N? h?o, Cottonwood.
Ge Shimin spent last week shadowing Paul Tighe, superintendent of the Mingus Union High School District.
Shimin is the principal of Handan Gangyuan High School, a school of a few thousand students in Hebei province, a little bit of a drive from Beijing.
The province itself is home to more than 70 million people.
Shimin is back in China now, but he spent the last couple of weeks in the United States learning about how the American educational system operates.
Participants visited schools in Arizona and Oregon. The program lasts two weeks.
“In the first week, participants learn about the culture and education system in their host country. During the second week, administrators shadow their foreign counterpart in their partner school and live with host families in their partner district,” according to the China Exchange Initiative, which operates the program. “This hands-on experience gives participants a deep understanding of education in the other country and develops friendship and trust between partners, which facilitates cooperation between schools to achieve mutual goals. Participants return home with the ability to identify the strengths of their respective practices, draw lessons to benefit their schools and communities, plan ongoing exchange programs for their students and teachers, and create positive change in their educational systems.”
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Nov. 26, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
