In the AI Era, What Abilities Can Your Child Truly Keep?

Many parents ask me: "Principal Lu, AI is developing so fast -- will the knowledge our children learn now become useless in the future?"

My answer is: if education only serves testing and filtering, children will never beat algorithms. At Cogdel, we give children the abilities that AI cannot take away.

First, judgement. In the Investors' Classroom, children learn to "not worship credentials, not blindly follow concepts," dismantling the simple underlying logic behind all flashy concepts. From "only chasing buzzwords" to "actively questioning the essence."

Second, empathy. Through drama, film festivals, and project collaboration, children learn to understand others' emotions and perspectives -- AI can generate text, but it cannot truly understand another person's feelings.

Third, responsibility. Through student council self-governance, community service, and Duke of Edinburgh Award programmes, children develop sensitivity to social issues and a sense of proactive responsibility.

At the curriculum level: primary school offers AI general education extension courses (teaching children to "harness AI" rather than be harnessed by it); middle school has 40% science lab ratio (hands-on exploration rather than rote textbook study); high school features the Investors' Classroom (not teaching stock trading, but teaching the thinking to see through to the essence).

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

The Essence of Education Is Seeing Every Child: Cogdel's "One Student, One Timetable" Practice

Our school's core principle is: serve students and keep our eyes on them.

"One Student, One Timetable" is Cogdel's core practice of personalised education. The school implements a departmentalised scheduling system -- classrooms are fixed by subject, and students move between classrooms for different classes.

A real example: a Grade 5 student whose English is at primary level, but physics, chemistry, and biology have reached middle school level. The school designed a cross-division personalised timetable -- English and humanities classes in the primary division, science classes crossing into the middle school for experiments and research. Technically this requires coordinating scheduling, classrooms, and teacher arrangements across divisions, but the school is willing to personalise matching for every child's needs.

This cross-age, cross-grade interaction also simulates real-world collaboration scenarios, developing social adaptability. In high school, this manifests as "21 A-Level free combinations + differentiated English instruction + 1+N mentor customisation."

True personalisation is not a slogan -- it shows up in every child's timetable.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

Cultivating Leaders Who Walk the World with Pride

Twenty years ago I studied here. Now, I am dedicating the next 30 years to cultivating at least 3,000 leaders who walk the world with pride.

Cogdel's definition of "leader-level talent" is not being class monitor or student council president. It is the ability to make judgements in complex situations, lead teams to solve problems, and create value.

The school builds its cultivation system around five core competencies: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Citizenship.

The curriculum is designed around these core competencies that such children need -- classrooms ask "what is your evidence?" rather than encouraging standard answers; STEM projects, art creation, and business plans encourage doing things with "no precedent"; cross-age, cross-discipline project-based learning teaches listening, compromise, and leadership within real teams.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

From Tsinghua to Cogdel: A Principal's 30-Year Education Dream

Many parents ask me: "Principal Lu, why did you switch from investing to education?"

I studied in Anren Ancient Town 20 years ago, where the seed of education was planted in my heart on this very land. After graduating from Tsinghua University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, I spent years as a technology investor. But education was always my deepest calling.

As an investor, I met countless outstanding entrepreneurs and founders. I discovered that what truly made them successful was not exam scores, but judgement, empathy, and responsibility. These abilities are precisely what traditional education systems find hardest to cultivate.

So when I decided to return to education, I designed Cogdel around three pain points: breaking the single assessment system, connecting school with society, and making soft skills development scientific rather than mystical.

Using engineering logic to design future-ready education. This is my 30-year education dream.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

True Passion Grows Through Safe Trial and Error

Ultimately, life returns to what you truly love. Everyone agrees: only by doing what you truly love can you produce unexpected results.

Principal Lu has developed a complete methodology for "discovering and cultivating passion":

First, observe three signals -- 1) Flow state (enjoying the process more than the outcome); 2) Willingness to persist despite repeated failures; 3) Proactive desire to invest more time and energy, without needing to be pushed.

Then cultivate the soil for passion through three steps -- 1) Let children try more (providing diverse platforms and opportunities to practise and experience, discovering what they are good at through "doing"); 2) Create safe environments (spaces like the Innovation Hub where children can mess up without consequence -- without safety there is no real exploration); 3) Connect learning with the real world (startup coffee shops, maker spaces, and other practical settings where children solve real problems, developing a sense of achievement and agency that gives rise to genuine passion).

True passion is not found -- it grows through safe trial and error.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

The Investors' Classroom: Not Teaching Children to Trade Stocks, But to Understand the World's Underlying Logic

Someone asked me: "Principal Lu, why do you offer an investment course at Cogdel? Are you trying to teach children to trade stocks?"

No. This course does not teach stock trading -- it teaches the thinking to see through to the essence.

In the Investors' Classroom, children learn to "not worship credentials, not blindly follow concepts," dismantling the simple underlying logic behind all flashy concepts. From "only chasing buzzwords" to "actively questioning the essence."

For example, when a child says "I want to do AI," the Investors' Classroom guides them to think: What is the essence of AI? What problem does it solve? What is its business model? Who pays for it?

This way of thinking, regardless of what industry the child enters in the future, will help them see deeper and think further than others.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

English Is a Tool, Not a Subject

For international school students, the ability to communicate and learn in multiple languages should be a natural expectation for all parents. But we need concrete measures to make this happen.

At Cogdel, English is not a "subject" -- it is a "tool." We do not teach children to "learn English" -- we teach them to "learn through English."

Specific approaches: cross-grade differentiated instruction in primary school, foreign and Chinese teachers collaborating on lesson planning and delivery, immersive bilingual environment, KET highest level achieved by Grade 5. Middle school adopts the European CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach, strengthening academic English, with PET achieved by Grade 8. High school features custom IELTS courses with specialist language instructors, allowing students to complete standardised English test preparation on campus.

At the same time, the school offers second foreign languages including French and Japanese, enabling children to naturally acquire language skills in a multilingual environment.

The key to English progression is not "memorising vocabulary and doing grammar exercises" -- it is "using the language in real-world contexts."

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

Five Core Competencies for "Leader-Level" Children

We aim to cultivate children with "leader-level" abilities, and the curriculum is designed around the core competencies such children need.

Critical Thinking -- Classrooms ask "what is your evidence?" rather than encouraging standard answers. Teaching children to think independently rather than passively accept.

Creativity -- STEM projects, art creation, and business plans encourage doing things with "no precedent." At Cogdel, "failure" is not a dirty word -- it is part of the learning process.

Collaboration -- Cross-age, cross-discipline project-based learning teaches listening, compromise, and leadership within real teams. Leadership is not "I'm in charge" -- it is "we achieve this together."

Communication -- Bilingual expression is the foundation; what matters more is the ability to articulate viewpoints clearly and tell your own story to a culturally diverse audience.

Citizenship -- Rooted in China,p the world, becoming global citizens who care about social issues and are willing to take on responsibility.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu

Starting University Planning in Grade 6 -- Too Early?

Many parents wonder: is it too early to start university planning and career exploration in Grade 6?

My answer is: it is not too early. But the key is that we are not asking children to "decide their future" in Grade 6 -- we are helping them start "knowing themselves."

Specific approaches: Grade 6 initiates subject exploration, personal assessment, and career exploration. Through real company visits and STEM institution placements, children discover what they love and what they are good at through "doing," while also understanding what the world needs.

This is not "racing ahead" -- it is giving children more time to explore, make mistakes, and discover. Waiting until the final year of high school to think about "what major should I study" is often already too late.

Cogdel's university planning is a "through-train" programme from Grade 6 to graduation, not a last-minute push. The happiest career choices lie at the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, and what the world needs.

-- Amy Lu, Principal of Cogdel School Chengdu