'Experience China' Provides
Education Opportunities
BY GAIL MATSUNAGA
From Dateline (April 22, 2004)
Summer camp in the land of the Great Wall
of China?
Youths, parents, teachers and other interested travelers
will have that opportunity this summer as participants in University
Extended Education’s Experience
China.
A partnership between the People’s Republic
of China and UEE, Experience China offers three programs aimed at
“build[ing] a bridge of understanding between America and
China, and promot[ing] friendship between the two peoples,”
says Lisa Xue, UEE director of international programs, China. “We
also hope to encourage development of international business and
cultural exchange through outreach delegations.”
Spend the Summer Teaching in China comprises two
components. In one, qualified English as a Foreign Language/English
as a Second Language-certified teachers will instruct methodology
classes for Chinese public school teachers. The other component
will include K-12 teachers teaching English in special summer camps
designed to help Chinese youth better understand the American culture,
language and people.
Xue, who joined UEE last year, directed similar programs
at the University of Utah. About the summer camps, “the students
always say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she
says. “And many of the teachers who have gone maintain contact
with their students – the teachers they taught.
“Teachers in China are more focused on knowledge-based
teaching and memorization, whereas our [American] teachers work
to motivate and stimulate creativity through student involvement
and active use of the language,” adds Xue. “They help
the Chinese teachers develop instructional strategies, which engage
and encourage students.”
Both Xue and Harry L. Norman, UEE dean, agree that
Experience China is just the beginning for similar future projects.
“We don’t plan to stop with China,” says Norman.
“We’d like to roll out these kinds of programs, in the
next year or two, probably in the Pacific Rim.”
Cultural exchanges, such as Experience China and
programs that bring people here from other countries, “continue
to strengthen our ties with the global community,” he says.
Adds Xue, “This is going to benefit both countries.
If people would understand each other, we’d have less conflict.
It’s not only about academic, cultural and business trade
– we’re promoting world peace.”
Visit
University Extended Education's Experience China website »
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