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Bridging Culture Gaps

Q: What is BZIS's language orientation?
A:Our overall teaching concept, curriculum and textbooks are all imported from California, but we have made adjustments necessary in Beijing. English is the common language, and all courses are taught in this. But we also offer lessons of Chinese language.

Q: The fact that your students are from many foreign countries means they inevitably confront numerous cultures. Is there a danger of them losing their own cultural identities?
A:Culture is closely connected with living environment and geography. Generally, students at international schools often travel trans-countries and trans-continents, so their lives have a continuos changing rhythm. As a result, their cultural identity is very different from students who constantly live in one place. They have a stronger family identity than the latter because they are confronted with various cultures. Their concept of ancestry and history may be weaker than their counterparts' but they have a special identity, albeit an unconventional one.

Q: Some schools confine their recruitment of students to a single country. What are the advantages and disadvantages offered by BZIS in comparison?
A: Such schools employ teachers from the individual country concerned, and create an environment very similar to what the children would know in their homeland. Indeed, these schools could be regarded as extensions of the 'home' country's local schools. When students from such schools return to their home, they experience no particular problems.
Students at BZIS may not possess such an advantage, but they are cultivated to face the world, especially in English-speaking countries. They are mature, and adaptable to the various cultures they find themselves in. In this sense, they have more choices in their future careers.

Q: What are the main features of your teaching resources?
A: Because of our American teaching model, our teachers come mainly from the United States. Others are recruited from Britain, Canada and other English-speaking countries. They all possess teaching licenses from their home countries. We are still enrolling excellent teachers worldwide.

Q: Do you often communicate with other local schools and students?
A: We have organized our students to visit other schools, and vice versa. This two-way communication often comes from family activities. Our school is just starting up, and for the present we can not devote too much time and energy to this area.