Global Strategies

Can the Oregonian tell the difference between educational reform and reschuffling the status quo?

The Oregonian’s editorial “Keep school reform moving” is a disappointment. It’s core argument is silly (here):

The choice now is to spend more time in this underfunded and failed system, or to grab hold and pass Kitzhaber's proposed reforms, and then shape and strengthen them on the fly.

Go with the governor. If Oregon is going to err, let's for once err on the side of action, rather than continue pretending that our early childhood programs, schools and universities are better than they are, and talk, talk, talk until every proposed change is beaten flat into a form that feels safe and fits neatly onto dusty shelves.

Passing impossible, wasteful (how could we ever fund enough programs to graduate everyone, 100% from high school) and shifting educational bureaucracies about is not educational reform. It's pretend reform that mostly reschuffles the status quo.  So, not only are we now pretending all our schools "are better than they are", but we are now pretending to reform them. “Every proposed change” has already been “beaten flat into a form that feels safe.”

Several better paths are available. The legislature could enact them. The Oregonian could support them (or at least mention them): More foreign language immersion programs (especially Mandarin), more high school and university study abroad programs, and more online education (especially many more independent online courses at the high school and university levels.).

Recall what Arvind Subramanian, author of the Eclipse, said in a recent post (here):

China, by 2030, will have a fifty percent larger economy than the United States, fifty percent more trade, it will continue to control the financial spigots of the world, and it will, perhaps, be issuing the world’s number one currency.

Does the Governor’s education reform effort really seem adequate to prepare today’s students for that world? I don’t think so!

Delaware expands foreign language immersion programs

While Oregon rearranges its state educational bureaucracies and gives them more power, a few other states are moving ahead with real educational reform. Like Utah (here), Delaware is now planning to expand foreign language immersion programs.  From the CNN article “The growing alternative to English-only education” (here):

..... Delaware recently partnered with Utah to build a similar immersion instruction program in their state. Dr. Gregory Fulkerson with Delaware’s Department of Education said they hope to have five programs implemented next year and are using Utah’s model as an example of how to structure a state led immersion initiative.

Like Utah, Fulkerson said, Delaware has an economic incentive to create dual language programs.  Many of the country’s Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Wilmington,Delaware.  Fulkerson said when one large insurance company in Wilmington decided to expand in Brussels instead of Delaware, state leaders were left asking, “why?”

The reason the company gave: “The average person in Brussels speaks three languages,” Fulkerson said, “and the average person in Wilmington, Delaware, speaks one.”

“The average person in Brussels speaks three languages, and the average person in Wilmington, Delaware, speaks one.”

“Language learning is not just about a college prerequisite skills, it’s about real world skills, language learning is about jobs,” Fulkerson said.  “So we have to do a much better job to create advanced language skills that will keep jobs in Delaware or create jobs here.”

Fulkerson also noted that while language fluency is important in business deals, it’s also the softer side of cultural competency that comes with understanding another language that businesses look for in an employee.

“What businesses really want from the people they hire is not only advanced language but an ability to communicate culturally - being appreciative of how to communicate with people of other cultures,” he said.....

Support Spanish and Mandarin Immersion Program in Lake Oswego

As part of its “Strategic Initiatives,” the Lake Oswego School District is considering adding Spanish and Mandarin immersion programs. A public hearing on the proposals will be held at 6 pm on Monday, 1/30/12, just prior to the Lake Oswego School Board meeting at 7 pm (here). The Lake Oswego School Board should, of course, move ahead with this modest immersion proposal.

The group “Advocates for World Languages at LOSD” has asked the following (here):

We ask that Lake Oswego School District expand elementary world language programs in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese starting Fall 2012, for the following reasons:

• New Revenue: Language immersion programs will help our school district combat declining enrollment and support existing programs. Every new student at LOSD brings between $6500- $8500 in revenue. If we can grow our elementary student population, we will be in a better position to protect and potentially expand existing programs (PE, Music, etc).

• Doing nothing has a cost: More families will take advantage of statewide transfer legislation and leave LOSD for new language immersion programs at Portland, Beaverton and West Linn. The district will make boundary decisions this winter that will impact the ability to plan for language immersion in the long term. We should put the children first, and move forward without delay.

• Equity in student populations: If LOSD decides to offer language immersion at River Grove Elementary, this may require portables to support additional students. Increasing the capacity at River Grove will bring it on par with the size of schools in the rest of the district. More students at River Grove will mean a stronger PTO and the ability to raise funds to support the entire school (technology, etc).

• Our group is strong and growing: 224 families representing 400 children have signed a petition asking LOSD for language immersion programs. Parents have been asking for these programs for over four years. We know our efforts will result in programs that will better serve children at LOSD.

Video: "Inside a Chinese Communist Party school"

Wenzhou, China

China’s seventeenth largest city, according to Wikipedia (here), is Wenzhou, with 5.17 million people. For comparison, the largest US City, New York, has 8 million people. Los Angeles, second in the US, has 3.7 million, Chicago, in third, has 2.6 million, and Portland at 29^th has 583,776 (here): 

From Wikipedia (here):

Wenzhou (simplified Chinese: 温州; traditional Chinese: 溫州; pinyin: Wēnzhōu; formerly Yongjia, Yung-chia) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China….

Wenzhou was a prosperous foreign treaty port, which remains well-preserved today. It is situated in a mountainous region and, as a result, has been isolated for most of its history from the rest of the country, making the local culture and language very different from those of neighbouring areas. It is also known for its emigrants who leave their native land for Europe and the United States, with a reputation for being enterprising natives who start restaurants, retail and wholesale businesses in their adopted countries. To be noted, for example, that the biggest Chinese community in Europe, in Milan, is mainly formed by families who emigrated from this district over the last 100 years….

Wenzhou exports food, tea, wine, jute, timber, paper, Alunite (a non-metallic mineral used to make alum and fertilizer). Alunite is quite abundant here and sometimes Wenzhou claims to be the "Alunite Capital of the World". Its 10 main industries each exceeding 1.5 billion dollars are electrical machinery, leather products, general equipment, power supply, plastic manufacturing, textile and garment, transport equipment, chemical products, metal products and metal processing.

From the 1990s, low-voltage electric appliances manufacturing became one of the major industries in Wenzhou, with some of the large private enterprises setting up joint ventures with GE and Schneider.

“Enter the Dragon: Here Comes China’s Creative Class”

From the Big Think article “Enter the Dragon: Here Comes China’s Creative Class” by Dominic Basulto (here): 

The Year of the Dragon – traditionally the year of big, innovative ideas and breakthrough projects - might just be the year that China's creative class enters the global spotlight. The latest signal comes from the art world, where the market for Chinese artwork is exploding, putting new Chinese artists on the same footing as the greatest names in the Western artistic tradition. Last year, for the first time ever, Picasso and Warhol were being out-sold by Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi. We already know that the Chinese are eating our lunch when it comes to the economy. Are they now taking over the creative industries as well?

Ever since the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there has been increasing chatter about the highly anticipated emergence of China’s creative class on the global stage. Five years ago, Fast Company profiled the types of high-profile Chinese creative talent - from actresses to furniture designers - who are changing the way China perceives itself. In turn, this new creative talent could power a new type of economic engine in China -- an economic engine far removed from the traditional area of manufacturing. Whereas the Chinese once exported low-cost manufacturing goods, they could soon be exporting high-end creative products. "Made in China" may soon carry an entirely different connotation......

"More parents demand immersion programs to help children thrive in a global society"

San Diego County, like the State of Utah (here), is expanding its foreign language immersion programs. Oregon is being left behind. From the U-T San Diego newspaper article “Learning in multiple languages: More parents demand immersion programs to help children thrive in a global society” by Maureen Magee (here).

…In little over a decade, the number of dual-language programs in the county has skyrocketed from nine in 2000 to 48 today — with 18 of them opening since 2009. This is one of the few areas in public education that is experiencing unprecedented growth amid California’s relentless fiscal crisis, which has forced sweeping cuts in schools throughout the county and state.

The boom in language schools is meeting increasing demands of parents who want their children prepared for top colleges, promising careers and a global society…

And:

The majority of language schools in this border region — and statewide — feature Spanish language instruction in a dual-immersion style that puts English speakers alongside native speakers. Mandarin programs are on the rise, a trend that could prepare a new generation of Americans for a projected shift in the global economy that puts China ahead of U.S. by 2025.

In dual-immersion programs, Spanish speakers benefit from learning the basics in their native language, research shows. At the same time, English speakers get the opportunity to learn another language with help from their teacher and their Spanish-speaking classmates.

Because English speakers generally take a couple of years to acclimate to instruction in a foreign language, test scores for language schools tend to lag in the early years. Nestor’s state test scores fall behind the South Bay Union School District in second and third grades, but students catch up and then outperform their counterparts in the district by the time they reach fourth grade.

For example, last year 50 percent of Nestor’s second-graders scored proficient or advanced on state math tests, compared to 60 percent of students in the district. In third grade, 59 percent of Nestor’s students reached that mark compared to 63 percent districtwide. In fourth-grade, 73 percent of Nestor’s students scored proficient or better, compared to 64 percent districtwide. By fifth grade, 70 percent of Nestor’s students scored proficient or better, compared to 56 percent of students districtwide.

Single-immersion language schools in the county schools target only English-speaking students. In addition to Spanish, San Diego has French and German immersion schools. Two public Mandarin Chinese schools opened in 2010. Plans for new language schools are in the works, including one that would teach Hebrew…

Movie Trailer: “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale”

From the Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Report article “Oscars Snub Asia as Taiwan’s ‘Seedig Bale’ Misses Out” (here):

East Asia’s cinephiles won’t have a local favorite to cheer during this year’s foreign-language Academy Awards race after the Taiwan epic “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” (賽德克‧巴萊) failed to be nominated for best foreign-language film on Tuesday. Last week, the 4-1/2-hour film — based on the true story of Taiwan’s indigenous Seediq tribes who launched an armed uprising against Japanese rule in 1930 — was among nine films short-listed for the foreign-language category.

“Seediq Bale,” from director Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), was the only film from the region to make the short list. Another high-profile blockbuster, mainland China’s “The Flowers of War” (金陵十三钗) from director Zhang Yimou (張藝謀) and starring Christian Bale didn’t make the short list. But “Seediq Bale” and “The Flowers of War” will compete at the Asian Film Awards in March, when both are up for best film and other nominations.

Netflix does not yet have “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” is stock.

This blog posted a movie trailer for “The Flowers of War” here.

On squat toilets

From the Shanghaiist article”Squat toilets prevalent in Asia better for your health?” by Cal Widdall (here):

If your household is being torn apart due to those all-to-common arguments regarding the healthiest method of defecating, there is now a solution in the form of 2-in-1 toilets. For a highly recommended visual instruction of how these devices work watch the video below (above) (along with it's dramatic mafia-esque soundtrack which sets the tone perfectly).

The blog “Stuff Asian People Like” also notes (here):

Let’s not forget the most important use of the squat, keeping the asian bottom cleaner while using the bathroom (which in many asian countries is just a hole in the ground with running water). Think about all the crap that accumulates when the cheeks are so close together (like in the american toilet). This way, asians are able to be quite economical in their choice of toiletries.

And the blog “Stuff Asian People Like” as has the following video:

Maya Frost: China as "the land of opportunity"

Maya Frost, author of The New Global Student, blogged of her first impressions of China last August as “new opportunities, quick momentum, kindness and greenery”. Of the “new opportunities,” she wrote (here):

This is the land of opportunity. What I have noticed is the willingness to accept and embrace new ideas.  I happen to work for a company that is in growth mode (like most of China) and open to suggestions, but in general, it feels like this is a place that welcomes innovation.  I had an idea for a project, and boom–marketing team is on it, and it’s scheduled to launch in October with full support from the company. There was no reluctance or endless process of evaluating the idea–instead, it was embraced with great enthusiasm and trust.  I have never been treated with more respect, listened to more intently or encouraged more wholeheartedly.