CI at WMU 5 Year Report English (Spreads) Final

The Institute is a non-profit organization jointly funded by Western Michigan University WMU and HANBAN the executive body of the Chinese Language Council International and part of China

Confucius Institute

at Western Michigan University

2009-2014

2009-2014 F ive Year Report

John M Dunn President Western Michigan University

Confucius Institute Director Western Michigan University

Confucius Institute at Western Michigan University

2009-2014

Welcome to the Confucius Institute at Western Michigan University (CI at WMU) The Institute is a non-profit organization jointly funded by Western Michigan University (WMU) and HANBAN (the executive body of the Chinese Language Council International and part of China’s Ministry

of Education) that manages a collaborative effort between WMU and Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) One of nearly 100 Confucius Institutes located throughout the United States, each with a distinctive program, the CI

at WMU’s principal goal is to provide Chinese language and cultural programs throughout Southwest Michigan The primary constituents of the Institute’s programs are WMU students and faculty, regional K-12 schools, local businesses, and the broader community of Southwest Michigan

this booklet an overview of our accomplishments Our Institute continues to grow and expand with each year, introducing new programs, forging new partnerships and providing language and cultural learning opportunities for Southwest Michigan Over the course of our first five years, we have actively engaged and developed programming in two major West Michigan school districts and have hosted hundreds of courses and workshops on Chinese language and culture on WMU’s

campus and throughout the region.

Sangren Hall

in the United States, Western Michigan

University, founded in 1903, is committed

to being learner centered, discovery

driven and globally engaged The Carnegie

Foundation for the Advancement of

Teaching has classified WMU as one of the

nation’s 147 public research universities,

and U.S News & World Report has

recognized it as one of the United States’

best universities for the past 24 years

The University offers 251 academic

programs to its nearly 25,000 students

pursuing bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral

degrees; more than 20 percent are

enrolled in its 73 master’s or 30 doctoral

programs WMU also offers a

CEA-accredited English as a Second Language

program—CELCIS, a comprehensive

international student orientation program,

and hosts numerous volunteer, cultural,

and touring opportunities More than 1,800

international students representing 100

countries are studying in WMU’s nationally

computer science, engineering, aviation, health care, education, and many others

The University is also home to a private medical school and it is affiliated with a private law school

WMU’s main campus is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a safe, friendly, college town with easy access to Chicago and Detroit and within a one hour drive

of Lake Michigan’s beautiful beaches and numerous outdoor recreation areas

The Confucius Institute at WMU was founded in fall 2009, with a focus on expanding knowledge of Chinese language and culture throughout West Michigan

WMU is proud to be among the 100 institutions in the United States hosting

a Confucius Institute The University greatly values the rich opportunities that the Confucius Institute at WMU provides campus and the community to become more globally engaged

Beijing Language and Culture University

(BLCU) is located in northwest Beijing,

the capital of China and center of

the country’s political, cultural and

international activities, offering an

ideal location from which to study

Chinese language, history, politics and

culture BLCU is the only university

in China whose main mission is to

teach Chinese language and culture to

international students

BLCU provides teachers to the CI at

WMU on an annual basis who are

trained in teaching Chinese as a Second

Language and in conducting Chinese

culture courses In our inaugural year,

the Institute and the WMU community

welcomed from BLCU six teachers and

Associate Director Dr Jiwei Fu, who

greatly aided the Institute in carrying

out its mission In our fifth year, the CI

at WMU is pleased to have seventeen

BLCU teachers and volunteer teachers and Associate Director Dr Haitao Yu

to support our programming They all have contributed to and enriched our program in ways we could not have imagined

BLCU and WMU have a long history

of collaboration, which was initiated by

Dr Wang Xiaojun, WMU professor of Chinese language, who was a faculty member at BLCU before coming to the United States For many years,

Dr Wang has led a study abroad program at BLCU for WMU Chinese language students, and many of those students subsequently enroll

at BLCU for a semester or academic year of additional language study These cooperative ventures have been enhanced through our partnership in the Confucius Institute program

B eijing L anguage and C uLture u niversity

BLCU Campus | International Wall

M a i n P r o g r a m s a n d

The first initiative of the CI at WMU was to meet with the Superintendents leading the nine school districts in Kalamazoo County In January 2010, Dr Wang, Director of the CI at WMU and Dr Donald McCloud, Dean of WMU’s Diether H Haenicke Institute for Global Education, briefed the Superintendents on the programs the Institute could offer and other potential opportunities for school districts within the geographical boundaries of the newly established CI at WMU At the time, all local school districts were facing severe financial constraints, and the initial responses by the Superintendents vividly reflected their concerns about financing new program initiatives Nevertheless, this early contact with local schools opened the way for developing Confucius Institute programs within several local districts

Accomplishments

Portage Public Schools

The most positive response to the introduction

of the Confucius Institute program came

from Portage Public Schools (PPS), the district

immediately south of Kalamazoo With a student

population of more than 8,500 students in

grades kindergarten through 12th, the district is

among the most progressive in Southwestern

Michigan In meetings that followed soon after

the initial presentation to Superintendents, PPS administrators explained that they already had created a plan for an experimental three-year pilot program aimed at introducing Chinese language at the element ar y-school level

While the Confucius Institute was not in a position to provide block-grant funding, the

availability of Chinese teachers and volunteers already trained in teaching Chinese as a Second Language provided the core instructional and leadership group to begin the Portage experiment

in the fall of 2010 Two first-grade classrooms

at Amberly Elementary and two at Lake Center Elementary were randomly selected through a lottery system to begin Chinese language studies

BLCU volunteers Han-Han and Jinwei Peng

were the pioneer Chinese teachers at

The Chinese language program in Portage was

very successful and extremely popular among

parents and teachers Over the next several years,

in addition to classroom language study, a number

of community cultural activities were offered—

many directly involving the children—to expand and reinforce the language-learning process

The program at Portage’s two high schools followed

a different path Rather than focus immediately

on offering Chinese language, the Social Studies Coordinators at Portage Northern and Portage Central High Schools implemented a plan to use BLCU volunteers to introduce Chinese cultural and historical content into existing classes Working with the high school teachers, the BLCU volunteers researched and developed short units to present

Portage Public Schools

g r e a t c u r i o s i t y a b o u t C h i n a , s o m e o f

the diverse topics covered in these

course-enrichment units were: Chinese pen and ink

drawing, China’s government, life in modern

China, Chinese geography, China since 1900,

women’s roles in China, Chinese calligraphy,

Ancient China, China after the Cultural Revolution,

and Buddhism, Daoism and Legalism in China

During the third year of the program, leadership

changes at Port age Public Schools shifted

program interests in different directions A

fourth year of elementary Chinese was offered

as an after-school activity, but in the spring of

2014 the elementary Chinese language program

at Portage closed The elementar y Chinese

language program in the Portage schools reached approximately 600 students over four years

Meanwhile, the PPS high school enrichment program has continued, with the greatest level of activity being carried out at Portage Northern High School In the summer of 2014, Portage Northern High School and the CI at WMU began planning for Chinese language to be offered in conjunction with the International Baccalaureate program (IB) already operating there It is anticipated that during the 2014-

2015 academic year, IB teacher training, curriculum development and marketing for students entering high school in the fall of 2015 will get underway

During the second year of the experimental elementary language program at Portage Public

Schools, HANBAN approved funding in March

2011 for four Confucius Classrooms to be located

at Amberly and Lake Center elementary schools and Portage Northern and Central high schools

The classrooms were launched in fall 2011, but leadership changes at PPS meant that the Confucius Classroom programs were never fully utilized

In the summer of 2010, the CI at WMU sent a group

of ten teachers and administrators from Michigan

to China for an educational tour The group studied Chinese language and culture at BLCU, as well

as traveling for a week in China to experience the unique charm and culture of Shaoxing, Hangzhou and Shanghai The educational tour was offered for the following two summers for smaller groups

Forest Hills Public Schools (FHPS) is located on

the east side of Grand Rapids, Michigan, about

an hour north of Kalamazoo FHPS is a large school

district of more than 10,000 students The district

has offered an immersion Spanish language program

for 15 years, so with strong parental and community support, accepting the challenge of developing

an immersion Chinese program appeared to be a next logical step for the District Meadow Brook Elementary School was selected to house two

immersion classes per grade, in which the students received a half day of their instruction in Chinese and a half day in English The immersion Chinese program is based on mathematics and science It

is one of the few Chinese immersionelementary Forest Hills Public Schools

programs of its kind in Michigan Launched at

the kindergarten level, the program now extends

through grade 6 Traditional Chinese language

classes are also offered at the high-school level

While FHPS has collaborated with Confucius

Institute programs at Michigan State University, as

well as the Asia Society, the CI at WMU became

an enthusiastic partner with FHPS in early 2012, initially placing one teacher at the high-school level and one volunteer at Meadow Brook Elementary The following year, the number of teachers and volunteers tripled to six teachers and volunteers

Forest Hills Public Schools

their program has continued to pick

up momentum and expand in new ways In

addition to providing support staff, the CI

at WMU holds summer cultural activities,

such as bus trips to Chicago’s Chinatown for

students and their families

In 2014, the CI at WMU in collaboration

with FHPS and Meadow Brook Elementary

began a project to translate essential classroom materials into Chinese Math and science readers, story books, and other materials have been translated for use in daily classes

The CI at WMU and FHPS are planning to develop a Confucius Classroom at Northern Trails 5/6 School, which houses the Chinese language program for grades 5 and 6

Programs/ A

Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, the CI at WMU placed

a BLCU volunteer at the Montessori School of Kalamazoo The Montessori curriculum differs substantially from a traditional school, so

it was necessary to experiment and adapt our methods and approaches

to Chinese language instruction to fit the Montessori curriculum and teaching format Through experimentation, the program has transitioned

to an after-school language class for those students interested in studying Chinese As a private school with a specialized curriculum, the Montessori School of Kalamazoo attracted a diverse but select student population, and although the program is expected to remain small it will play a vital role in the language development of the children participating

in the program

Montessori School of Kalamazoo

The Kalamazoo Public School District (KPS) is the largest in Kalamazoo County, with an enrollment of approximately 12,500 students attending one of four high schools, five middle schools and 18 elementary schools

Since fall of 2013, KPS has offered Chinese language classes as an after-school elective in a program located at Prairie Ridge Elementary School The District has secured its own teaching and support staff, while the CI at WMU provided textbooks and instructional materials

The district also offers specialized schools—magnet schools focused on the arts, math, science, and other areas It has received national recognition through the

“Kalamazoo Promise,” which offers a four-year tuition scholarship to a Michigan university for any student who completes grades Kindergarten through 12th grade in the KPS District Prorated, partial tuition scholarships are available to KPS graduates who did not complete their entire K-12 education in the District

Kalamazoo Public Schools

The CI at WMU encourages and actively seeks partnerships within WMU,

regionally, and globally to expand our scope of activities and programs

Past collaborations have included hosting activities or events with the Chinese

language program at WMU, the Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies, the

WMU Department of Theatre, the Chinese Association of Greater Kalamazoo,

the Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce, Inland Lakes Schools, and many other

organizations

In addition to the active Chinese programs offered at Forest Hills Public Schools

and Portage Public Schools, the CI at WMU collaborates most frequently with

WMU’s Chinese language program and the Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies Currently, the CI at WMU is providing one Confucius Institute teacher and one volunteer to teach for-credit courses in WMU’s Chinese language program Considered our sister center, the Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies and the CI at WMU collaborate each year on several events or activities, including film screenings and guest lecturers Since 2012, the CI at WMU has cosponsored 12 lectures in collaboration with the Light Center A comprehensive listing of lecture speakers and topics is included in the appendix

Partnerships and Collaborations

Programs/ A

In addition to established school partnerships and programs, the CI at WMU will often contribute to special events at non-partner schools throughout Michigan Events have included cultural celebrations, Asia festivals, diversity days, and more The CI at WMU will work with schools to prepare an event or activity that best meets their objective Requests for school events have continued to increase each year as Chinese language and cultural programs in Michigan gain popularity and momentum

The CI at WMU also supports the Kalamazoo Country Day School, providing a volunteer teacher for their weekly one-hour, after-school Chinese language program The Modern Chinese Language School of Kalamazoo, a community language school, is also supported by the CI at WMU, which provides volunteer instructors for weekend Chinese language classes

Other School-based Events and Activities

Programs/ A

Chinese Culture Classes are a

staple of our Confucius Institute

These non-credit, low-cost classes are

taught in English and are open to WMU

faculty, staff, students and the public

Among some of the first activities

of our Institute, Culture Classes are

offered every semester Classes have

varied over the years covering a wide

range of topics, including Chinese

cooking, crafts, dance, medicine,

painting, calligraphy, music, modern

culture and Tai Chi

Workshops on Chinese culture were

introduced in 2012 that are open to the

public They provide an opportunity to

learn about a specific aspect of Chinese

culture in one or two hours Past

workshops have introduced attendees

to Chinese paper cutting, Chinese knot

tying, Chinese calligraphy, and more

Chinese Culture Classes and Workshops

Programs/ A

an HSK certificate is issued, which is recognized without limitation in the People’s Republic of China and which can be useful for higher education and professional purposes

The HSK, HSKK and YCT are now offered several times a year through the CI at WMU The number of test takers has continued to grow with each year, drawing in more participants and from states as far as New York

In 2014, 45 participants took the HSK through the CI at WMU

Staff of the CI at WMU conducted research

studies to examine the impact of beginning

Chinese language programs on learning patterns

among elementary school students In response

to parental concerns, the study’s primary

goal was to learn whether and how Mandarin

language programs at Amberly and Lake

Center elementary schools influenced overall

reading and other scholastic achievements

among students participating in the language

program compared to students who did not

study Mandarin Achievement data were being

measured regularly by the State of Michigan

using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early

Literacy Skills (DIBELS) test

The findings of this study proved to be surprising and very interesting Although the statistical measures were close, in all test cycles the students participating in the Mandarin language elementary school program performed slightly higher than their non-Mandarin language learning peers in virtually all the reading categories measured This was particularly interesting since the students in the Mandarin group were selected through a random process that reduced or eliminated many possible individual motivational explanations, and the data does not provide an explanation for why these students should have performed above the cohort average for each grade level

The results of this research, as well as other issues pertaining to the introduction of Chinese language classes at Portage elementary schools, were reported at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA), the regional grouping of the Association for Asian Studies, which was held

at WMU in September of 2012 The CI at WMU panel at the event was titled, “Lessons Learned from Implementation and Initial Research Results.” The presenters were CI at WMU Director Dr Donald McCloud, Associate Director

Dr Jiwei Fu, Kimberly Ritter, assistant director for school outreach, and Maran Subramanian, graduate research coordinator

Research Main

Timeline of Highlights

The CI at WMU has hosted hundreds of events, celebrations, meetings and

lectures since its founding in fall 2009 Our timeline highlights a variety of those

activities and events held each year

President John M Dunn, Dr Donald McCloud and Dr Xiaojun Wang eled to Beijing for the official signing ceremony establishing the CI at WMU.

trav-2009

4 6

Th e C I a t W M U h e l d a t h r e e

-day, Chinese teaching resource

exhibition open to the public at Waldo

Library on WMU’s main campus

Ten Portage Public Schools teachers and administrators participated in the Educational Exchange in China, traveling to Beijing, Shaoxing and Shanghai to learn Chinese language and culture, and to give presentations

at workshops held at BLCU

7 17-31

Chinese Teaching Materials Exhibition Educational Exchange in China

2010