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 Six
We began the day with an introduction from GU Chunming (Deputy Director for the Division for Basic Education) about K-12 education in Jiangsu Province. He shared information about this province including what makes Nanjing Province unique as well as the breakdown of the levels of education. A few things we found interesting were that there are 13 million students in the province. There are 15 years of education divided into 3 levels: preschool ages 3-6, compulsory grades 1-8 and high school grades 10-12. One thing that impressed us was that 2/3 of too scholars in China are from Jiansing Province. The goal of this province is to create an equal and excellent education for all students. We believe this is a common goal for the United States as well. Additionally, they have realized that the creativity in students in this province is lacking and therefore have made efforts for education reform by offering applications through research options for the students. We loved the closing remarks, “…this is the end of the day, but not the end of the exchange.”
-Cristi Edwards, West Stanly High School
Christi Edwards is in her 25th year of teaching at West Stanly High School at Oakboro, N.C., and currently teaches 11-12th grade pre-calculus, honors and AP calculus, math II, and calculus honors.
The delegation had a full day of elementary and middle school visits arranged by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education. China divides middle school into a lower division (6 or 7-9th grades) and an upper division (10-12th grades). One school the delegates visited was the Nanjing Foreign Language School’s (NFLS) Xianlin Campus which has primary, middle, and high school students. It’s primary school is considered one of the best in the city.
Visiting The Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus. #JohnsonvilleWorldTour #GlobalTeachers pic.twitter.com/B20YL233MS
— Anthony Johnson (@a_p_johnson) June 22, 2018
Today’s highlight was hearing #student and #teacher perspectives on both Chinese & US #education through student-led tours and a special Q&A panel at #NFLSXC ????? #GlobalTeachers pic.twitter.com/p9SnxsbHVn
— Blair Morrow (@BlairKMorrow) June 22, 2018
Just wrapping up a visit to the Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus. #GlobalTeachers @GoGlobalNC pic.twitter.com/lD9zllQThh
— Anthony Johnson (@a_p_johnson) June 22, 2018
Our afternoon consisted of an enlightening and interactive visit at Nanjing Foreign Language School. Professor Huang instructed the teachers in creating our own Chinese herbal medicine sachet. This was collaboration at its finest as some teachers, such as Christi and Amanda, needed assistance from multiple people to complete the task. 🙂 The end product will be a memento to treasure for years to come. Next we were led by grade 10 students in a tour of the school campus. Throughout the campus there were multiple examples of social responsibility reminders in a variety of languages. The school is making a constant effort to connect their students to students of other nationalities to compare them to be globally prepared and connected in the future. A warm invitation was extended for us to come and participate in the Sino-American summer camps that occur for 2 weeks over the summer. This is one other example of how they are taking students, “From NFLSXL to the WORLD”. Another day full of learning and expanding our knowledge of global education. We are grateful for these opportunities and are excited to see what awaits us!
–Cristi Edwards
Once the ride was over we met our new tour guide, Jimmy and headed to our hotel. Nanjing was a neat place. The bridges on the highways had hanging baskets with plants on them and the roads looked clean. There were still a lot of people but not as many as Beijing. Traffic moved, mopeds moved and so did those bikes… lots and lots of mopeds and bikes. Had to get used to moving out of the way when hearing the horns honk. Think about it in our country we only honk the horn when we get mad at the person in front or beside us or to try and avoid someone from moving over on us. Here in China I don’t think the horn is meant to be mean or rude but just to say I’m coming.
–Evelyn Gower
In the evening, delegates continued using Challenge by Choice activities and independent field study opportunities to learn more about the Chinese culture.
*The views, information, or opinions expressed by delegation images, videos, and social media posts are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Go Global NC.
