From School Leadership to Student Exchange: Exploring New Opportunities with Beijing National Day School
Beijing National Day School is one of China’s largest and most internationally oriented schools. Founded in 1952, the school now has over 5,000 students and offers 327 subjects ranging from science and engineering to languages, arts, and technology. BNDS collaborates with over 40 schools in various countries and regions.
School development is one of the Institute of Education's main areas of interest. Marina Tsatrian from the Laboratory for School Administration introduced the Laboratory’s work and discussed possible areas for further cooperation. The BNDS team shared their experience of supporting schools facing educational challenges by assigning them experienced school heads, which prompted a discussion about how approaches to school management can vary across different educational contexts.
The delegation expressed a particular interest in HSE’s Master's programme in Educational Administration, as well as in the preparation of education professionals in Russia. Given the overlap between these topics and the Laboratory’s work, Svetlana Zhuchkova, Academic Director of the HSE Doctoral School of Education, suggested a dedicated meeting to continue the conversation.
Student opportunities were another topic of discussion. HSE invited BNDS students to join HSE students on a short-term study programme, and the Chinese school expressed interest in providing its graduates with the opportunity to study at HSE.
The Institute of Education also facilitated contact between the delegation and the HSE Lyceum, where students from the Oriental Studies programme welcomed the guests and introduced them to the Lyceum’s educational and research activities. The students shared projects based on field research conducted in Russia and abroad, giving the delegation a glimpse into how research forms part of the educational experience of HSE students.
We thank our colleagues from the Beijing National Day School for a productive and engaging meeting, and we look forward to continuing our conversations. Our gratitude also goes to the HSE Lyceum and its students for their warm welcome, which made the visit a memorable part of the delegation’s time at HSE!
