Reimagining education for tomorrow's China

Founded in 2007 by the Pao family to commemorate the late shipping magnate YK Pao, YK Pao School is a trailblazer in China's education industry. With its seamless marriage of Chinese and Western pedagogies, YK Pao School is among China's most internationally oriented Chinese schools.

Ensuring Chinese education keeps up with the timesAt the time of Pao School's founding 12 years ago, the Pao family sought to diversify China's educational space. The family observed that while China had a high standard of education, there were not a wide variety of pedagogies being used in Chinese schools. In order for China to fully modernize, its educational model should be broadened, the Pao family believed. Thus, the founders of Pao School set out to enhance China's education with innovative pedagogies and other ideas. YK Pao School's mission was tripartite: It would seek to holistically develop students ("whole-person" education rather than a singular focus on academics), pass on traditions of Chinese culture and foster an international perspective.

Philip Sohmen, one of the founders of Pao School, is the grandson of YK Pao. Born in Hong Kong to a Hong Kong Chinese mother and Austrian father, he is familiar with Chinese culture from a young age. At the age of 8, he went to the United Kingdom to study, first at Eton College and then at the University of Oxford. He did his graduate studies at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. A recipient of prestigious scholarships, president of the student council and captain of the swimming team, Philip Sohmen has an illustrious educational record. Coming from both the Chinese and Western worlds, Philip Sohmen was in a unique position to develop an educational model that would be rooted in China yet globally oriented.

Teaching Chinese course content from a global perspectiveYK Pao School genuinely integrates Chinese and Western pedagogies, rather than simply adding international courses to the local curriculum. The school uses the “Shanghai+” curriculum, which takes curriculum of Shanghai local schools as its foundation while including the best aspects of leading global curricula.

As an example, Philip Sohmen points out that Pao School teaches an exploratory course from the Shanghai curriculum in an innovative way rather than focusing on basic knowledge. In this course, water is considered as a unit that includes content about natural science, geography and historical development. In this manner, students develop a comprehensive understanding of water through an interdisciplinary teaching approach.

With that in mind, at Pao School, it is not easy to divide the teaching content of Chinese and international teachers according to the subject. Instead, Chinese and international teachers prepare integrated lessons so that the learning experience of students is bilingual and immersive.

Philip Sohmen hopes that Pao School inspires students to pursue knowledge and love learning. One important aspect of a Pao School education is the school's boarding system, which Philip Sohmen knows well from his childhood years when he boarded in England. In his view, boarding life allows students to manage their time better than if they live at home with their parents. As boarders, students are constantly learning - in the classroom, during exercise and during their free time. It is up to students to learn how to properly manage their time when they board. Philip Sohmen believes that the independence and time management skills students cultivate as boarders may be even more important than specific knowledge they learn in the classroom.

Parents should stay focused on the long termSpeaking frankly, Philip Sohmen points out that the social media era has intensified competition among students, and this involves their parents too. With so much information being posted on social media, parents can easily feel overwhelmed, and even feel that their child is performing worse than others. Philip Sohmen advises parents to not spend too much time worrying about what other people's kids are doing, and what other parents on social media are posting. In his view, parents should focus on providing the best education for their children, from elementary school to middle school and beyond. In this manner, parents can help their children lead happy, healthy, and fruitful lives.

In recent years, Philip Sohmen has observed many young graduates of prestigious schools working in prestigious companies, who ostensibly should be happy, yet in reality, lead directionless lives. Why are they confused? Perhaps it is because they never had the opportunity to figure out for themselves what they really wanted from life. Thus, in Philip Sohmen's view, it is important for children to develop their personal interests, independent of academic interests, because hobbies give kids a productive outlet for their energy. Hobbies allow kids to do something for themselves; they're a different way to learn than being assigned to do something in a classroom.

If you take the time to talk with Pao students, you will find that they are mature and confident, think a lot about their future, and are enthusiastic about participating in various sports activities and other extracurriculars. They lead full lives.

Philip Sohmen recalls one Pao graduate who is now in university who left a deep impression on him. When they met recently, she told him she is writing a biography about medical luminary, even though she is not studying medicine; in fact, she is studying humanities. She's writing this biography purely because she wants to learn something new through the process. When she told him that, Philip Sohmen was very happy. He has observed that in today's world students all to often focus primarily on getting high test scores and creating the perfect resume - the ticket to a good job. But it's important that students have time to cultivate their personal interests too, and that's what Philip Sohmen hopes for.

Some parents have expressed concern that Pao School is not sufficiently strict with students. Might that not lead to the students becoming arrogant? In fact, the opposite holds true for Pao School. An education at Pao School is successful when parents learn to let go and provide students with some autonomy while having confidence in the school's system. In this manner, their children develop an identity of their own, learn to make their own decisions, think in an independent way, and proactively pursue their dreams.

You fall down so you can get back up againPhilip Sohmen has a great deal of experience as an athlete, having played professional sports in Hong Kong and served as captain of the swimming team at Oxford. Given the positive impact that sports have had on his life, at Pao School he hopes to instill a passion and appreciation for athletics. He points out how students can learn from participating in sports. On the one hand, it's necessary for sports to set clear goals, and understand how to achieve the results one wants. Secondly, sporting matches have winners and losers. Learning how to lose graciously is part of the experience, as is reflecting on failure and the steps needed to move forward. At the same time, during this process in team sports, kids develop important teamwork skills that are essential for their growth.

Athletics are an important part of the Pao School experience. Some parents worry that two hours of athletic training daily will have an adverse effect on students' academic performance, yet they inevitably find that students actually earn even higher grades when they're involved in sports. The reason is simple: In sports, students learn self-discipline and how to get results.

Pao School has an outdoor sports club run by parents that organize cycling and hiking on weekends or holidays. Parents serve as trusted guides in this club. In the club, kids have the chance to undertake all kinds of exciting athletic challenges, and they find that their abilities far exceed what they expect. Most 12 or 13-year-olds would think that riding a 1,000 km on a bike would be near impossible, but our Pao students have done it.

Philip Sohmen hopes to create an inclusive atmosphere. He hopes that students will learn to reflect after making mistakes, understand the difference between right and wrong, and continuously move forward.

Pao School has a high-performing computer science student. Once, during his junior high school years, he hacked into the school's intranet. Some teachers, after discovering this act of mischief, suggested that the school expel the student. Ultimately, however, the school decided that he should learn to put his talents to good use, and helped him cultivate his formidable programming skills. As it turned out, Pao School made the right decision: This student won one of the top awards in Intel's international technology competition.

Focus on your future, not your family backgroundAt private schools, most students tend to be better off than the average person. Some families who send their children to private school are very rich indeed. As the third generation of a family with a large fortune, Philip Sohmen understands this situation well. Family education is integral to ensuring that children from wealthy backgrounds turn out well, he believes.

Philip Sohmen comes from a family of considerable means which has always valued humility, diligence and frugality. Thus, he cannot condone flagrant displays of wealth - something all too common in China today. Indeed, he has observed Chinese students at a young age spend money carelessly, sometimes even driving expensive cars and living in luxury homes. He points out that spoiling children in this way fails to mould their character well. Students must suffer setbacks and hardship - not live a pampered existence - so that as adults they are able to handle unpredictable situations and lead successful lives, he believes.

A student at Pao School explains how he views this situation, and Philip Sohmen hopes that all Pao students will keep this in mind. "You shouldn't worry about being better than your parents. The only person you are competing with is yourself. If you can continuously improve, you can have a brighter future."