Five Mercer Island School District leaders received an early holiday gift from an unlikely source — the Chinese government — when they were selected to the 2009 Chinese Bridge Delegation: Taking the Next Step for an all-expenses-paid trip to China from Dec. 2-10.
Superintendent Gary Plano, Mercer Island High School Principal John Harrison, and School Board Directors Adair Dingle, Lisa Eggers and Janet Frohnmayer, joined a total of 400 U.S. school district leaders and other educators on a one-week education visit sponsored and funded by the Chinese government agency Language Council International known as “Hanban,” the Confucius Institute and organized by the non-profit College Board.
“We’re encouraged by the enthusiasm educators have shown for the Bridge Delegation in both the U.S. and China,” says Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board. “Since the program’s inception in 2006, we’ve taken 2,400 U.S. educators to China to experience firsthand the culture of a country that is rapidly changing and growing on the global stage.” This Delegation, the fifth of its kind, focused on in-depth school visits and educational workshops and opportunities to share experiences and best practices with U.S. and Chinese educators.
The trip was aimed at deepening U.S. educators’ understanding of China, encouraging the learning of Chinese language and culture in American schools and creating opportunities for future partnerships between American and Chinese schools.
Mercer Island leaders were fortunate to be selected. The district’s 2020 Vision, which emphasizes preparing our students for the cognitive, global and digital world, Mercer Island High School’s long-standing Mandarin Chinese program, and Dr. Plano’s membership in the selective National Superintendent’s Roundtable were important considerations in the district’s favor. Mercer Island School District leaders learned that many districts around the country start Chinese language programs as early as kindergarten along with opportunities to have teacher exchanges and emersion programs in secondary schools.
After arriving in Beijing and being welcomed by national leaders at the historic Great Hall of the People, the Mercer Island contingent, along with educators from California, Utah and Washington, visited the city of Guilin in the Guangxi Province. Guilin, known for its natural beauty, is located in southern China just north of Vietnam. The delegation met with regional leaders and visited primary, middle and secondary schools, as well as a university.
Education is currently an area of considerable focus in China. Compulsory, free schooling has expanded to nine years. That includes six years of primary school and the next three years of junior middle school. Students then are tested for entry into the next three years, known as senior middle school. English is introduced to all students in the third year.
Board member Janet Frohnmayer commented, “We were so warmly welcomed at the primary schools we visited in Guilin, by both the staff and students. We observed the children creating artwork, engaging in synchronized calisthenics to music, playing grade level outdoor games and working on math and writing. We were surprised there were about 40-45 primary students in each classroom with a single teacher and that both the students and teacher were wearing their coats, due to the lack of central heating in the school. The children were, however, attentive and engaged and there was a great deal of warmth between the teachers and their students. The school seemed like a very happy place.”
The primary school that board members Dingle and Strauch Eggers visited had 45 – 55 students per classroom, and a computer lab with old terminals. The children attend a longer school day than their American counterparts.
At the high school in Guilin, we visited science, math, and English classes with as many as 50-55 students in each class. MIHS principal John Harrison observed a commitment to a student-centered approach to instruction and very engaged students. Although 6,000 miles away and a completely different culture, Harrison observed how similar Guilin and MIHS students were in their interactions with others.
“The trip was an extraordinary opportunity to learn about China and what it means for our students to be part of the global world,” said Dr. Plano. “We were honored to serve as ambassadors, not only for the United States, but for Mercer Island. One of our hosts, a provincial minister of education, stated that the Chinese believe that contact leads to understanding and that understanding leads to cooperation, and it was their hope that trips like this would help contribute to creating and expanding friendly relationships between the United States and China on every level, between students, schools, cities and countries. It is commendable that American and Chinese educators are attempting to build a bridge across cultures to achieve the same goal: to better prepare our students for a global world.”
Gary Plano is the superintendent of the 4,000 student Mercer Island School District. For more about the trip and global learning initiatives, go to www.misd.12.wa.us.
