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Educators meet in Minneapolis for groundbreaking summit
Sometimes the quest to learn is so great, people will travel great distances to do so. How about 7-8,000 miles? Forty school principals from China are in Minneapolis this week for a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind U.S.-China Principal's Summit. "They (U.S. principals) want to learn the Chinese way and the Chinese schools want to learn the U.S. way, so we can meet in the middle, finally!" Lin Wei Ping said, through an interpreter. Ping is the Director of the Wenzhou Education Bureau. He's in charge of 1.5-million students in 1,000 schools, in one of China's most affluent cities. Yet Ping's budget is just half that of the Minnesota Department of Education's budget and our state caters to half as many students. "Right now in China, one teacher has to cover at least 50 students," Ping added. The summit is a chance for educators from different halves of the globe to come together and talk about their differences. It's a chance for principals to learn from each other. "In the world going forward, we need each other. I think we need their hard work and dedication coupled with our innovation and creativity," Willmar Principal Rob Anderson said. Anderson jumped at the opportunity to discuss education in China. He says the response at his high school was overwhelming when the district offered a Chinese language class. Now he's discussing the possibility of adding another teacher. "Maybe we could send them an English teacher and maybe they could send us a Chinese teacher," Anderson said. The biggest cultural difference Anderson discussed with his Chinese counterparts is among high school students. He says there is more pressure to perform for kids in China and more freedom of class choice here in America. America will see a lot more of China this summer, when the country hosts the Summer Olympic Games. That idea brings a smile to Lin Wei Ping's face. "We have waited a hundred years," he said. The 40-principal delegation will stop in Boston at Harvard before heading home.
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