Language barriers were overcome and friendships were made when students and administrators from China’s Tianjin High School No.41 took a tour of Guilderland High School on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
In an effort to learn more about the American educational system, 29 Chinese students and 8 administrators visited classrooms, observed lessons and participated in a question and answer session with students and officials from Guilderland Central.
“This world is very large, but today it seems very small,” said Superintendent Marie Wiles to the group. “It is my hope that this visit will allow us to become friends.”
Tianjin High School No.41 became a sister school to the Tech Valley High School in East Greenbush last February. This is the second time students and administrators from Tianjin have visited the Capital District. The partnership is designed to help both Tech Valley and Tianjin High School students prepare for a global workforce by building lifelong connections through future exchanges.
The hope is some of the additional schools they visit will sign on to become partners with the Chinese school to promote student exchanges within those districts as well. Last year, the delegation visited Bethlehem High School on their stay, along with the districts of South Colonie, Schodack, and Schoharie.
The students visited Bethlehem High School once again this year to attend a basketball game. Besides Guilderland, the delegation visited schools in Cohoes and Catskill, so those visiting could see a cross section of urban, suburban and rural schools in the area.
The group also gets a glimpse of the American culture by attending sporting events, eating in local restaurants, shopping and visiting the New York State Museum.
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Demian Singleton welcomed the delegation and said the chance to learn from the group was to Guilderland’s advantage. “We hope you had a chance to learn from us as well,” he said to the students.
The students were split into groups of five and were guided by volunteers from Guilderland. Students from Tech Valley tagged along as well to act as interpreters for the groups. From there, the students were able to get a glimpse of a variety of classes from music, technology and algebra, to English, social studies and science.
Along the way, students asked each other questions about their country’s educational systems. The Chinese students were surprised to learn that a class filled with 25 to 30 participants is considered large. In China, the average class size is around 50 students.
The delegation was seeking out new instructional models for its students. Tianjin High School No. 41 Principal Tianshun Chen said the visit taught administrators about giving students more freedom to learn on their own.
“In China, teachers work more on discipline and study with students, but here teachers cultivate student creation,” he said. “We treasure these good practices and we will try to memorize them to use them back home.”
Last year, the delegation partnered with teachers from Tech Valley to learn more about project-based learning.
Guilderland High School Principal Thomas Lutsic said he was happy with the visit’s outcome.
“They liked a lot of the hands-on lessons,” said Lutsic, who walked with administrators along the tour. “They liked the idea of fostering student creativity.”
