Global Teachers – China 2018 – Day Seven

Orientation | Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five | Day Six | Day Seven | Day Eight | Day Nine | Day Ten | Day Eleven | Follow-Up

Day Seven

Before heading to Chengdu, the delegation made a somber visit to the Memorial Hall to the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre. The structure, built in 1985, displays historical records, artifacts, and video to show the events of the 1937 invasion by the Japanese army.

As teachers, we are vessels for information and experiences. On programs such as this, we have the rare opportunity to encounter new places and ideas, process them through our lenses as teachers, and collaborate to create ways to expand our students’ worlds. More than anything, I am humbled and grateful to have this experience in China among such a tremendously talented group of educators. And I am proud that I can utilize my role as a teacher to carry this experience back to my students and in doing so, encourage truth and reconciliation in my classroom and community.

Matt Scialdone teaches 9th grade English and African-American Literature at Middle Creek High School in Apex, N.C. He participated in Go Global NC’s Global Teacher – South Africa 2016 program.

Also on the agenda for the day was a visit to the Zhonghua Gate, also known as the Gate of China. Building started in 1360 and took 26 years to complete. Obviously, construction was well done; the majority of the original structure is still intact. The government of Jiangsu province placed the site under protection in the 1950s.

Chengdu is located in the Sichuan province, which is both a center for agricultural production as well as for industries that include coal, energy, silk production.