Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel is on a two-week trip to China, sponsored by the Confucius Institute at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The experience is an educational and cultural exchange between the Confucius Institute and Xi’an Jiaotong University, sister university of UNL. The traveling group includes representatives from Lincoln Public Schools, UNL, the city of Lincoln and state government. The itinerary includes events – including several visits to Chinese schools – designed to exchange ideas and increase cross-cultural understanding between the two countries.
Joel will share periodic reports of the journey.
Greetings,
It is Thursday morning in China and a day for me to break from the group and visit a Beijing Middle School that has some Nebraska ties. As much as I will miss some of the touring today (Great Wall, Olympic Bird Nest), the invitation to visit a school and provide thoughts on what I observe is too good to pass up.
Yesterday and today are very stressful educational days in China. The national test is administered across the country and is absolutely the most significant event in the lives of students and parents. Locals describe the exams as the culminating event for families who place such a high value on academic performance. The ability to attend the college of choice rests on the grade. Families have sacrificed much to place their children in the best position to succeed. Our group reflected on our angst in Nebraska concerning state assessments only to realize that China is probably the ultimate “high stakes” country.
We visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square yesterday. China is a country that places great value on preserving their history and that was apparent in the Forbidden City. On the other hand, the fame associated with the 1989 student rebellion on the famous square is much less talked about – with few direct answers to our questions.
We ended the day with a visit/dinner to a “real” part of China hosted by a family that explained the daily life of commoners – and who lived in an area that would be regarded as impoverished by many of us. The husband is a Kung Fu martial arts coach, the wife is an opera singer and their son is a teacher in Houston. They live in a small home with the wife’s father who is 96. The food was described to us as a very typical meal and, as has been the case this far, tasted much different than any foods we eat in the U.S.
Most in our group are slowly adjusting to the 11-hour time change. Despite being totally exhausted at night, I keep awakening at 3 a.m. and struggle to get back to sleep. This morning, State Sen. Greg Adams and I went for a run through the city and saw another view of city life. We were impressed with how many people were up and at it at 6 a.m. Despite what seems to us as a hard life, the Chinese people work hard and always seem to be happy. Perhaps that is due to simplicity and the great emphasis on family.
Steve
