Chinese teachers visit area schools
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

(l to r) English teacher Guo Jia, Foreign Language Department Director Yang Jiming, Dongzhimen School Principal Shang Jinhua, geography teacher Er De Zhi and English teacher Dou Shu Ying met with teachers and students at every school during their visit to Shrewsbury. MELISSA MUNTZ

Shrewsbury - After being delayed for a month due to visa restrictions, the principal and four teachers from Dongzhimen School in China visited with members of the Shrewsbury school community last month.

The teachers visited every school in the district and sat in on Chinese language classes at both Sherwood and Oak middle schools.

Principal Shang Jinhua said he was surprised by many diff erences he saw between U.S. schools and the schools in China.

"The subjects for students to choose from is much smaller in China. However our textbooks are very good and we have many more after school activities," Jinhua said through translator and Dongzhimen English teacher Dou Shu Ying.

The group of educators met with students, administrators, curriculum leaders, teachers and parents during their week at the school. Jinhua said he was very impressed with the people he met, and the overall positive attitude toward learning.

"The teachers work very hard and they do everything very carefully," he said. "Every teacher is creative, friendly and pleasant."

Jinhua said the biggest change he saw between the two countries' approaches toward learning is the attitude toward students with special needs.

"You have many children with disabilities and the teachers take care of these children very well," he said. "You teach in your society to respect these kinds of children and value the lives of the children."

After visiting schools and local landmarks for the week, one of the final activities the five educators took part in was a teacher exchange meeting where they were able to meet with the five Shrewsbury teachers who will visit China in April 2008.

The two groups discussed logistics of the upcoming trip, as well as more fun topics of conversation like the elaborate and traditional process of making Peking duck, and why the teachers, who were headed next to New York, may want to think twice about buying any "designer" items for sale on city sidewalks.

Jeremy Mularella, a science teacher at Oak Middle School, is one of the five teachers who will head to China this spring. Mularella said he hopes to enlighten students about U.S. culture and education as well as his Chinese counterparts did this week.

"In China the class sizes are a lot larger, so we are thinking about doing some hands-on labs with them," he said. "And of course, we'll talk about the Red Sox and Patriots."

The five American teachers are trying to learn as much Chinese as possible prior to their trip and will also take culture lessons to make sure they are aware any expectations associated with diff erent activities that may be diff erent that they are used to.

"We're just making sure that we're not going to be offending people, so we're learning things like the proper ways to meet someone and how to act in diff erent kind of situations," Mularella said.

The teachers' two-week trip to China has been privately funded by a single, anonymous donor; however, the school district is currently applying for grants that would help fund similar trips for teachers and students in the future.