On Tuesday morning March 25, One World was honored to host 5 educators from Nanjing, China. For those in the know, Nanjing is considered one of the top educational school ditriects in the nation. Our visitors included
- The Director General of Nanjing Municipal Education Bureau: Wu, Xiuliang
- The Prinicipal of Nanjing, No. 1 High School: Zhu, Yan
- The Party Vice President of Nanjing Xiaozhuang University: Wang, Benyu
- Deputy Director of Sports & Arts Education: Yao, Min
- English Teacher of Nanjing Foreign Language School: Zhu Lin
We started our visit at Sleepy Hollow High School where we met with Principal Dr. Brand and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Jeff Gorman. We shared ideas on how best to prepare students entering school this year for the year 2040 when they will be sophomores in college if all goes well.
Dr. Brand talked about Tarrytown’s Portrait of a Learner where one of the standout skills that they seek to cultivate is creativity where teachers encourage students to think imaginatively, generate innovative ideas, and approach issues from fresh angles, cultivating open-mindedness and adaptability, all talents students will need to be successful in 2040. We then began to discuss different AI strategies in each school. Mr. Wu explained that in Nanjing their schools are moving quickly to integrate AI into the classrooms. He explained that he oversees some pilot programs where the students are divided into 4 groups in a flipped classroom where the teacher facilitates the learning with the AI encouraging their students to take ownership of their education.
At the close of the meeting our Chinese friends gifted Dr. Brand a plaque the encapsulated a saying from famous Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi who attended Columbia University with John Dewey, the saying spoke to the joy of teaching.
From there we set up a Zoom call with Port Chester High School Principal Luke Sotherden. Mr. Sotherden shared the Seal of Global Competence he developed with One World at Harvard visiting Professor Reimers’ classroom. Ms. Zhu Lin explained that a number of the students at her Foreign Language school end up studying in the United States and that one way her school helps their students achieve global competence is via the numerous Sister School programs they have in place.
We followed that meeting with a second Zoom link this time with Clarkstown Superintendent Dr. Marc Baiocco who told our Chinese visitors about Clarkstown’s Future Ready Program he has been implementing in the Clarkstown School District with the help of One World. The program is being implemented districtwide as you can see from their website: https://www.ccsd.edu/
We finished the string of visits with lunch at One World headquarters where we were joined by Judy Diaz Director of Multilingual Programs and World Languages in the Mamaroneck School District and by Dr. Joanne Ferrara, Professor Emeritus of Manhattanville, College, and One World Education Advisor. Over the course of the lunch, we shared ideas on how we might work together to create a Coalition for Sustainable Global Abundance. Dr. Ferrara talked about her trip to Nanjing and how it had changed her view of China. We all agreed that building a Coalition for Global Abundance should be an important goal for K12 educators and then agreed to explore ways we can move forward and build a world without poverty and hunger, full of abundance.
