The Chinese philosophy of education – going back thousands of years – is rooted in discipline, high expectations, and a commitment to leading a virtuous life. Imagine a school where students expect to work hard; where they have profound respect for the process necessary to learn new concepts and to master material; where they pursue academic subjects with extraordinary depth; where the challenge of learning leads to intellectual resilience and personal fortitude. We are inspired by the opportunity to found Keystone in Beijing, where a culture of rigorous academic training is the norm. Our students will have the benefit of practices that have made Chinese students – particularly in mathematics – the envy of the world.
Holistic, inquiry-based, and experiential learning teaching methods are hallmarks of the best in American education. Imagine a school that focuses on the development of a fully integrated person – intellect, character, talents, emotional intelligence, empathy, and civic responsibility. In these classrooms, students and teacher sit together at a seminar table in discussion. Students are so engaged in learning that they lean into the conversation, building on one another’s ideas, gaining as much from each other’s insights as they do from their teacher. In a school like this, experiential learning at a very high level means a student’s studies are not confined to classrooms. Rather, teachers make use of cultural institutions, urban neighborhoods, the natural world, art, and architecture as living laboratories for the study of science, history, politics, art, and literature. Now imagine dedicated, ambitious Chinese students actively participating in U.S.-style seminar discussions. Imagine immersing these students in the vast culture, history, and natural world of China and giving them the opportunity to apply their knowledge globally through service projects and exchanges with students in other countries. This is our vision at Keystone.
A desire to promote global understanding inspired the rise of international schools more than a half century ago. International school curricula, such as the International Primary Curriculum and the International Baccalaureate, are used in countries all over the world to develop critical and creative thinking. They, which Keystone are adopting and enhancing for our school, teach students to make connections across and at the intersections of disciplines. They focus on the intercultural competence that comes from learning two or more languages. At Keystone, we are complementing these international curricula with Chinese-style math training and our own Chinese history, identity and culture curriculum that builds from the early years through high school.
More than the sum of these three powerful modes of education, Keystone’s program is designed for, as our mission states, “students who are hungry for opportunity, bold in their thinking, and creative in their instincts.” It is a program of depth and breadth, rigor, creativity, and exploration. It is designed to teach our students to look outward into the world – into different cultures and countries for inspiration, new knowledge, opportunities for hybrid techniques and ways to collaborate.
