Press Releases
136 New Chinese Guest Teachers Arrive for Assignments in Schools Across the United States
07/24/08
NEW YORK — One hundred thirty-six teachers from China will arrive in the United States Monday, July 28, to be placed in classrooms across the United States. Joining the growing force of Chinese teachers now helping to expand foreign language learning opportunities for American secondary and elementary students, the teachers are part of the Chinese Guest Teacher Program, a collaboration of the College Board, the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, and China’s Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban). The program arranges for visiting teachers from China to teach in U.S. schools for one to three years, in order to jump-start or expand school Chinese language and culture programs.
The 136 Chinese teachers, the third group to arrive as part of the initiative, will participate in the STARTALK Guest Teacher Summer Institute at Stanford University July 28-Aug. 6. The Summer Institute offers professional development for the newly arriving teachers from China prior to their placement as teachers in elementary and secondary schools in 32 states across the United States. Covering such topics as the structure of U.S. K-12 education, K-12 foreign language teaching standards, communication strategies, course design, classroom management and materials development, the program is organized by the College Board in collaboration with partner associations such as National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, California Foreign Language Project, and Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools. The Summer Institute is made possible by a grant from STARTALK, which is one of the projects of the National Security Language Initiative, a multiagency effort to expand foreign language education in undertaught critical languages.
Participation in the Chinese Guest Teacher Program has grown exponentially. The first group of 37 teachers arrived in January 2007; the second group of 64 teachers arrived in August 2007. Though some of these teachers have returned to China to resume teaching, others have accepted their host schools’ invitation to renew contracts and teach in the United States for an additional year. The total number of Chinese guest teachers hosted in the United States through the program for the 2008-09 school year will be 193, including the 136 new participants this year. The teachers will be hosted by a total of 130 schools and districts nationwide, including elementary, middle and high schools.
Chinese is the national language of the more than 1.3 billion inhabitants of China and millions more ethnic Chinese around the globe, and is the most widely spoken first language in the world. Though more than 200 million Chinese schoolchildren are studying English — often begun as early as the second grade — experts estimate that no more than 50,000 U.S. students are studying Chinese.
Hanban provides the teachers with monthly stipends and international transportation, while host schools and districts are responsible for mentoring, housing, local transportation and administrative fees. As part of the selection process, the College Board and the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages interview guest teachers individually to assess teaching skills, adaptability and English proficiency. The guest teachers work at host schools for one year and then have the option to stay for up to three years if both the school and teacher are satisfied.
This June, administrators from some guest teacher host institutions joined the Chinese Bridge Delegation to travel with more than 400 educators on a trip to China to familiarize themselves with the country’s culture, language and education systems. The delegation and the Chinese Guest Teacher Program are both part of a collaborative initiative between Hanban and the College Board to promote the learning of Chinese language and culture in U.S. K-12 schools.