Rooting in authentic California education, Pegasus showls you what a real American school is
Release Time：2023-08-08 09:15
According to statistics, 80% of the world's Nobel Prize winners are from the United States. The vivid creativity and impressive achievements brought about by American education have made countless international students yearn for it.
At the same time, in the US news global world ranking, about 50% of the top 100 universities are American universities. Obviously, American education is more favored and recognized by the development of the times than other various educational models.
This makes us wonder, what is so special about the American education model? What enlightenment does it have for Chinese international students and prospective international students?
As for the performance evaluation system, American high schools and universities place great emphasis on process-based learning. A student's final grade usually consists of several parts: class performance, midterm exam, and final exam, and class performance includes Presentation, Research Paper, Socratic Seminar, Group Project, etc., all of which require students to independently determine the topic. to explore knowledge without limitation.
【Socratic Seminar】
The core of the "Socratic Seminar" is to construct a dialogue for text discussion rather than a debate about right and wrong. Before the Socratic seminar, the teacher will distribute some reading materials and questions. The questions are usually dialectical, and there is no absolute right or wrong. The discussion among students and the ability of critical thinking are the focus of the assessment. Through cooperative discussions, new perspectives on text reading and a new understanding of the content of the article can be obtained. This kind of questioning and discussion reading is very helpful for training high school students' independent discovery, independent thinking, and classroom collaboration abilities.
Creativity is not only for the development of intelligence, it requires a person's ability to tolerate all kinds of new things, a gradual creation experience of knowledge, and a free environment for expression.
This is also the key reason why the American culture, which is considered by many people as "free and undisciplined" and "happy and stress-free", has continuously cultivated world-class talents. The seemingly "free-range" educational culture actually advocates freedom of thought rather than freedom of behavior, and is planned and regular.
In Pegasus, we adopt an open classroom, only teachers and classrooms are fixed, and students take corresponding courses according to their own choice of courses. The grading system for each subject is different, but at the beginning of each semester, the teacher will announce the rubric/grading method and composition of the semester (including homework, exams, quiz, paper, participation, etc.) to each student, and will not only refer to the middle and end of the semester Examination results, so it is more challenging for students' learning management), the entire academic experience and GPA management model are very similar to those of American universities. Through education in Pegasus, students can not only lay a solid foundation in academic knowledge, but also improve their learning Adapt in advance in terms of habits and patterns.
More diverse curriculum and more diverse evaluation systems, the core spirit of which pursues is the "creativity" of students. Under unrestricted conditions, students are guided to explore the possible connections between subjects, as well as the free discovery and unlimited creativity of the real world.
A person’s environment plays a vital role in the development of his creativity.
Therefore, an excellent international educator is not just a rote copy of foreign courses, or even the policy of all foreign teachers and English Only implemented by Qingdao Pegasus School, but also must have one of the most important qualities - a high degree of American culture understand and implement.
To achieve such "cultural freedom", schools often need courage and perseverance that ordinary people do not have. In Qingdao, Pegasus is the unique one.
It does not suppress any nature, and is not constrained by cultural barriers because it is in China. Instead, it restores the original American education culture, allowing children to break through the shackles and confinement of thoughts, to express themselves bravely and enthusiastically, and to have the freedom of self-choice and expression.
In Pegasus' view, the essence of education is to cherish the differences and uniqueness of each child. Learning is not to turn "different" into "same", but to make each unique one shines.
Since its establishment in 2016, Pegasus has achieved fruitful results in multi-national joint application. Among the five outstanding graduates trained, it has received more than 1,500 admission letters from prestigious schools, creating an excellent "record" of 100% being admitted to world-renowned schools.
800 offers from the world’s top 50 top schools, among which graduates from the United States won more than 700 offers from the top 50 top schools; students from the UK from Pegasus each received top 10 offers; graduates from Canada from Pegasus each received Guaranteed to be admitted to the University of Toronto, the number one university in Canada. Among them are UC Berkeley, UCLA, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, Imperial College London, University College London, University of Edinburgh, Nanyang Technological Institute , University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and other top 100 universities in the world.
At the same time, in the US news global world ranking, about 50% of the top 100 universities are American universities. Obviously, American education is more favored and recognized by the development of the times than other various educational models.
This makes us wonder, what is so special about the American education model? What enlightenment does it have for Chinese international students and prospective international students?
01
The curriculum of the United States is the cornerstone of higher education and academic ability in universities. Let us first look at the curriculum of American high schools. Take California, the largest state in the United States and the birthplace of world-renowned universities such as Stanford University, Caltech, and UC Berkeley, as an example. Seven categories of foreign languages, visual and expressive arts, and college preparation courses (this is also the curriculum system that Pegasus is using). A graduate of Pegasus once said, "Compared with the possession of knowledge, I enjoy the way Pegasus taught me to understand the world." Pegasus believes that we spend about 1/4 of our lives in school, not just for exams. This kind of curriculum setting can not only stimulate young people's interest and enthusiasm for learning, explore their own love, but also deepen their understanding of the linkage between various subjects and between subjects and reality, and enhance knowledge for other subjects, for significance for practical applications.As for the performance evaluation system, American high schools and universities place great emphasis on process-based learning. A student's final grade usually consists of several parts: class performance, midterm exam, and final exam, and class performance includes Presentation, Research Paper, Socratic Seminar, Group Project, etc., all of which require students to independently determine the topic. to explore knowledge without limitation.
【Socratic Seminar】
The core of the "Socratic Seminar" is to construct a dialogue for text discussion rather than a debate about right and wrong. Before the Socratic seminar, the teacher will distribute some reading materials and questions. The questions are usually dialectical, and there is no absolute right or wrong. The discussion among students and the ability of critical thinking are the focus of the assessment. Through cooperative discussions, new perspectives on text reading and a new understanding of the content of the article can be obtained. This kind of questioning and discussion reading is very helpful for training high school students' independent discovery, independent thinking, and classroom collaboration abilities.
02
Through the germination and growth of "creativity", we can see that all the settings of the American curriculum revolve around "creativity" instead of blindly suppressing nature and pursuing grades.Creativity is not only for the development of intelligence, it requires a person's ability to tolerate all kinds of new things, a gradual creation experience of knowledge, and a free environment for expression.
This is also the key reason why the American culture, which is considered by many people as "free and undisciplined" and "happy and stress-free", has continuously cultivated world-class talents. The seemingly "free-range" educational culture actually advocates freedom of thought rather than freedom of behavior, and is planned and regular.
In Pegasus, we adopt an open classroom, only teachers and classrooms are fixed, and students take corresponding courses according to their own choice of courses. The grading system for each subject is different, but at the beginning of each semester, the teacher will announce the rubric/grading method and composition of the semester (including homework, exams, quiz, paper, participation, etc.) to each student, and will not only refer to the middle and end of the semester Examination results, so it is more challenging for students' learning management), the entire academic experience and GPA management model are very similar to those of American universities. Through education in Pegasus, students can not only lay a solid foundation in academic knowledge, but also improve their learning Adapt in advance in terms of habits and patterns.
More diverse curriculum and more diverse evaluation systems, the core spirit of which pursues is the "creativity" of students. Under unrestricted conditions, students are guided to explore the possible connections between subjects, as well as the free discovery and unlimited creativity of the real world.
03
Winnicott mentioned "true American education" in the article "Creativity and Its Origin": "Creation can be a painting, a house, a garden, a dress, a hairstyle, a symphony or a sculpture, or any kind of food that you cook at home. The kind of creation I focus on is very ordinary, it is alive. The creativity we study is the individual's ability to process external reality. As long as there is good brain function and sufficient intelligence, it will enable the individual to survive and integrate into society. Everything that happens to the individual is concrete creativity, unless the individual is ill or feels interference from environmental factors, which hinders the individual's creative process.”A person’s environment plays a vital role in the development of his creativity.
Therefore, an excellent international educator is not just a rote copy of foreign courses, or even the policy of all foreign teachers and English Only implemented by Qingdao Pegasus School, but also must have one of the most important qualities - a high degree of American culture understand and implement.
To achieve such "cultural freedom", schools often need courage and perseverance that ordinary people do not have. In Qingdao, Pegasus is the unique one.
It does not suppress any nature, and is not constrained by cultural barriers because it is in China. Instead, it restores the original American education culture, allowing children to break through the shackles and confinement of thoughts, to express themselves bravely and enthusiastically, and to have the freedom of self-choice and expression.
In Pegasus' view, the essence of education is to cherish the differences and uniqueness of each child. Learning is not to turn "different" into "same", but to make each unique one shines.
Since its establishment in 2016, Pegasus has achieved fruitful results in multi-national joint application. Among the five outstanding graduates trained, it has received more than 1,500 admission letters from prestigious schools, creating an excellent "record" of 100% being admitted to world-renowned schools.
800 offers from the world’s top 50 top schools, among which graduates from the United States won more than 700 offers from the top 50 top schools; students from the UK from Pegasus each received top 10 offers; graduates from Canada from Pegasus each received Guaranteed to be admitted to the University of Toronto, the number one university in Canada. Among them are UC Berkeley, UCLA, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, Imperial College London, University College London, University of Edinburgh, Nanyang Technological Institute , University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and other top 100 universities in the world.