UA, Shanghai Normal University Begin Elementary Ed Partnership

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s College of Education is strengthening its international ties through a collaborative effort with Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College in China.

Four education professors from Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College are in Tuscaloosa to observe and study pedagogy, classroom interaction, and implementation of curriculum at UA and in the Tuscaloosa-area elementary schools.

The Chinese delegation will complete its two-week stay Friday.

The delegation’s visit is just one facet of the collaboration, which will include faculty and student exchanges over the next 10 years.

Juan Xu, associate dean in the College of Education at Tianhua College, said the goal of Chinese education professors is to use the information gathered at UA to help develop their curriculum for their collaborative elementary education program in China.

“Chinese elementary school curriculum is very different from here, and we’re thinking about to what degree we should bring in the American perspective to our students,” Xu said. “We want our students to learn more about learning and teaching styles here in the U.S.. We like the way the teachers encourage or motivate students’ learning.

“We also want to prepare students for research. The methods used here for research are more systematic and easier to understand and implement.”

Xu said the experience should, through revamped instruction, help elementary education students develop an “international perspective” and will bring that perspective to their future students.

The collaboration was finalized last summer when Dr. Peter Hlebowitsh, dean of the UA College of Education, signed an agreement to allow pre-service teachers at SNU to spend up to a year studying at UA. UA faculty will also travel to China to conduct workshops, observe instruction in Shanghai, and teach courses.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” said Dr. Joy Burnham, director of International Programs in the College. “We want to increase our global footprint, and we’re pleased to be a part of this collaborative effort.”

Members of the delegation visiting campus include Juan Xu; Suman Han, program director; Jiao Jiao, assistant professor of elementary education; and Yan Yang, assistant professor of elementary education.

Han said she and her colleagues are taking in everything in their classroom visits, from the spacing between students in the classrooms to how the halls of elementary schools are decorated.

“We see a lot of children’s products, things they’ve created, and displayed in the corridors of the schools here,” Han said. “We do show some work of students, but in Shanghai, because we have far more students per school, this is more limited in scope.”

Jiao said the larger class sizes in Shanghai can make it difficult to move instruction along at a desired pace. The setup can also limit opportunities for group assignments, which she observed while touring Tuscaloosa-area elementary schools.

“We also noticed some higher-order critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, and creative thinking skills involved in the school curriculum and in UA’s teaching curriculum,” Jiao said. “We also want to learn how to involve that in our classroom teaching.”

The first wave of undergraduate education students from China will begin classes at UA in three years. About 100 students, either juniors or seniors, will participate over the next 10 years.

Hlebowitsh said he has been impressed with the caliber of the Chinese scholars.

“Their English is first-rate, and they are quite eager to observe our schools and take away insights that they believe are applicable to their system,” Hlebowitsh said. “We’re trying to do the same when we visit them.

“They have spectacularly successful schools and very strong scholars who can give us new ideas on how to make improvements here. That’s what our partnership is all about.”