“Why do I want to visit China?”

Jeanne Disney, USD 383’s Director of Secondary Education, typed her application. She was aiming toward being selected to go on a trip sponsored and organized by the Confucius Institute to observe Chinese language and education.

Disney kept typing.

“Visiting China as part of the Confucius Institute cadre would be a chance in a lifetime to 1)not only visit a country I have taught about as a Social Studies teacher but to 2)learn more about the educational system and a special research interest of mine—professional learning communities.”

A few weeks later, Disney got her answer. She is one of the 10 teachers and school administrators selected out of the Kansas applicants to attend the trip to China. Six of those 10 are from USD 383. The date of the journey is not set in stone, but teachers will probably set off on May 28, visit various classrooms overseas, then return to Kansas on June 9.

Many people who applied to visit China want the experience to expand how they perceive education.

“Definitely, [I see the trip as a way] to increase our views about how education systems are in other countries,” Emily Cherms, the district coordinator for English as a Second Language, said. “So the opportunity is that we will visit elementary school, middle school, high school and a university in China, and we’ll get to observe, meet with teachers … and really just get a broader world perspective. I think the idea is that how we navigate the American education system, you know- that’s what our norm is. But that norm isn’t necessarily the same around the world. And so this opportunity we get to go look at the structures and the systems in and of the country and how they have that set up.”

The host organization, which is affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education, has a related but more specific agenda. It works to increase awareness of the Chinese language, Chinese values, Chinese teaching methods and Chinese culture into other nations.

“It really had to do with the mission of the Confucius Institute, which was established last year at K-State,” Max Lu, Director of the Confucius Institute and K-State’s Professor of Geography, said. “The idea of the trip is to give the principals and the administrators of the K-12 schools here locally a chance to visit China and observe, learn how the Chinese schools are doing things in several schools while in China. … So they will talk to the teachers and the principals there and they will actually see the classrooms, hopefully to get a good idea of the kind of educational system and the curriculum they offer there.”

USD 383 employees are excited to go on the trip, but a little nervous too.

“It’s traveling across the nation to a continent that I’ve never been to before,” Cherms said. “This is the first time I’ve even had to get a passport. I have children, of course, and a husband and a dog, so being away from them for that amount of time is nerve-wracking.”

One person going on the trip, however, is not at all nervous.

“I’m very excited about [the trip]” Sujung Yang, an administrator for the Confucius Institute, said. “I went to a school we are going to in China, so I’m excited that they set it up for us to be back there.”