1. To provide opportunities for the participants to acquire first-hand knowledge of the history, culture, language, geography, family structures, religion, education, economics and politics of China and dispel stereotypes and myths they may have learned previously.
The project will motivate secondary educator participants to broaden their knowledge in their specialty areas as they experience the richness and variety of real life in China. As a result of this immersion experience, they will design and implement curricula that are more accurate in content and more effective in pedagogy. More importantly, such impact will go beyond their own classrooms because they will disseminate the curriculum and learning resources to a larger educational community through professional development workshops, presentations at conferences and the Internet.
2. To develop cognitive and affective changes in the participants and to have the changes reflected in the courses they teach.
The project will enable the participants to engage in self-reflection and consciously examine their own assumptions about Chinese culture. This process of defusing and/or affirming their beliefs and values itself is a powerful teaching tool the participants will employ in their classrooms to help their students become aware of the ethnocentric lens through which they look at “others”, furthermore, they will develop a deeper understanding of and appreciation for cultures different from their own.
3. To create units of study in history, culture, language, geography, education, economics and politics of China that include a full range of instructional materials, supplemental resources and teaching strategies.
As part of the pre-departure activities, the teacher participants will consult their school district specialist regarding the curriculum development guidelines. While in China, Towson University faculty will continue to work with the participants to identify unit objectives, content and available resources. After the trip, participants will utilize the knowledge gained and materials collected during the field experience to finalize the units. Each unit must produce tangible materials that can be reproduced and distributed, whether in the form of CDs, audio or videocassettes, a written text or artifacts, or any appropriate combination of these options. Along with the units and resources developed by the 2006 teacher participants, new curriculum units on China will be developed and disseminated as a model for the study of the rest of Asia and be incorporated into area studies and world cultures in secondary curriculum to broaden students’ understanding of and appreciation for other cultures.
4. To join the online educator consortium where units of study, teaching materials, teaching strategies and relevant resources are shared with a larger educational community.
The main goal of this project is to enhance teacher participants’ intercultural competence and their teaching in area studies through curriculum development and implementation. However, we do not see the immersion experience as a one time deal. We want the participants to sustain their cognitive and affective changes after the experience. The online communication forum established by the 2006 teacher participants will continue to function as a sounding board for the 2008 teacher participants as well as their peers who do not have the immersion experience as both groups did. The online forum will also continue to serve as a clearinghouse for curriculum units, teaching materials, teaching strategies and resources for other educators to access.
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