Exchanges-Newsletter_Spring-2011

Spring 2011

EXCHANGES The CEI Newsletter

Updates from The China Exchange Initiative

In this issue: •

Updates from the China Exchange Initiative

•

Review of China Trip 2011.

•

2011-2012 ASP Participant List

•

Participant Feedback

•

Class of 2011 Participants in the Press

•

CEI Around Town

•

Value of ASP Examined in PhD Thesis

•

Alumni Updates

Greetings from the China Exchange Initiative! We’ve just finished recruitment of our U.S.-China Administrator Shadowing Project (ASP) Class of 2012. This year we’ll have another diverse group of participants, with administrators hailing from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. We are currently in the process of matching them with like-minded educators from Anhui, Hebei, Hubei and Heilongjiang provinces.

Preparation for next year’s program has already begun.

On May 26, we met with the Wisconsin group – along with that state’s doyen of international education, Gerhard Fischer – for orientation in Madison. During our trip, we also reunited with eight members of the Wisconsin ASP Class of 2010 to reminisce and share ideas. On June 20 we will meet with next year’s crop of eight New England participants at the Union Club in Boston, with orientation for other states to follow in September.

In late March, CEI attended the Association for Asia Studies Conference in Honolulu, where we met with representatives from the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA) to discuss the prospect of expanding the Shadowing Project into the South. Also in March, Yu Yougen, our partner at the China Education Association for International Exchange led a delegation of past ASP participants to Washington, D.C. to attend the second annual U.S.-China Consultation on People-toPeople Exchange, co-chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong.

In April we received approval from Framingham State University (MA) to begin offering 3 graduate credits for a course related to participation in the Shadowing Project.

Review of China Trip 2011 The 2010-2012 U.S.-China Administrator Shadowing Project wrapped up on April 24, with program participants departing, homeward bound, from Shanghai. The ASP Class of 2011 included administrators from Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania. This year we initiated a pilot Shadowing Project with the Hubei Department of Education and the state of Pennsylvania. On balance, it was a tremendous success. Our Hebei partners went out of their way to attend to the needs of our delegation of eight Pennsylvania administrators, from ensuring an ample supply of Tsingtao after a long, hot day on the Wall to chaperoning outings to the Pearl Market. Despite our vigorous remonstrations, Hebei organizers spoiled participants with single rooms, and made every meal a banquet. After spending two days in Beijing, the Pennsylvania delegation visited Shijianzhuang for two days, from whence they dispersed for Shadowing. The main ASP delegation met on April 11, with some coming from Richard Wang’s gentle ministrations in Xian and some arriving, jetlagged and uninitiated, from the U.S. There was excellent chemistry among this year’s group, with participants from New England, Ohio, and Indiana immediately hit it off. In between professional development activities at the Ministry of Education and Beijing Normal University, the The Pennsylvania delegation in Beijing group bonded over Peking duck, spicy Sichuan dishes, authentic Kung Pao Chicken and hutong homecooking. Highlights included singing a discordant, but heartfelt, version of “Country Road” after dinner in a siheyuan (Jim Eibel’s fine idea), receiving one-on-one guided tours of the National Day School from the brilliant students there, learning about the tribulations – and triumphs – of the Longhai School in Daxing, being regaled with the tale of John Shea’s epic flight from the Forbidden City, and witnessing Scott Mills’ first-ever trip on a subway system. Claire Zhang made her debut as a Shadowing Project organizer. After losing Shea, she rallied and ultimately endeared herself with every member of the group. She excelled at ordering Chinese food congenial to the American pallet, and single-handedly carried Bill Young up the difficult portions of the Great Wall, where his resolve occasionally failed him.

Claire will accompany the Chinese ASP delegation to the U.S. in October. On April 22, participants arrived in Shanghai teeming with stories of cross-cultural adventure. Daryl Markley reminded us at the debriefing that crusty exteriors sometimes conceal tender, vulnerable parts within. Ed Bouquillon openly reflected on whether he might have missed his calling as an actor in Chinese provincial investment commercials.

Beth Lambi’s story brought the group, still exhilarated from Shadowing, down to earth, reminding everyone that though Chinese generosity is the rule, sometimes frictions Bill Young, aided by Claire Zhang, scaling the Great Wall and misunderstandings do occur in cross-cultural encounters.

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2010-2012 U.S.-CHINA ASP PARTICIPANTS Indiana Scott Mills, Superintendent

Northern Wells Community Schools, Ossian, IN

New England Ed Bouquillon, Superintendent/Director

Minuteman Regional School, Lexington, MA

Ted Hall, Principal

Yarmouth High School

Jim Quaglia, Superintendent/Principal

Blue Hills Regional Technical School, Canton, MA

Diana Robbins, Career & Tech Director

Newton North High School, Newton, MA

Ted Sharp, Superintendent

Gorham Public Schools, Gorham, ME

John Shea, Project Director/Principal

Rochester School’s Big Step Forward, Rochester, NH

Donna Sroka, Technology Coordinator

Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, Northampton, MA

Ohio Brad Chamberlain, Assistant Principal for Academics

Turpin High School, Cincinnati, OH

Tim Cybulski, Principal

Bridgetown Middle School, Cincinnati, OH

Jim Eibel, Principal

Prospect Elementary, Oberlin, OH

Kirk Hamilton, Executive Director

Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Columbus, OH

Katie Klei, Principal

Primary North School, Greenhills, OH

Louise Mason, Principal

Girard Junior High School, Girard, OH

Bernadette Pachmayer, Superintendent

Knox County Career Center, Mt. Vernon, OH

Lester Pierson, Principal

Rossford Junior High, Rossford, OH

Steve Ramos, Principal

Heritage Middle School, Painesville, OH

Susan Rauch, Principal

Fort Frye High School, Beverly OH

Bill Young, Principal

United Local Jr. & Sr. High School, Hanoverton, OH

Pennsylvania Leah Christman, Assistant Superintendent

Southern Lehigh School District, Center Valley, PA

Thomas Fleming, Jr., Superintendent

Richland School District, Johnstown, PA

Elizabeth Lambi, Director of Curriculum & Staff Development

Conrad Weiser Area School District, Robesonia, PA

Kenneth Lockette, Principal

Avonworth High School, Pittsburgh, PA

Darrell Markley, Principal

Oley Valley High School, Oley, PA

Karen Nell, Assistant Principal

Manheim Township High School, Lancaster, PA

Jace Palmer, Assistant Principal

Upper St. Clair High School, Upper St. Clair, PA

Michelle Saylor, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development

Wilson School District, West Lawn, PA

Connie Skipper, Program Administrator

Office of Professional Development and Curriculum, Berks County Intermediate Unit, Reading, PA

Diana Wood, Enrichment & Outreach Coordinator

National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA)

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Participant Feedback This was absolutely the most valuable educational experience of my 32-year career! I learned so much about Chinese culture, the Chinese educational system, and most importantly the amazing students and educators in the schools we visited. I have made new friends – both near and far – who I will treasure forever.

-- Leah Christman, Assistant Superintendent, Southern Lehigh School District, Center Valley, PA It is difficult to put into words how the experience has impacted me both personally and professionally.

I was touched by the sincere outpouring of hospitality extended to me and my American colleagues. I was enthralled by the beauty of the Chinese people and their unique culture. Yet, I have come to realize that kids and teachers are the same, even half a world apart. Although we each have the ability to bridge the cultural and communication gaps between us through the use of technology, the best way to foster lasting relationships is through face-to-face encounters such as those provided by this program.

-- Thomas P. Fleming, Jr., Superintendent, Richland School District, PA The China exchange experience was truly a life changing experience. It allowed me to grow in knowledge, perspective and understanding of the Chinese culture and education system. Each day provided wonderful experiences that were both enjoyable and enlightening. At this point in my career I have had many professional development experiences, but none as impactful as this.

-- Kirk Hamilton, Executive Director of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), Columbus, OH This trip was a life changing experience that I will never forget. My daily interactions with the Chinese school students was overwhelming and emotionally gratifying.

-- Darrell Markley, Principal, Oley Valley High School, Oley, PA This was a life-changing experience for me. The friendships that I developed on both personal and professional levels will never be lost. I look forward to the continued relationship with my partner school in China and the exchange of ideas, students, and faculty that will surely develop from this opportunity.

-- Jace Palmer, Assistant Principal, Upper St. Clair High School, Upper St. Clair, PA The exchange experience was probably the single most rewarding professional experience of my life.

The reason is that it was primarily concerned with education in China and the comparative differences with the U.S.A. However, the experience was crafted within a deep cultural context that led to a profound personal breakthrough in understanding of both our similarities and differences – not to mention genuine friendship. The collegial interactions were awesome and very much underscored and validated my personal experiences.

-- Jim Quaglia, Superintendent, Blue Hills Regional Technical School, Canton, MA This has been the most meaningful experience next to my marriage and the birth of my children.

-- Steven Ramos, Principal, Heritage Middle School, Painesville, OH

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Class of 2011 Participants in the Press On the plane home from China, John Shea wrote two articles that were later published in the May 8 edition of Foster’s Sunday Citizen. In China, John’s quiet personality became, after his infamous flight from the Forbidden City, the stuff of proverbs. Yet he was tremendously effusive in these two articles. He wrote of how deeply impressed he was by the spirit of the students and educators at the Longhai School, in his words, their “culture of high expectations, deep commitment to the importance of education, and disciplined work ethic.” Shea contrasts the American and Chinese systems of education, praising Chinese dynamism, regretting their students’ lack of creativity, while keeping things in proper perspective: “the American system is not fundamentally very different from the Chinese system.” He ends his second article on a positive note, suggesting that the U.S. and China need not be strategic competitors. Rather, improved education in one country is good for both, as a more Enlightened citizenry – leavened with a pinch of love – will make the world a better, safer, freer place. Jim Quaglia was the focus of a piece in the May 10th Patriot Ledger. The article cites many of Jim’s impressions from the trip, including Chinese interest in vocational education in the U.S., the importance of humility in cross-cultural relationships, the role played by population in determining many of the features of Chinese society, and the surprising prominence of Western culture in China. Jim also spoke about the value of the trip on a personal level, as a means to rejuvenate the spirit and fire old passions. Bill Young was featured in the May 15th edition of Salem News.

The article cited his observations made while participating in the program, often recorded in his now-famous John Shea (L) and Ted Hall black moleskin notebook. These included the tremendous disparity in quality between schools in China, China’s over-reliance on standardized tests, and the comparative lack of discipline problems in Chinese schools.

The article also mentions Bill’s belief that both Chinese and American education systems have something to learn from the other. Inspired by his trip, Bill plans to expand the Chinese language program at his school, and initiate a pen-pals program for students in his and his counterpart’s schools. Leah Christman’s participation in the 2010-2011 U.S.China Principal Shadowing Program was covered in the April edition of the Laconian Online. In her interview for the piece, Leah highlights the value of being required to read Peter Hessler’s books on China – an innovation of local coordinator Diana Wood – prior to the China trip. Leah hopes to set up a student exchange program with her partner school.

Louise Mason, principal of Gerard Junior High (OH), made copy at vindy.com, in a June 4 article entitled “Principal Immersed Herself in Chinese Culture.” Mason was one of the more inquisitive members of the delegation, and her interview for the piece shows just how much she absorbed from the experience!

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CEI Around Town On March 12, CEI attended the Newton-Jingshan Exchange Program Gala Reunion. Special guest Kerry Brogan – an American actress working in the Chinese film industry and an alumna of the Newton-Beijing Jingshan School Exchange Program – helped raise money to support the program, which is the longest-running precollegiate Sino-American exchange program in America and China. On May 7, CEI attended the 19th Annual New England Chinese Language Teacher Network Conference, hosted by the China Program Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston in conjunction with the Confucius Institute of UMass Boston. This annual event enables Chinese teachers in Massachusetts to connect, commiserate, and exchange ideas, while gaining useful insights on teaching methodology from experts in the field. The China Program Center Director, Dr. Wanli Hu (wanli.hu@umb.edu), is a great resource for U.S. schools seeking advice and resources to build Chinese language programs. He has created a clearinghouse for Chinese language teaching jobs and job seekers. On May 10, CEI hosted the spring meeting of GEM – Global Education Massachusetts – at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. Verity Norman delivered a presentation based on work done by her mentor, Dr. Jacqueline Mosselson, on cross-cultural learning. Japanese Consul General Hikihara attended, following up Norman’s presentation with a synthesis of his reflections on this topic.

On May 17, CEI attended a lecture entitled “China on the World Stage: What it Means for U.S. Policy, Business, and K-12 Education” held at the Union Club of Boston. Hosted by Primary Source and the China-United States Exchange Foundation, the event featured a talk by MIT professor Edward Steinfeld on big questions surrounding China’ rise and a panel discussion including Newton-Jingshan Exchange Program Chair Donna Fong. On June 4 and 5, CEI attended a conference at the Yenching Institute of Harvard University, “Creative Forms of Public Participation in China: From Everyday Politics to Media Agendas,” which sought to probe whether or not China’s economic development has led to a concomitant emergence of a civil society. On June 19, CEI will participate in an “Americans in China” panel discussion hosted by the Malden-based Chinese Culture Connection.

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Value of ASP Examined in Ph.D. Thesis Ms. Shelley Tinkham (now Dr.), a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, recently completed her Ph.D. thesis, which relied heavily on data collected from our Administrator Shadowing Project. Her study, entitled “The Value of Getting Out: The Impact of School Leaders’ International Experiences,” comprised pre-program and post-program surveys, interviews, observations and statistical analysis. She observed the program in Boston in November 2009 and in Beijing in April in 2010, each for one week, and also observed shadowing in schools in the Boston area for one week, and in China in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hefei for another week. She conducted interviews with the participants upon their return from China in May and June 2010. Dr. Tinkham documents transformational learning, a process by which individuals’ perspectives change and become more inclusive, the movement of ASP participants from initial introduction and “disorientation” of the program, from denial and defense on one end of a continuum to adaptation, and acceptance and action clustered at the other end of the continuum.” She observed, “Having time away from their responsibilities, the participants were allowed the space, both mentally and physically, to reflect critically on what they were observing, and the awareness that what they were observing was in fact, real. Throughout their time in China, participants talked passionately about their thoughts and experience, engaging with one another, with the CEI program administrator[s], with their Chinese hosts, and even with me.

These interactions were informal and would take place at dinner and on the bus during the first week of [the program] in Beijing.

They kept journals and read books relevant to their experience, and they communicated with one another in an informal email exchange for about a month after returning from their travels.”

She concludes: “Being immersed in a social and cultural dynamic with which they had no familiarity forced administrators to question and reexamine their assumptions and perspective about China, the United States, education, and themselves.

Dr. Tinkham & Charlotte Mason ‘Being there’ provided a learning curve about understanding a different culture, one that the administrators found to be pedagogically valuable.” According to Dr. Tinkham’s study, outcomes of the 2009-2010 PSP included the establishment of student and teacher exchanges, participation in other travel options, shared student projects using distance-education technology, increased awareness of education as a cultural practice, gains in personal growth, updating of curricula to reflect a more global outlook, and establishment of greater diversity and exposure to schools. Dr. Tinkham’s conclusions confirmed and fortified many of the results we obtained from a survey we conducted last year of former PSP participants in the New York/New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, and New England PSP cohorts.

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Alumni Updates Brenda Finn (ASP 2005), former superintendent of Concord-Carlisle Schools (MA) is currently Director of Curriculum at the Massachusetts International Academy (Marlborough, MA), which primarily caters to Chinese students with aspirations to attend college in the U.S. Mark Johnson (ASP 2006) recently returned from “two amazing weeks” in China, where he visited Beijing and reunited with old friends in Jinan (with the customary surfeit of dining and toasting). Johnson writes, “This relationship that I have developed over the past five years is one of the most meaningful things of my entire life.” ASP 2006 participant Jeffrey Cryan recently returned from a trip to China involving 15 students in grades 6-8 from Mansfield Middle School (Storrs, Connecticut), the second time MMS students have visited his partner school in Shandong. Aside from a school visit, the group made trips to Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. His partner school, Tai Shan Academy, has also sent two groups of students to his school. Dan Gregg (ASP 2006) is currently the Director of International Programs for the Connecticut Principals' Center, Connecticut Association of Schools. He continues to promote school partnerships with Shandong Province by hosting Shandong principals and teachers and taking Connecticut principals and teachers to Shandong each year. He is also working with the Ministry of Education and with a number of provinces in providing training for China's principals and higher education professionals. In spring 2011, he was at Shandong University of Finance in Jinan where he taught in the English Department. After retiring from the WhitmanHanson Regional School District in 2009, Mansfield Middle School students at the Great Wall where he started a (still extant) Chinese program, John McEwan (ASP 2006), returned to his alma mater, Cardinal Spelling High School in Brockton (MA) as the school’s first lay president. John looks forward to bringing more China studies content into the school’s curriculum in the coming year. Perry Davis (ASP 2007) retired from his position as superintendent of the Dover-Sherbon School system in 2008, but still supports the ongoing exchange between his system and Hangzhou High School. Claudia Bach (ASP 2008) is currently the Director of Education Policy, Preparation and Leadership at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). She graciously hosted a delegation of Chinese ASP participants at the DESE in December 2010. Claudia writes, “My trip to China remains one of the highlights of my life.”

Pat Hollingsworth (ASP 2008) is Director of the University School at the University of Tulsa (OK), where she and her staff offer Chinese classes to students from pre-K to 8th grade. She is planning a student trip to China for either May or June 2012. Judith Paolucci (ASP 2009) is now a superintendent in Yarmouth, Maine, where she supported her district’s high school principal Ted Hall’s participation in ASP 2011. Judith writes, “My participation in the U.S.China Administrator Shadowing Project remains a significant experience in both my professional and personal life.” CEI recently sat down for lunch with Bob Maguire (ASP 2009), superintendent of Medfield Public Schools. Bob will head to China at the end of June to strengthen a fruitful relationship with his counterpart in Anhui. In the fall, his district will welcome a teacher of Chinese from his counterpart’s school. Art Ableman (ASP 2010) left 8

Laconia (NH) to become principal of Aspen High School (Colorado). He called recently to say that he is eager to plan a school trip to his partner school in China. Matt Gibson (ASP 2010) continues to correspond with his counterpart about once per month, and is hopeful of establishing a formal exchange in the near future. Richard Vought (ASP 2010) and his counterpart Peng Li write “at least weekly.” In October 2010 Richard sent two teachers and two students to his sister school, Daqing #16, which repaid the visit in May 2011. This exchange will continue in 2011-2012. Richard plans to offer Chinese in his district at the high school level (and perhaps younger), beginning in 2012. Richard is one of the few U.S. administrators with the sort of autocratic powers routinely exercised by Chinese leaders: “As I am the entire administrative team, I can make things happen rapidly.” David Hile (ASP 2010) writes, “Since returning from China last May, I have given approximately 25 slide presentations on my trip.” We hope David’s efforts help to create a groundswell of interest in China studies in his district. John Klemme and Sue Peppers (ASP 2010) of Scarsdale High School (NY) successfully implemented a major exchange program with their counterparts at the Pinghe Bilingual School in Shanghai, with eleven Chinese students visiting in fall 2010 and ten of their students going to China in spring 2011. This year, in cooperation with the Yale University PIER program, they offered after school Mandarin classes to high school students. Their school will begin formally offering Mandarin Chinese in fall 2011, with nearly 60 students already enrolled. Don Johnson (ASP 2010) plans to begin offering Chinese at the high school level in his district, Middleton-Cross Plains (Wisconsin) in fall 2011. William Baylis’ (ASP 2010) Oberlin High School (OH) was selected by Hanban to offer Mandarin Chinese, and, if other funding materializes, is looking to pursue this opportunity in the 20122013 school year. This summer, William’s superintendent, Geoffrey Andrews, will assume leadership of the Western Academy of Beijing. Mike Shimshak (ASP 2010) writes us from China, where he just completed a 5-week stint as a teacher of English to staff at Beijing No. 8 Middle School. Mike has initiated a formal exchange with this school, both hosting and sending. Lynn Reed (ASP 2010), superintendent of Salem Community Schools (IN), still keeps in touch with people from her sister school, though due to funding issues is unable to begin a school-to-school exchange program. Lynn writes, “I found my experience to be oncein-a-lifetime. I have a better understanding of the cultural differences and just TODAY entered a student into our high school from China, and I was able to tell him a little of how he might find our school different from what he experienced and I was able to share with him I had been in Chinese schools.” Tim McIntosh (ASP 2010) stays in touch with his friends in China on a monthly basis, with students and faculty using SKYPE as a medium of exchange.

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