Today we visited Nanjing Normal University, and at 9:00AM met with Dean Gu, School of Education Science, and five of his faculty. The following Nanjing faculty were also there: Dean Jianjun Gu (professor, Dean, and Director of the Standing Council for the Center for International Education Development (CIED); Deputy Director and Professor Shusheng Shen; Secretary-general, Dr. Xuefeng Qiao; and Director of the International Affairs Office, Ms. Ping Liu.
Dean Gu shared that Nanjing is over 100 years old, and the School of Education Science is partnering with others in China in the development of the Suzhou Experimental High School (SES). He told us a Chinese story about spring and how appropriate it was for our visit. We arrived in Nanjing in spring and are planting some seeds for our new collaboration. These plants will come forward and bloom resulting in a stronger collaboration as we move forward.
Dr. Qiao shared the the School of Education Science is 114 years old, with over 130 teachers and both undergraduate and post-graduate programs. It ranks in the top three Schools of Education in China. It has 5 undergraduate programs, 16 masters programs and 12 doctoral programs.
The Center for International Education Development (CIED) opened in 2015 and has the following partnerships: U.K. (1), Japan (1), Taiwan (5), Singapore (1), U.S.A. (2 including NC State), South Korea (1) and Hong Kong (1).
This was followed by presentations about NC State’s College of Ed (Ellen Vasu), the Suzhou North American (SNA) High School Project (Hiller Spires), and brief research presentations by Gail Jones, Jill Grifenhagen and John Nietfeld.
After a brief break we came back and informally broke into pairs and groups discussing potential collaborations, including research collaborations. After about 15 minutes we regrouped as one and discussed in a more formal setting potential collaborations of interest. These included:
- Joint collaboration and research on the issues, best practices, and future development of the two schools: SNA and SES in Suzhou. Internationalization of SES.
- Introduction of Nanotechnology into the SES curriculum
- Working as a team to study student progress and teacher progress over time (SNA and SES) – a longitudinal study. We would need to seek funding.
- Challenges, impediments, and benefits of NC State and Nanjing Normal placing their student teachers in an international setting – research topic. Would need funding.
- SNA and SES professional development for teachers during the summer; exchanges.
- Student exchanges between NC State and Nanjing (6 months, and also brief 2-4 week visits). They agreed to offer 2-4 week face-to-face classes on a subjects of interest to our students (such as teaching and learning in the Chinese culture).
Our conversations between faculty and doctoral students were exciting, stimulating and hold much potential for future work. Our hosts were more than gracious, and the overall event was a complete success. We ended the meeting with a gift exchange and headed for a glorious and sumptuous lunch provided by our hosts!
Next we visited the Confucius temple (1.5 hours) which turned out to be a shopping center! Then we hopped in the bus for a 4 hour or so drive to Suzhou to the Huanxiu Resort and Spa and ended the evening with another glorious dining event around a huge round table with our hosts from SNA, Vice Principal Lisa Wang and Principal Xue. The food is unbelievably beautifully cooked, and artfully displayed and is a complete sumptuous delight! Off to sleep… tomorrow another day in Suzhou.