Oxford Superintendent Dr. William Skilling and English teacher Dr. Marsha Chapman went on a week-long trip to China to teach a group of Chinese college graduates about the American education system.
Skilling was asked by Executive Director Yong Zhao of the Confucius Institute of Michigan State to come over and speak to a group of Chinese college graduates and prepare them for the transition into the American school system.
‘Our goal was to prepare them for the transition into the United States in a couple of ways,? said Superintendent Skilling. ‘One was to improve their basic writing skills in preparing them to take the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC), and second to teach about the American Education System.?
Dr. Chapman’s primary responsibility was to prepare the students for the MTTC, which is a basic skills test that everyone must pass before enrolling in student teaching. She worked for nearly three hours a day with the students on their basic English skills.
Skilling spoke with the students about the American Education System as a whole.
‘I talked about how districts are structured, how they operate, what are considered the best teaching practices in the United States, how to communicate effectively with parents and students, how to manage a classroom, whether it be elementary, middle school or high school and what the expectations are for teachers,? said Skilling. ‘These are things they wouldn’t know because things are so different over there in China.?
He also lectured them on some of the differences between a typical Chinese classroom and the typical American classroom.
‘Coming to the United States where you have a more free society, they are going to have to deal with some students whose parents aren’t vested in their child’s education,? said Skilling. ‘And in a free society, some parents will be more demanding of teachers than they are in a system where teachers are respected and the teacher is always right and they would never think of questioning the teacher.?
One of the things that Skilling and Chapman wanted to do was have to students work together as a team, something that was awkward for the students at first because they were used to sitting in straight rows and listening to the teacher said Skilling.
They also wanted to practice and incorporate some of the strategies that are typically used in an American classroom.
‘I try to integrate not just standing upand talking, but multimedia type PowerPoints. When I talked about a particular teaching strategy, I showed a video clip that demonstrated that strategy,? said Skilling.
He began his week-long session by talking about the history of the American school system and furthered his lectures by breaking down the dynamics of the school system itself.
Skilling began his first class by explaining the philosophical reasoning for a public school system.
‘I started out by quoting Thomas Jefferson, saying ‘Our nation will only be as strong as the least educated person.??
He then explained how the school system underwent a massive overhaul, going from something that the local government was responsible for into something that was state and federally funded.
‘It’s the power of the purse strings,? he explained. ‘You either do something that they’re requesting, like the No Child Left Behind, or they are going to pull their funding, which we have become reliant upon.?
Skilling provided numerous examples from the Oxford School District to further his point on how teachers should manage classrooms and policies regarding disciplines and procedures.
He also showed the students what a classroom syllabus looked like using the Michigan Curriculum framework and templates that some teachers put together for the entire school year. He also showed them Moodle and Powerschool.
‘That was two days worth of material,? he said.
One of the most interesting topics for the college students was teacher contracts.
‘At first I didn’t know how interested they would be, but this was one of the most interesting topics for them. There was a lot of dialogue on teacher contracts and how it worked out because it was foreign to them,? Skilling said. ‘They don’t have teachers unions or anything.?
Beijing based BCC Consulting sponsored the trip which allowed Skilling and Chapman to go. BCC Consulting works with the Confucius Institute of Education to set up business and education tours.
Skilling is looking to go back three or four more times to continue teaching. He also wants to bring other teachers with him.