Worldwide Locations
Worldwide Locations
China Calling: Why Education Leaders Should Go
When American school officials go to China, it can result not only in a transformative personal and professional experience, but also in greater vision and support for global learning and student achievement. Whether China is viewed as a competitor or partner, today’s schools recognize that they need to prepare U.S. students for this emerging power. As a result, every year hundreds of American teachers and students cross the Pacific to engage China themselves. But all too often school administrators, board members, superintendents, and state educational officials remain behind, reading, hearing, and learning about China’s 5,000 years of history and rapid modernization, but not coming into direct contact with it themselves. Why should they put their many obligations at school and office on hold to embark for China?
To journey to China “goes beyond invigorating language, history, or
cultural study: it is a way to internationalize their curriculum. It
is, essentially, the way of beginning the globalization of our
schools,” contends Daniel W. Gregg, a long-time director of the Connecticut
Shandong School Partnerships of the Connecticut State Department of
Education. Gregg reflects, “In sixth graders you see a gigantic leap in
students’ knowledge base. The exchange is the only thing I have
personally experienced where you can take adults to China and you see
that same leap.”
According to Dr. Juefei Wang,
Program Director of the Freeman Foundation, and Founder and Former
Director of the Asian Studies Outreach Program (ASOP) at the University
of Vermont, school administrators who participate in an exchange with
China are more likely to encourage teachers in their school or district
to go to China, and are also more apt to become strong advocates for
instituting Asian Studies curriculum in their schools. Over his
fourteen years of organizing and facilitating exchanges for school
administrators and officials, Wang has come to believe that two
elements are essential to deepened understanding. One is “personal
experience:” taking in the sights, sounds, and even smells of China
oneself. The second is “physical appearance:” the act of showing up in
a different school or locale and making an impact upon the people in
that community.
This kind of materialization is as remarkable as the intensely
eye-opening revelation of encountering a new place and a culture. For
this reason, school officials should consider two-way exchanges,
inviting officials, principals, and teachers to come from China and
spend time in schools with American educators and students. In addition
to affording many opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and for
commiserating on common challenges in education, seeing schools through
a visitor’s eyes draws U.S. practices into sharper relief. Chinese
visitors may be intrigued to see the use of tables or desks that are
easily moved to different configurations, and may also express
admiration for the U.S. commitment to special education programs. In
Gregg’s view, Chinese educators come to examine specific aspects of
American education such as American teaching methods, but when they
arrive, they become curious about the overarching educational system.
Meanwhile, U.S. educators are often astonished at the depth of parental
confidence in and esteem for teachers and administrators in China. They
are sometimes surprised to find that Chinese urban schools are so
well-funded and have state-of-the-art facilities, surpassing many
schools the United States; and they may be equally startled to see the
rudimentary facilities of rural schools. In fact, this dichotomy
between urban and rural is the most pervasive chasm in Chinese life
today, and Wang advises officials to endeavor to see both city and
village schools during their stay.
In the end, both the Chinese and English languages agree that 眼见为实 or “seeing is believing.” Wang remembers bringing a group of
educators to China, “Their jaws just dropped when they walked out of
the terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport. This was after
two days of introduction to China including videos, slides, and
presentations. The people looked so surprised to see it with their own
eyes, to smell the air.” Ultimately, Wang concludes, “they come to
learn about China, and they end up learning from China.”
Author: Heather Clydesdale
Post new comment