Ancient Village

I’ve got the name written down, but its in my notes in Beijing…I’ll edit this later, but I found a wireless hotspot here in Minqing so I’m using it while I can!

We left the Changjiao village sooner than I wanted (missed the ping pong game), and we headed to lunch then to an ancient village. The village has been around since the 1400s. The residents appear to be leveraging the ancient nature of the village to draw some tourists. On one hand the buildings are very old, and the construction style still reflects some of the concerns of a world gone by.

The layout of the buildings was set up to create tight winding paths to slow an enemy who might invade the village. “Murder holes” are still part of the old walls where a defender can see out and shoot an invader with an arrow while remaining safe inside the stone walls. Rounded turns make it hard for an invader to hide, and the maze-like design had most of us lost as the walls are too tall to see over, so after just a few winding paths an turns, you could lose your way quite easily.

On the other hand the modern world is slowly infiltrating the area. At all times in this village and in Changjiao I had 4 or 5 bars on my iPhone. No data network, but that may be more a product of my 1st gen iPhone than the absence of a network. In Guiyang I had no data network either but local residents appeared to have access.

Electrical wiring was all over the village. The fixtures reminded me of 1920s aged stuff, but it worked. In one home I saw a TV running. The picture seemed pretty good, and I suspect there was a dish on the roof. Not a digital dish, but all along the drive out we saw plenty of the older satelitte dishes that pick up broadcast signals.

Aside from the fact that we had to purchase tickets to enter the village, a few stores selling local crafts were clearly the by product of a tourist industry. Some of the crafts, particularly the carved wood pieces were of exceptional quality.

One wonders what will become of this village as the older generation passes and the younger grows up. It would not surprise me to see wireless broadband deployed in 2-3 years, and once that gets out into the rural areas, the physical isolation will no longer be as significant. The cell towers are already in place, and as I noted above, there my already be a data network that my phone wasn’t seeing.

Tags: China, Guiyang, P2P, Travel

Guiyang Experimental Primary School

Friday afternoon we visited a primary school in Guiyang. This visit gave us a chance to sit in on a class and observe then have an exchange with the teachers. I sat in on a Chinese reading class. What stuck me immediately upon entering the classroom was that on one half of the room was a regular classroom oriented to the right of the doorway, and on the left, desks and chairs with a group of adults sitting facing also to the right facing the class. The room was set up to observe the class. I filled into one of the empty seats with the other adults. I asked the guide what the other adults were here for, and he told me they were young teachers here to learn from the classroom teacher.

When we were all seated, the class began. The class went along well. The teacher gave some direction, and went through some content using a powerpoint presentation. Like the classroom in the high school we saw in the morning, the teacher had a console with a computer and a ceiling mounted projector and screen. I didn’t see a white board. The powerpoint had quotes from Mao Zedong. I managed to follow along that well because she had a picture of him on the presentation, and I heard her say his name, and I recognized the Mao character (毛). The guide filled in the rest for us.

After this, kids read pieces from the projection, and then, she let them loose. Kids jumped up and regrouped around the clusters of tables and all began talking at once. The teacher floated around the room and checked in with different groups. She invited us to come join her, so we too began to walk around and peek over the kids’ shoulders as they talked with each other, books in hand.

We later learned the assignment was for the kids to group up, pick a favorite passage of reading (from whatever they had that interested them) and then as a group, do a reading out loud to the class. After the kids had some time to meet and greet us as well as work out their plans, we all took our seats and the kids presented their readings. All in all, it was a fun class to watch. We left afterwards to meet up with the teachers to discuss what we saw, and share. I already had questions based on what I saw.

When were had settled into what was clearly the teacher’s lounge, we had brief introductions, then questions began. When I got a chance, I asked about the observers, and how that was structured, on-going practices, etc. The teachers deferred the answer to their principal who explained that they often had a lot of young inexperienced teachers (this is a school of 2000 primary school children), so they routinely observed more experienced teachers to learn from them. After their observations they would convene and discuss what they saw. In addition, all teachers were expected to do classroom observations of their peers to learn as well as to be observed at least 2 times per year.

Others noted to me that classrooms they visited also had the observation section all set up. While technology is used almost entirely as a projection device, their model of observations and such was very refreshing to see. I wish our schools could institute models like that, and also build a culture where it was welcomed and seen as positive for all as it was in this school.

I also noticed that all the teachers and the principal wore matching suits. It was clear that this was not for our benefit, but part of their professional practice. While I don’t think it would be implementable in US schools to require matching suits, I do think the level of professionalism as reflected in their dress was also refreshing to see. Not that our American teachers don’t dress well, but sometimes, it is hard to tell the difference between a well-dressed student and a teacher. “Better than the best dressed camper” as we used to say at tennis camp…

Tags: Guiyang, P2P

No 3 Experimental High School – Guiyang

Today (Friday) we spent the morning at a middle/high school, the No 3 Experimental High School. Its a relatively new school (4 years old) that is home to almost 2000 students. Its a boarding school where kids stay in dorms during the week and return home for the weekends.

In front of the school is a large open courtyard. As we drove in to the courtyard, we could see faces of students at most all the windows on all 5 floors of the school peeking out to see us arrive. They were very excited. Some of them waved and shouted their hellos to us. We worked our way up the stairs and made brief stops at each floor to look at some of the displays on the walls. At each stairwell there was a room that might be described as a lounge area. On the walls were murals and other representations that showed different scenes from portraits of famous Chinese educators and thinkers to famous artists and philosophers of the West.

In one there was a large globe that stood about 5 feet tall. It came in handy later when I was approached by a group of 5 girls. I’d guess their age to be about 14 or maybe 9th graders, but we have found that we often miss the mark, especially with the girls. Most are much smaller and shorter than their American counterparts. Anyway, like most people I’ve met since arriving, I am somewhat of an enigma. I’m Chinese, but I’m not Chinese. “Are you Chinese?” they ask. I know if I say “Yes” then that means I speak Chinese. If I say “No” then they respond, “Oh, but you look Chinese, where are you from?” It always takes a little to explain that I’m an American, but I’m ethnically Chinese. I’ve now started to explain that I’m American, but my family originates from Fuzhou area. That seems to help. I’ve also uploaded some photos of my father, great grant father, and great-great grandfather onto my iPhone to show them. Anyway, with this group, we went to the globe so we could look to see where Maine is, where we were in Guiyang, and where Fuzhou is located.

When we reached the top of the building, we toured about the 6th floor. Most of the rooms were set aside as club rooms. The school’s principal explained to me that students had club time 2 times per week. One room was dedicated to board games, another had Japanese anime and comic books. One set of rooms were filled with science projects. One of the things that I wish we had in our schools was electronics. Kids here were building circuit boards and computer-like things. In one room, a student had constructed a gizmo that had some sort of electronic eye that could sense you walking by it. It was mounted at the doorway. When you tripped the electronic eye, it played a recording ‘Ni Hao’ or ‘Hello’. Then, it increased a counter by one that was displayed on a calculator. So the student had modified a calculator or hijacked its display so that it would show how many people had entered or exited the room.

After looking around, we attended a class. I happened to be the first person there. The kids were waiting for us to arrive. They were seated in the front of the room, and had left all the seats in the back open as well as one column that ran all the way to the front. So, I walked to the front-most seat. About half way there, the kids turned and saw me, and broke out into applause. I was a bit surprised by the welcome to say the least, especially since I was the only member of the delegation at the time. I waved sheepishly, and found my seat. All eyes were on me for a minute until the rest of the group arrived.

The classroom had a slightly raised platform in the front for the teacher. It was also set up with a teaching console that included a sound and video system, and a computer. There was an interactive whiteboard (pushed into the corner), chalk board, and a ceiling mounted projector and projection screen. Once we all arrived, the teacher began the lesson. To start, she said something to the class, and tey all stood, bowed, and responded. I believe it was basically, “good morning students” and they responded appropriately.

The teacher led the class from the front of the room using Powerpoint to show some text, photographs, played some music, and even some video. There was some teacher directed questions to the class with responses from some students. Throughout the kids had a workbook out that had a lot of writing in it. Later I was told, the teacher was lecturing about an article that was about a Chinese writer who had written about Beijing. She was explaining who he was, and what he had written about, and about Beijing. I had my laptop, so I captured a few minutes of that lesson in video.
Chinese Classroom at No 3 Experimental High School

After the class, we gathered back in the courtyard where we first arrived to watch the kids (all 2000 of them) do their exercises. One teacher stood at the front and gave some encouraging words (he reminded me a little of a football coach as he wasn’t simply talking, but shouting into a microphone with a lot of gusto). The kids all knew the routine and worked their way through some calisthenics, then they broke up and headed back for their classrooms, but not before many of them came to greet all of us. The same group of girls that talked to me earlier came and found me again. The leader of the pack spoke very good English. She wanted me to take a photo of them with me in it (I had snapped a photo of them earlier). One of the school teachers helped out and took our photo. I asked them for an email address to email them the photo, but they said they didn’t have an email address, but that they used qq and could contact me. I gave them all my card, and await a note from them. I suspect they do have email, otherwise, how are they going to email me? Anyway, I also have an email of the school, and we were told we could email the school, and the kids would get the photos.

We met afterwards with a group of teachers to talk about the school, technology, etc., but I’ve got to run now…more later…including our afternoon visit to a primary school. Cheers!

Tags: China, Guiyang, P2P

Sino-US Education Guizhou Forum

Today was the official conference day held at the Guizhou Normal University in Guiyang. Upon arrival we were greeted by students dressed in traditional clothing representing the many ethnic monorities that live in Guizhou province. It was far more of a reception that I had anticipated. It was one thing to see local residents curiously surrounding the members of the group previously at the People’s Square, it was another to see the students lined up, dancing, and playing music to greet us as we disembarked from our buses (there are 9 bus loads of delegates).

The morning was held in a large auditorium that probably seated 1000 or more people. Everyone in the auditorium was provided with an IR receiver and ear piece that provided both English and Chinese near real-time translation services so that both the American and Chinese participants could listen to translations of the various introductory remarks and keynote addresses.

Since the American delegates represent a large cross-section of interest areas (ed tech, science teachers, research, history teachers, etc), the keynote addresses mostly provided background information about Chinese or American education systems and also background information about education initiatives, successes, and challenges in Guizhou province.

Afterward, we were broke into small groups and were each assigned to a student volunteer. Our student, “Yolanda” took us to the school dining hall for lunch then a tour of the school’s library. It took some coaxing, but we were able to get her to sit down and each some food with us and talk. She is a sophomore English major. Her English language skills are pretty good, and way better than our Chinese! Her goal is to become a teacher after graduation. She also provided us with some background information about the school and life on campus. She does own her own laptop computer, but I got the sense that fewer students own their own laptops than one might see on an American college campus. She lives in the dorms. She shares her room with 5 other girls.

On our tour of the library, I think our little group of 6 people caught the eye of the Library administrator who tailed us for the most of the tour. Not sure if it was because we were too curious or what, but she definitely gave us more attention than other groups, and was very insistent that we visit certain parts of the library.

We saw two computer labs. In both students were doing a variety of things…from surfing the web including social networking sites, to watching movies online or writing papers. Yolanda explained that they used an online database system that the University had created that contained information about Guizhou. When we asked her about wikipedia, she had no idea it existed. When we showed it to her, I got the sense that it was simply something she had never been told existed, and that her professors had helped provide her with resources from other places, so it simply just isn’t on the radar. It did load on their computers, so it wasn’t blocked, but clearly not a site that was in any common use on campus. At lunch she was equally unaware of Facebook and MySpace, but she did say she used “qq”. Others mentioned “qq” on other occasions. I believe qq is a portal site that includes social networking tools. Its all in Chinese…

We spent that end of the day in a very cramped classroom with our 30 delegates and almost as many Chinese participants representing the University and some K12 schools and systems in Guizhou province. Our group leader, Bob Moore, gave a brief presentation that outlines some of the challenges, initiatives and trends in education technology in the US. A professor of Computers and Computer Science at the University spoke next. Through his translated slides and an interpreter, he gave what I felt to be a very good talk on his views of education and education technology. Briefly, he identified some common themes and provided some nice metaphors to help explain them. The overall message was technology is a tool, but it can be a tool that can help to make clearer what language alone can’t provide. Further, that technology used in some ways will actually negatively impact student learning. I won’t try and rewrite everything he said, but I have printed copies of his slides that’ll bring home.

Following the presentations, we opened the floor to questions. Most of the early questions had little substance but ultimately helped get people to share and talk more. By the end (the time was not enough as usual) questions and conversations began to get interesting.

Tags: Guiyang, P2P

The Great Wall

Tuesday was our one day to explore a little of Beijing and surrounding areas. As a group, we traveled to a cloisonné factory and “gift shop”, the Great Wall, and the old part of Beijing to eat at a famous restaurant referred to as “the Roasted Duck Restaurant”.

The factory was a combination of tourist trap/restaurant/factory. There was a brief tour to show us how cloisonné is made. A few women were at work stations doing each of the many stages of the process. Its too bad that the women working in the section that we toured were not prepared to talk to the group about their work. There were official guides telling us the story of the process, but I felt bad for the women working there who simply had to keep working while we swarmed through their workspace without a chance to engage with us. It may just not be the way things are done, but I felt like they had been put on spectacle like museum display.

Lunch went well, and then the group was off to go shopping in the store. It was full of small to large cloisonné objects, clothing, jade jewelry, and more. Since I know I’m staying a week longer, I didn’t feel the desperate need to buy souvenirs as much of the rest of the group. We’ve been advised that in Guiyang (flying out today) the area is very rural and economically depressed, so our time there is really going to be spent on our professional exchange with other educators, and time for shopping will be limited if non-existent.

The section of the wall we visited was very steep, and left us breathless and wobbly-knee-ed before too long. Across the valley we could see a long section that ran along a ridgeline, but it was not open to us. I would have liked to have been on that section to get some “long” photos. I guess it just means I’ll have to make sure to return another time. Maybe not this trip, but some day.

After climbing up to about the 3rd guard tower, with a few more to go, I elected to call it a day and head back down. A few of the group did make it “to the top” although a misunderstanding on time for return left two of the group labeled by our guide as “loose noodles” and encouraged us to remain “sticky rice”. Suffice to say, the loose noodles will likely not hear the end of that label for the rest of the week.

Dinner was in the old section of Beijing at an historic restaurant know for its Peking Duck. The meal was very good, and included scorpions along with Duck. Our table turned out to be the “fun table” and all the scorpions were consumed as well as all of our “fire water” and the fire water from at least 4 other tables as well.

After dinner, a few of us headed out on foot for Tiananmen Square. I’m running out of time…so that’s another post!

Tags: China, P2P, Travel