EF Tours in collaboration with the Center for Global Awareness welcome travelers and prospective travelers to the ...

Educators in China tour

August 5-15, 2009

This website is for educators who wish to obtain professional development credit for their travels to China. I have organized a course--Educators in China--in collaboration with EF Tours that will maximize your travel experience and in turn, help you to share that experience with students, other educators, your school, and community. Join me for this exciting and life-changing professional experience.

Professional Development for Educators:
Educators in China
Course Information

Brief Course Description: 

Open the door to international academic exchange between American and Chinese educators. Gain a firsthand perspective of Chinese education through observation, interaction, lectures and visits to three Chinese schools. 

Longer Course Description:

We will evaluate, observe, and experience Chinese education and society through a holistic lens. We will explore the Chinese educational system—how students learn, what they learn, how teachers teach, how teachers are trained, and other pertinent pedagogical information. Through a holistic framework, we will look at the influences of China’s rich and varied history, the impact of its tragic 19^th century events, and how its rapid economic globalization has affected, both beneficially and detrimentally, their political, social, cultural, and ecological ways of living (what I call patterns). We connect the Chinese educational system with their economy, social relationships, political system, and cultural background to gain a deeper understanding of China, their educational system, and also our own country. 

Study Tour Leader:

Dr. Denise R. Ames is a life-long educator with over 20 years teaching experience at universities, a community college, and secondary schools. She took her doctorate in world history/social studies education from Illinois State University and has taught academic courses in history, social studies, humanities and global issues. Author of the book Waves of Global Change: A Holistic World History, she is also the founder and director of the Center for Global Awareness based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is developing an alternative global-awareness educational curriculum called the Global Awareness Program (GAPs), that fills in the gaps of the traditional curriculum. Denise has traveled widely, including China, and most recently to Iran. She has lead educational workshops in Singapore, Russia, and throughout the US. 

Overview of the Professional Development Course:

This is a unique exchange opportunity for American and Chinese educators including observation, interaction and lecture. It is a fascinating time to experience the social climate in China and discover the rapid changes the country has undergone on its quest for economic modernization. The Study Leader’s curriculum encourages and supports a different frame for education in which problem solving, experiential learning and collaboration are key elements. To gain a unique firsthand perspective, tour participants will visit a primary school, secondary school and a university to see what the Chinese education experience is like. Explore the importance of Chinese culture and history by viewing an acrobatic show, visiting the Shaanxi Provincial Historical museum, as well as touring several of China’s most sacred sites, including the Summer Palace and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Professional Development Course specially developed for this study tour provides an opportunity for educators to take what they have learned and experienced back to their classroom and approach the subject matter from a more global and holistic perspective.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the global economic, political, ecological, cultural and social connections between the United States and China.

2. Evaluate what it is to be an active and aware global citizen that positively participates in helping to create a more sustainable, culturally-tolerant, and compassionate global community.

3. Analyze pedagogical methods to meaningfully document and communicate your travel experiences to your students, school, community, and the larger world community

4. Identify information, gleaned through first-hand experience and research, about the people, education, history, culture, art, architecture, economy, ecology, and belief systems of China. 

5. Create ways to visualize and embark upon a more life-enriching and sustainable future through integration of experiential learning and reflective analysis learned from travel. 

Essential Question:

“We need to be selective and mindful in fitting values of the three worldviews into a new framework. Even though the traditional, modern, and globalized worldviews are currently the dominant paradigms at this point in time, the transformative worldview is challenging their authority and offering viable options for a sustainable, more equitable future. Which worldview or combination of worldviews will we as global citizens choose for our future? We all have a voice and a critical stake in the future outcome.” (see the forthcoming article on Worldviews)

China articles

China Eats the World

China's Top 1% Control 70% of Wealth

The Last Empire: China's Pollution Problem Goes Global

China's "Cancer Villages" Pay Heavy Price for Economic Progress

China's All-Seeing Eye

Human Rights First: New Report: China’s Oil Interests in Sudan Fueling Darfur Violence

China: Capitalism Doesn't Require Democracy

China About to Pass US as World's Top Generator of Greenhouse Gases

China Passes US as World's Biggest CO2 Emitter

Reflections on China's Growing CO2 Emissions

China's Not Alone in Environmental Crisis

The Hypocrisy and Danger of Anti-China Demonstrations (2008)

'Ecological Meltdown': Huge Dust Cloud Threatens Asia

Dalai Lama: 'I am prepared to face China. I will go to Beijing'

Dust Bowl Threatening China's Future

China is Losing the War on Advancing Deserts

China and the Climate Change Crisis

China Pressured World Bank to Cut Deadly Pollution Figures

Pollution Killing Kids in China, India

China Powers Ahead on Renewable Energy

Human Rights Watch: China: Beijing's Migrant Construction Workers Abused

China's Genocide Games

The China Syndrome

China Orders Resettlement of Thousands of Tibetans

China: Three Gorges Dam May Displace Millions More

Accused of Abusing Workers, Animals and Watersheds, 'Teflon' Tyson Eyes China

Group Finds China Toy Factory Conditions 'Brutal'

China Overtaking US for Fast Internet Access as Africa gets Left Behind

China Blames Growing Social Unrest on Anger Over Pollution

China's e-Waste Capital Chokes on old Computers

Children in China Pay Price for Our Cheap Toys