Wicomico Schools Head Part Of Delegation To China

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) -- Wicomico County Schools Superintendent John Fredericksen is traveling to China in an effort to bring Chinese language instruction to Maryland public schools.

The trip is funded by China's Confucius Institute, though Fredericksen said he is paying his own airfare. Planning for the trip involved Maryland Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick, Washington County public schools Superintendent Betty Morgan,

University of Maryland College of Education Dean Donna Wiseman, Fredericksen and other educators.

Several world language educators and leaders of the Board of Visitors of the Confucius Institute of the University of Maryland will be among the 27-member delegation.

"This came about from an interest in expanding the number of students who get involved in world language instruction during discussions about a year and a half ago," Fredericksen said.

One program he said is of special interest is the Confucius Classroom program which could provide language instruction at an area elementary school. The program would fund a Chinese language teacher and classroom equipment.

"China recently passed Japan as the second strongest world economic power," he said. "To be able to sell to the Chinese, not just buy from them, we're going to have to step up our ability to learn the language."

He said Chinese was probably the second most important language for U.S. students to learn, after Spanish and ahead of Arabic or Farsi.

"Our goal across Maryland is to have these Chinese language classrooms with a focus on economics and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) subjects," he said, noting that learning Chinese is also a "right brain, left brain" process due to its use of characters.

Another area of interest on the trip is a visit to Chinese middle school classrooms to see technology similar to the smartboards used in Maryland classrooms. Fredericksen said there may be an effort to bring the gadgets to U.S. classrooms through a Confucius Institute grant.

A special report in "The Economist" last year characterized the Confucius Institute as the standard-bearer of China's soft-power effort to win hearts and minds. According to that article, Propaganda Chief of the Communist Party Li Changchun described the institute as "an important part of China's overseas propaganda set-up."

Nevertheless, The Economist said the Pentagon has funded some language courses at Confucius Institutes as part of a 2006 initiative George Bush sponsored to promote the study of "critical-need" languages.

Likewise, Fredericksen said giving U.S. students the opportunity to learn Chinese would do much to improve economic opportunities.

The tentative itinerary for his trip includes stops at the Confucius Institute headquarters at "HanBan" (the colloquial name for the Office of Chinese Language Council International), China's Ministry of Education, and major universities, schools and education districts. Cities visited will include Beijing, Tianjin and possibly Shanghai.

"This trip will put Wicomico County and Maryland public schools at the forefront of making world language contacts and exploring language opportunities that will benefit our students," he said.

"I am honored to be a part of this delegation, and will share my experiences with the Board of Education and the community when I return."