Choosing between the British and the American Curriculum

One of the big challenges facing expat parents coming to China is the choice of school. There are many schools operating different styles of education in Shanghai but the biggest difference is that facing parents between the American and the British curriculum. Teachers and school leaders are often asked which is the best but it is really a question of what the difference is between the two systems.

Dr Terry Creissen OBE, Principal of The British International School in Pudong, Shanghai clearly believes that ‘British is Best’. He espouses this at every opportunity and is proud of the high academic standards and the care that is shown to pupils at the Pudong School. A product of the English state education system, Dr Creissen then spent many years working in the UK as a teacher and then as Principal of a successful school in Essex, near London. On moving to Shanghai, he was determined to bring the best of British to this international school and ensure that the features of the best schools in the UK were implanted into China.

The American model is potentially an excellent system, in just the same way the old French Highway code system (a version of which is used in China) has potential and is an excellent driving system. If everyone meets the criteria at all levels, it allows a great deal of flexibility in courses that can be chosen and allows schools to develop individual courses that align with the specialism of the teachers they have on staff.

This is because the American system utilises the idea that school districts can choose the courses that will be offered to students in their schools. Although all schools offer broadly the same range of compulsory subjects, the choice of electives varies dramatically based on ideology, religious denomination and in most cases funding/resourcing issues. For example, you can’t offer a Band elective if you only have a voice teacher or no money to buy adequate instruments, so you can potentially just ignore the course and not offer it.

Another issue that arises from so many potential curricula is the ability to access specialist approved resources. This is particularly difficult with sensitive subjects like history, religion and biology, where there is huge variance and debate across the US at this time. The UK, although smaller, has one curriculum, which means that all resources produced in the UK will meet the needs of the students in that course. The teachers can choose the one they feel is the best, rather than the one which applies to the course curriculum set by the state. The layered approach of the British system also means that in the unlikely event that you don’t get taught a topic this year you will meet it again next year and the year after. So you will be able to catch up then in bits rather than in one huge, stressful block.

Possibly the most important consideration though is standardisation. Who monitors the progress of the teachers and who decides whether the students are at a particular level, especially if the course is a small course that only has one teacher in the school? Can a principal be conversant in all areas of all courses taught in the school? In a K-12 school this would need an exceptional individual. In the UK this is simply addressed by having fixed standards for each subject which are externally moderated. The lack of consistency and rigour has led to the need for the SAT examinations and the ‘No Child left Behind Act’ in the US. To get around this issue many US schools have adopted the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes to guarantee at least a degree of rigour.

Finally, there is a misconception that to go to a US university you need an American secondary education. The reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. US universities all accept the IB and in many cases prefer it to any other qualification because of the guaranteed standards and flexibility of the students who have the diploma. As international parents, their problems with a US-based education are compounded with potentially missing units and the need to coordinate a GPA score that may have been generated at three different schools of three different qualities.

In England, there is one National Curriculum, modelled on sound educational research into how children learn. The investment by the UK government into improving the effectiveness of UK schools has led to a high level of skill and understanding of the best way to allow children to grow and excel in their learning at school. A key feature of this is the fact that there is regular assessment of children’s progress against a set of benchmarks, individually tailored to the child’s needs and abilities. At The British International School, Pudong, these are regularly communicated to parents as baseline and golden targets. Baseline targets are the level which the children are expected to achieve if they follow the instructions of the teachers and do their homework. Golden targets are higher targets to encourage children to extend their learning beyond the direction of the teacher.

“We give children the opportunity to become self-learners, to research beyond the textbooks available in the classroom and to seek for themselves further understanding of the areas being covered in school. This makes them self-motivated learners for life”, boasts Dr Creissen. The results at the school over the past 2 years clearly demonstrate that this strategy is working.

Some of the highest results at IGCSE, when children are aged 16, and a 100% pass rate with the International Baccalaureate last summer, indicate that this is indeed the case. The school in Pudong is non selective, taking children of all abilities and providing a learning experience fit to their individual needs. Setting by ability in Maths and English starts at an early stage in the Primary school and continues through the secondary curriculum. This allows children to work at a level suited to their own needs. It is a flexible system that enables children to excel in their strengths and be given greater support in their areas of weakness.

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