不会提出问题。项目式学习迫使他们去界定问题、分配任务、设定截止时间,并向听众呈现结果。
7. Two Sets of Textbooks, One Integrated Lesson Plan | 两套教材同步学,一份整合教案
The school's bilingual teaching shows itself in two dimensions: teaching materials and classroom language. In some grades, students use both Shanghai's unified textbooks and carefully selected North American original textbooks in parallel.
学校的双语教学形式展现在教材以及课堂语言这两个方面。在部分年级,学生会一块儿运用上海市统编教材以及经过挑选的北美原版教材。
Crucially, teacher teams prepare integrated lesson plans across the two sets of materials. Rather than placing them side by side mechanically, the content is reorganised organically according to knowledge points, so that one topic is taught once, well, from complementary angles.
关键在于,教师团队会针对两套材料开展整合备课。不是径直并列运用,而是依照知识点予以有机重组,让同一个主题被完整地、从互补的角度教授一次。
In mathematics, for example, a concept may be introduced with the systematic progression of the unified textbook and then extended through the problem styles and modelling tasks found in the original materials. In English language arts, the unified textbook supplies the language base while the North American texts supply longer-form reading and argumentative writing practice.
以数学为例,一个概念可以先借助统编教材的系统推进来引入,再通过原版材料中的题型与建模任务加以拓展。在英语语言艺术方面,统编教材提供语言基础,而北美教材提供长篇阅读与议论文写作的练习。
This is why the phrase "two sets of textbooks" can be misleading. The point is not that students carry twice the load, but that teachers hold two reference frames and use them selectively so that the student's workload stays coherent.
这也是为什么"两套教材"这个说法容易引起误解。重点并不是学生要背负双倍负担,而是教师掌握两套参照框架,并有选择地加以使用,从而使学生的学习负担保持连贯。
8. The Language Ratio Shifts by Stage | 授课语言比例随学段动态调整
The proportion of English used in classroom teaching is adjusted dynamically according to the stage of schooling. During junior high, the share of English-medium instruction is no less than 60 per cent, and it covers subjects such as science and mathematics as well as English itself.
课堂教学语言的比例会按照学段进行动态调整,在初中时期,英语授课所占的比例不少于60%,并且涵盖科学、数学等科目。
Once students enter senior high, that proportion rises further, and most specialised courses are taught entirely in English. The purpose is to create an immersive academic English environment, ensuring that students can use English proficiently for higher-order thinking and academic expression.
进入高中阶段后,这一比例进而得到提升,多数专业课程运用全英文授课,以此营造沉浸式的学术英语环境,保证学生能够熟练利用英语针对高阶思维以及学术表达展开运用。
| Stage 学段 | English-medium share 英语授课比例 | Notes 说明 |
| Grades 1-5 一至五年级 | Gradually increasing 逐步提升 | Bilingual foundation, language base first 双语打底,先立语言基础 |
| Grades 6-9 六至九年级 | No less than 60% 不低于60% | Includes science and mathematics 涵盖科学与数学 |
| Grades 10-12 十至十二年级 | Mostly full English 多数全英文 | Specialised and AP-level courses 专业课程与AP层级课程 |
What matters is that the ratio is deliberate rather than accidental. Language is treated as a tool for learning content, not as a separate subject that only lives inside the English classroom.
真正重要的是,这个比例是经过设计的,而不是偶然形成的。语言被视为学习内容的工具,而不是只活在英语课堂里的一门独立科目。
9. Differentiated Teaching and Targeted Support | 分层教学与针对性支持
In order to teach according to aptitude, the school operates a differentiated, mobile class system in several subjects. This is most visible in English and mathematics, where students are grouped according to their actual academic level.
为达成因材施教之目的,学校于多个学科推行分层走班制,尤其是在英语学科以及数学学科,学校会依据学生的实际学业水平来开展分班教学。
Different tiers are set with different levels of difficulty and different paces of progression, and the arrangement allows a student to enter the class that best matches their current ability rather than a fixed label.
学校设置具备不同难度以及不同进度的课程层级,此种模式准许学生进入最为契合自身当前能力的班级加以学习,而不是被贴上一个固定的标签。
The important detail is mobility. A tier is a placement, not a verdict: students who progress can move up, and students who need consolidation can move to a group where the fundamentals are revisited properly instead of being rushed past.
关键的细节在于流动性。层级是一种安排,而不是一个判决:进步的学生可以向上流动,需要巩固的学生可以进入一个把基础重新讲透、而不是匆匆略过的小组。
10. Small Classes and Continuous Feedback | 小班化教学与持续反馈
All teaching classes are small, with the average class size controlled at a low level. This is not a marketing detail; it changes what is possible pedagogically.
实行小班化的是所有教学班,班级的平均人数被控制于较低水平。这并不是一个宣传细节,它改变了教学上真正可行的空间。
Small-class teaching allows teachers to pay fuller attention to each student's reactions in class, their homework, and the results of periodic assessments, making it easier to provide timely personalised guidance and adjust learning plans.
小班教学能让教师更充分地留意每一个学生课堂上的反应,以及作业状况和阶段性评估结果,方便及时开展个性化指导并调整学习方案,以此提升教学的有效性。
The feedback loop is what raises effectiveness. When a teacher notices in week three that a student's algebra foundation is shaky, the correction is cheap; the same discovery in week twelve, after new content has piled on top, is expensive.
真正提升有效性的是这个反馈闭环。如果教师在第三周就注意到某个学生的代数基础不牢,纠正的成本很低;同样的发现若拖到第十二周、新内容已经层层叠加之后,代价就很高。
11. Extracurricular Platforms and Social Practice | 课外活动平台与社会实践
The school regards extracurricular activities and social practice as an important extension of the curriculum system. On campus, it regularly organises academic competitions, model building, drama performances and art exhibitions, among other activities.
把课外活动以及社会实践认作课程体系重要延伸的是学校,校内会定期组织学术竞赛,还有模型建造,戏剧表演,艺术展览等各种活动。
Most of these are planned and run by student clubs themselves, with the school providing venues, funding and teacher guidance, so that students can develop interests and leadership beyond academic work.
这些活动大多是由学生社团自行策划以及运行的,学校为其提供场地,给予经费,并且有教师指导支持,推动学生去发展学术以外的兴趣以及领导力。
In the area of social practice, the school has built cooperative relationships with community organisations, enterprises and museums, and has planned a series of field visits, volunteering and research-based learning projects - for example, arranging students to take part in environmental research topics or community public-service work.
于社会实践范畴,学校跟社区机构、企业、博物馆诸如此类构建了合作关联,谋划了一连串考察、志愿服务以及研究性学习项目,像是安排学生投身环保课题调研、社区公益服务等等事物。
The objective is to cultivate students' sense of social responsibility, their field research capacity and their practical problem-solving skills - capabilities that no single textbook can deliver on its own.
目的在于培育学生的社会责任认知、实地调研能力以及解决问题的实践技巧,而这些能力,是任何单一教材都无法独立给予的。
12. Educational Goals: "Go Out, Come Back", and How to Judge Success | 教育目标:"出得去、回得来",以及如何衡量成功
The school's educational philosophy emphasises the combination of being able to "go out" and being able to "come back". While making every effort to open a pathway to prestigious overseas universities, the curriculum consistently strengthens the teaching of Chinese language, culture and history.
教育理念于学校而言,着重强调"出得去"跟"回得来"二者的结合。在竭尽全力为学生铺就通向海外名校的通道之际,课程里头一直强化中国语言文化以及历史的教学。
Through dedicated Chinese classics courses, cultural lectures and traditional festival celebrations, the school deepens students' recognition and understanding of Chinese culture. This positioning responds to new demands that globalisation places on talent.
学校借助专门的国学课程、文化讲座还有传统节日庆典活动,加深学生对中国文化的认同以及理解。这种定位回应了全球化时代对人才提出的新要求。
The school aims to develop a generation that has both an international perspective and competitiveness, and a deep cultural foundation together with a sense of belonging to their country. Wherever they study and work in the future, they should retain a clear cultural identity and a connection to China.
学校致力于培养年轻一代,他们既具备国际视野与竞争力,又拥有深厚文化根基与家国情怀。无论未来在世界何处学习与发展,他们都能保有清晰的文化身份与连接中国的纽带。
So when we discuss the varied paths that blend international education with local culture, a question remains open for every family: is the key measure of a bilingual school's success its students' overseas university admission results, or the comprehensive competence and cultural identity they carry over the long term? The honest answer is that both are visible, but on very different time scales.
因此,当我们在探讨国际教育跟本土文化相融合之中的多样路径之际,有一个问题留给每一个家庭:衡量一所双语学校教育成功或者不成功的关键标准,究竟是学生的海外大学录取成果,还是其长时间发展所具备的综合素养以及文化认同呢?诚实的回答是:两者都看得见,只是所处的时间尺度截然不同。
Published by TutorHao | Bilingual Education & International Curriculum Series | aleveler.com
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