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VIU Faculty and Recent Grads Head to China - Spring 2006 (Press Release)

Education faculty member Virginia McCarthy ( Language Arts Methods) will be heading to China's Sichuan Province to continue work with a CIDA funded partnership project with the Sichuan Department of Education, the Sichuan Teacher Training Centre, the Wenchuan Teacher Training Centre, the Chengdu Pre-School Normal School, and Prince Edward Island's Holland College.  On campus, the Education Faculty enjoys a partnership with the International Education faculty. 

Nancy Danuser's (Grad 2004) class in Kumamoto City, JAPAN. Nancy teaches for the JET Program
at Daiichi Senior High School.

 

 

The 13 member Chinese contingent spent 2 weeks visiting Vancouver Island University last Fall and Jim reports on their activities to date.

"We broke into subgroups to visit ECE and ESL classes on campus, as well as Education classes (Language Arts, Technology). We spent a day at an elementary school taking part in that school's professional development day, observed the Nanaimo district's Resource Centre and distribution system, sat in on a grade 2 class on the role of school counsellors, visited a district's Parenting class, a district's Special Needs class, and observed a Teacher's Union meeting of Pro-D reps. Still left for later today is a class at VIU on Special Needs."

He also notes "We are seeing a this group bond into a cohesive, hard-working (and playing!) group. They are very much taking charge of their own learning. "

Jim Montgomery and program graduates, Margie Radigan and Tanya Lebans host our project visitors from China on a day trip to Victoria  during their previous visit- Fall 2005. More of our students head to China this Spring.

 

Canada/China Partnerships-- Smiles Across the Miles Continue

Vancouver Island University’s Faculty of Education and Faculty of International Education, along with Holland College in P.E.I., have initiated a four-year development project in Sichuan Province, PRC, that will enhance rural teacher training in China. Our Chinese partners are Sichuan Provincial Department of Education (SPDE) and the Chengdu Electromechanical College (CEC). The project’s purpose is to assist the Chinese to develop and implement program and policy initiatives in the areas of in-service teacher training and resources rationalization designed to improve the skills of kindergarten and primary schoolteachers, especially in rural areas.

Virginia meets with project colleagues from Holland College in PEI and Sichuan Province in China 

 

"The project is all about developing a sustainable in-service model to meet the needs of rural Chinese teachers engaged in education reform on a national scale" says Jim. A key feature of this reform is moving from teacher-centred classes to student-centred teaching. With over 800,000 teachers in Sichuan province, the 170 teachers and teacher-trainers in the pilot project get a lot of provincial and national attention.  Working in groups, role playing, blended learning, developing engaging activities, working without textbooks, and Canadian education are just a few of the topics the teachers are keenly interested in talking about. 

Virginia will join up with recent program graduates Melissa Bond and Lindsay McGregor as they spend 6 weeks teaching English in an elementary school in Chengdu City and in a rural area near Wenchuan in the mountains. They students will also contribute to another series of workshops in the two locations. The two students fiollow in the legacy of Margie Radigan and Tanya Lebans-- the first two VIU Students to be involved in the project last Spring. This Category 1 ACCC project has two years left, with room for two more students each year. 

Our Chinese partners have been overjoyed at seeing the product that we produce in our teacher education; our students have been absolutely wonderful ambassadors for us!

Last summer Jim and Virginia presented details of the project to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Rural Development in Beijing.

Upon their return,  program graduates Tanya Lebans (right) and Margie Radigan made a presentation to Neil Smith's PB Social Studies Methods class describing their experiences teaching in China.

 

 

Two more Education grads, Melissa Bond and Lindsay McGregor carry on the tradition as they visit China with the project this Spring.

Project at a Glance:

  • Enhancing Rural Teacher Training (ERTT) is finishing its 2nd of 5 years as a Category 1 ACCC project in Sichuan Province, China.  

  • Sichuan is a central province: half of it is a fertile plane, the other half mountains of the Tibetan Plateau.

  • Sichuan has 800, 000 teachers: ERTT is a pilot project with approximately 160 teachers working with:

    • the Chengdu Pre-School Normal School (provincial centre for pre-school teachers)
    • the Chengdu Teacher Training Centre (prov. centre for in-service delivery K-6)
    • the Wenchuan Teacher Training Centre (county centre for in-service delivery) Wenchuan is a rural centre 80 kms from Chengdu (1/2 day drive into the mountains), about the size of Nanaimo, and reaches its students through a number of local Central Schools each with about 7 village schools. The village schools are the most rural, usually high up in the mountains, (terrace farming).
  • The project's lead partner is Holland College in Charlottetown with an early childhood program but no Education program.
  • Partners in China are the Sichuan Province Department of Education and the Chengdu Electromechanical College (CEC). CEC's plays an important role co-ordinating the project, and was instrumental in the original proposal because of its local contacts and a long history of working with Holland College.

 

(Left to right) Graduates Melissa Bond, Lyndsay McGregor and Program Chair Virginia take time out to try on traditional costumes.

 

 

 

"Thank you" wishes from local school children