During October, I had the privilege to visit three cities that are 12 time zones to the west—half way around the world in the People’s Republic of China. Thirteen South Carolina educators were the guests of the Chinese Ministry of Education, conducting a study tour of PreK-12 schools as well as colleges and universities. The trip started with a flight to Chicago, followed by a 14-hour direct flight to Beijing (crossing both the North Pole and Siberia). Before leaving, I had a picture of China in my mind that was shattered upon our arrival. I expected an underdeveloped country, suffering from the effects of years under Communist rule, but what I saw in Beijing was a very rapidly developing country with a state of the art airport, four beltways and hundreds of modern high rise buildings under construction. The Chinese people were not dressed in military style outfits, but contemporary western clothes the same as you and I wear to work every day. The young adults told me their favorite music was Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. There were lots of bicycles on the streets, but also lots of Volkswagens, Audis and Buicks (all made in China). The ingenuity of the Chinese is incredible to design and build highways, offices and apartments to handle the number of people in the three cities visited: Beijing (11 million), Hangzhou (6 million) and Shanghai (16 million). Shanghai has more than 3,100 high-rise buildings, with hundreds more under construction.

The people we met were warm and friendly, and anxious to learn about the United States and its schools. In Beijing, we visited a Montessori school where the students were using the same materials and activities you see every day at Brockman Elementary, and children who were being taught in English beginning at age two. In Hangzhou, we saw 2-5 year olds listening and reading books (in Chinese), and participating in the same kinds of activities you might see in our Child Development (4 year old) classes in Richland One. We also visited an International Baccalaureate High School program just like the one at AC Flora, and talked with high school students who could spoke English with ease. At another middle school, students were learning Microsoft Power Point in their computer lab (in Chinese of course) and learning to play baseball in PE.

Despite all the differences between Chinese and American culture, the similarities of our two peoples were striking. Teachers and principals wanted to learn more about what we are doing to provide our students with the best possible education for the 21st Century. Parents in both countries want their children to have the best possible education so that they can find a good place for themselves in this world. One of my goals was to see if Chinese students and schools would be interested in forming a partnership with Richland One to share information, send e-mail messages, etc. All the schools I visited were excited and ready to participate. I hope many of our schools will participate as well. Another objective was to explore the possibility of teaching Chinese language and culture courses in our schools, and we are working with the China’s National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOTCFL) to find some teachers from China who will come to Richland One. The US has invested more than $72 Billion in China in the past few years, and U.S. presence was evident everywhere we traveled, such as McDonalds, KFC, and Chevrolet dealerships. Having to talk through an interpreter during official meetings was a real barrier to accurate communication, and I could see great opportunities in the business world for Richland One students who could learn even the basics of the Chinese language. I am optimistic that we will be able to offer some classes in our schools, and hope students will take advantage of this opportunity. Perhaps they will have a chance to be a guest of the Chinese as well! I was grateful for the opportunity to experience the culture of our neighbors in the Far East, as I saw first hand that the world is becoming much smaller every day. I can see that our students are already competing for their place in the world with students from Shanghai and Beijing in addition to students from Charlotte and Atlanta.