They’re Off to China

Several lucky middle and high school teachers will have the opportunity to visit China and participate in an intensive five-week educational program this summer thanks to the return of the Summer China Institute.

Participants will attend lectures by professors from UC Berkeley and Stanford, learn about instructional strategy planning and curriculum development and get an introduction to Mandarin at the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE).  They’ll spend the first week at SMCOE with field trips to UC Berkeley and the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. The following four weeks will be spent traveling and studying in China as guests of Huazhong Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

This year's theme is "Experiencing Chinese Language and Culture from the Center" and will be led by Dr. Li Liu, a lecturer on East Asian Languages and Culture at UC Berkeley and Karen Leong Clancy, an education consultant for the Committee of 100.  The group will visit ancient and modern capital cities to examine how they contributed to the evolution of Chinese language.

Participants will each pay $640 to cover the costs of the institute and visa fees. Other expenses, including travel to China, will be covered by the program. Funding comes from SMCOE, the Committee of 100, the UC Berkeley Institute of East Asian Studies and a grant from Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA).

The Summer China Institute, which runs from June 20 to July 23, is sponsored by the Committee of 100—a national nonpartisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent whose mission is to encourage stronger relations between the U.S. and Greater China—and the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in partnership with the San Mateo County Office of Education, UC Berkeley and Huazhong Normal University.

“Our goal is to take at least 17 teachers,” said Karen Leong Clancy, program co-leader. “In the past we have had more applicants than spots available.” 

The program is open to all public middle and high school teachers in San Mateo County. Teachers from other counties are welcome to apply and will be considered if space permits. Private school teachers may be considered, too, if additional funding becomes available.

The teachers will be chosen through a selective process that involves an interview, letter of recommendation from their principal, a lesson plan related to China and an essay explaining what they hope to gain from the program. 

During the trip, teachers will develop lesson plans that will be made available to other teachers, and upon their return, they’ll give a demonstration lesson or presentation once during the 2011-2012 school year. They’ll show student work, like this video produced by students at Ralston Middle School in 2009, with the help of teachers who attended the Summer China Institute.

“So far there has been a lot of interest,” said Clancy. “We’ll try to get a diverse group of middle and high school teachers and get teachers from schools that haven’t participated in the past.”

The program, which began in 2007 and was on hiatus last summer, came about through the efforts of Cheryl Hightower, retired associate superintendent at the San Mateo County Office of Education, and Karen Leong Clancy, then a Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District trustee and now a consultant with the Committee of 100.

“We were thinking it would be great to give sixth-grade teachers who teach about China and ancient civilizations firsthand knowledge,” said Hightower. “All most teachers know about China is in textbooks. They teach about Rome and many have been to Rome, and they teach about Greece and have been to Greece. But most hadn’t been to China and there was no excitement about China. We knew we needed an institute.”

 “It has been an incredible experience for me to see how teachers take in the experience. It makes them think about what they teach in the classroom and how they can change what they’re teaching to reflect what they learn,” said Clancy.

Zan Truman, ceramics teacher at Capuchino High School in San Bruno, and a 2009 Summer Institute participant, offered this reflection on her China Institute experience:

“As a high school ceramics teacher, I was extremely impressed by the depth and breadth of the ceramics in China. For example, I was able to see in museums ceramics from Paleolithic and Neolithic eras to Han and Ming Dynasties to modern pottery.  The sheer excitement of seeing it all was enough to make me dizzy; I was quite impressed. My teaching is going to get much more exciting this year. With renewed passion and interest in the history of ceramics, I will be able to show images and actual artifacts including postcards and artwork that I personally brought back from China.” 

David Richards, a 12^th-grade government teacher at Summit Preparatory Charter High School in Redwood City, commented on his Summer Institute experience:

“As a government teacher, I learned a lot about my own government, our country and the media, and how different it is from China. This will have a huge impact on my teaching. The trip was a perfect mix of traveling and learning through the institute. The best part was the time we spent at Huazhong Normal University where we got off the tour bus, interacted with Chinese students and really got a feel for the country. There we got to see the real China, not just what the Chinese government wanted us to see. Using my flip video camera, I filmed interviews with Chinese university students that I will be able to share with my students and other teachers at my school.”

The deadline to apply is fast approaching. Applications must be received by the end of the day today, or until all the spots are filled.

Find the application here.