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Life’s Travels in Language and Culture

Let the Sun Beat Down

The 2009 “Chinese Bridge for American Schools – taking the Next Step” was a professional learning trip to China that was sponsored by Hanban (the Chinese government’s education wing) in partnership with the College Board. My friend and assistant principal colleague, Dorothy Montgomery, and I were both invited to attend the trip together to visit schools as well as for me to arrange an exchange program for our students back in the states with a sister school in Linhai City, China. The Chinese Bridge program was created for principals and educational officials in the United States to learn more about China and encourage the growth of Chinese language programs in American schools and English in Chinese schools.

 

I had written a grant a year earlier for a Mandarin Chinese Language course, which we were awarded. The grant we were rewarded was a generous three-year, fully funded teacher position grant to establish Mandarin Chinese at Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago. As a result of the grant, we were able to fully establish Mandarin Chinese as a world language. Dorothy was the assistant principal over the world language department and because a portion of my administrative duties included being a grant writer and AP Coordinator, we were both invited to travel to China.

During our visit to China, we attended a welcoming ceremony held in Beijing’s Desheng Gate Tower and lectures on Chinese culture provided by a variety of scholars. We visited many sites in Beijing, such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall (during down time I was also able to take a side trip to Tiananmen Square) and then flew to Shanghai. We visited primary and secondary schools, attended educational workshops, and presentations on educational practices. The site visits to schools, cultural locations, and tourist areas were exhaustive but provided partnership-building activities and opportunities to share experiences and best practices with other colleagues from other schools who were part of the delegation.

I then traveled with Chagrin Falls, Ohio Superintendent Steve Thompson to China’s southeastern Zhejiang Province while Dorothy remained in Shanghai. Steve and I visited Linhai City, a county-level city in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. Steve and I had met prior to our trip to partner for a cultural exchange with a common sister school in China. Steve had already begun establishing a relationship with Huipu High School in Linhai City for students, teachers, and administrators to engage in exchanges. While Dorothy remained in Shanghai, Steve and I visited a number of schools, including Huipu High School in Linhai City as our future sister school.

We met with Huipu High School’s Vice President, Ren Meigin, and their President, Li Xiaodong. The focus was to increase opportunities for students in all three of our schools for cultural learning, language learning, and joint exchange projects. After two very long days of traveling, visiting campuses, and meeting with officials, we agreed to create an immersive cultural exchange with a focus on traditions and academia through a “zero distance” cultural experience. Students, teachers, and administrators participating in the immersive exchange opportunities would experience authentic living with host families to develop an awareness of similarities and differences between daily living in the United States and China. Our trip to Linhai City concluded with a trip to Ziyang Street, the Linhai Great Southern City Wall, and Taozhu Ancient City before heading off for a four-hour drive back to Shanghai.

Stars to Fill My Dreams
After what felt like traveling for a week packed within just 24 hours, we arrived back in Shanghai in the late afternoon/evening. Never one to rest, I spent time visiting the city at night to see the colorful city lights, immense urban spread of concrete bridges and structures scraping the sky, and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower. Early the next morning our luggage was collected from each of our rooms and placed onto our tour bus, as we had yet another full of travel. I did not see Dorothy for breakfast, which was strange because she was a morning person and ate breakfast, which I joined her each morning even though I am not a “breakfast person.” I went to Dorothy’s room to check in with her and she informed me she was feeling under the weather and could not breath. Dorothy shared with me that her difficulties breathing began on the very first morning after our arrival in Beijing. Dorothy told me she did not want to say anything to alarm anyone or to slow anyone down on the site visits but she was now fully out of breath.

We arranged for Dorothy to be taken to Shanghai International Hospital midmorning to be observed before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Beijing. Tragically and most shockingly, within fifteen minutes of arriving at the hospital, Dorothy suddenly, and unexpectedly, passed away. We were to return to Beijing late that same afternoon and travel back home after just two more days in China. Our delegation was scheduled to leave Shanghai after lunch, as we were all booked on a flight out of Shanghai to Beijing. The delegation could not remain in Shanghai and had to catch the afternoon flight. It was a non-negotiable. However, I could not leave my friend with the tragedy unfolding in front of me.

It was an overwhelming situation to process and things seemed to be moving in slow motion. Dorothy and I traveled together to help build our growing language program and we were so far from home yet only days away from returning to our families. I knew Dorothy for ten years and I could not believe she was gone. I refused to leave Dorothy alone in Shanghai, let alone China, and demanded that her luggage and mine get retrieved from where it had already been stored on our tour bus. This created quite a scene, as Hanban was equally demanding I travel with the delegation to the airport and depart for Beijing. Upon arrival at the airport I retrieved Dorothy’s luggage along with my own from underneath the bus. I refused to leave the terminal and stated I would stay and find a hotel myself until arrangements could be made to fly Dorothy home.

Chris Passing Moments Quote

I remember it starting to rain as I hugged those I was on the tour bus with as they passed to enter the airport. I remember then checking my new “flip” cell phone to learn my battery was completely drained. The delegation had to make their flight and a woman from Hanban arranged for me to take a taxi with my luggage and Dorothy’s luggage to a city center transit terminal not far from the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower. I was instructed to go to the terminal and someone would meet me there to arrange accommodations and serve as a guide and translator for our next steps. I got into the taxi and the driver whisked me off to the rendezvous point, which he had been given in Chinese but I could not understand.

Traveler of Both Time and Space
I arrived at the terminal, which was an outdoor public bus depot in the middle of a somewhat residential and local commercial area. The driver was speaking in Chinese and pointing to an area for me to sit underneath a broken awning, which would not provide any coverage from the rain. I was nervous because my cell phone was useless and I was alone. I was also transporting four bags of luggage and I had no idea who I was supposed to meet. I waited for over two hours and then three, anxious to move but could not really stir, entirely surrounded by luggage.

Each moment that passed felt like hours. Those passing hours felt like evenings turning to days. There was not one Westerner in the area, no one spoke English and by this time, it was dark and everyone was moving about after getting out of work for the evening. I began to wonder if I was in the correct place. My coat was soaked right though with the cold rain and I was in a state of disbelief. I could not move, my phone was not working, and no one seemed to be coming. Was someone trying to call me? Was I at the correct transit station? I wondered a variety of thoughts but mostly about Dorothy’s family and my family in Chicago. How were they going to process everything that was happening?

After what felt like an eternity, a woman walked right up to me and with perfect English said, “Hello Chris. I am Ada.” She expressed her condolences and let me know she had booked me into a hotel. Ada and I had never met but she could tell who I was and let me know our representative from the College Board, Hoor, was going to be staying in Shanghai and would meet us in the morning.

Over the course of roughly the next ten days, after being granted power of attorney by Dorothy’s family, we would literally spend 12-14 hours every day together, traveling all over Shanghai and coordinating with the State Department, the American Embassy, the Chinese Embassy, the Chinese Police, and local Chinese officials to arrange for Dorothy to return back home. Each time I thought we were close, another bureaucratic requirement would materialize and it seemed as though we would never be leaving to fly back home. At one point, a Chinese environmental agency had to provide a stamp, which required yet more negotiating and additional delays. I often thought how challenging it must have been for Dorothy’s family, who were languishing back home with each delay and the uncertainty of when I would be returning her home. I knew my wife and young daughters were worried. Christmas was coming and I was supposed to be home but I could never live with myself if I left, even though Hanban continued to ask me to do so while I remained for that extra week and-a-half in Shanghai.

While those ten days will be forever ingrained in my memory, we did get back home together in time for Christmas and Dorothy was laid to rest in Chicago. However, before we left the Shanghai airport, I had to once again refuse to leave China, as I learned I could not be on the same flight with Dorothy. I was flying on standby so after further arrangements were made and learning Dorothy’s flight departed Shanghai, my College Board travel companion, Hoor, and I boarded the next standby flight for our 14-hour return to the States.

I actually did not want to go on the trip and before committing I told Dorothy I was thinking about backing out. My twin daughters were both still little and the thought of a 14-hour flight was not attractive to me. I remember Dorothy clearly telling me, “Christopher, you’re going with me! It’s all your fault! You wrote the grant!” Dorothy laughed while letting me know I was going and that I had, indeed, already made up my mind! Dorothy had a larger-than-life laugh and personality. She was famous for her laugh, sense of humor, and ability to be direct. When I think about Dorothy today, I can still hear her laugh.

Dorothy and I had become friends ten years earlier when we were both a pair of teachers volunteering for pretty much every leadership committee available at the school. When my twin daughters, Norah and Erin, were born, Dorothy was the member of the Leadership Steering committee that chose the girls’ matching pink dresses that the team gave us as a gift for the girls. It took a year but the girls finally grew into their dresses in time for their first birthday. I remember showing Dorothy a photograph of Norah and Erin from their first birthday party and how cute they both looked in their pink glory.

Chris Individual Quote

In retrospect, I am happy I went on the trip with Dorothy, even though every time I tried to take a picture with her, Dorothy would say with calm and conviction, “Christopher, get away from me with that camera!” I believe things happen for a reason. I was able to stay in China to help get Dorothy home. I was able to visit with Dorothy the morning after she passed away and say the Lord’s Prayer next to her. Maybe these are the reasons I was there? Navigating the bureaucratic red tape on both the American and Chinese fronts was perhaps one of many reasons for my inclusion on the trip. If I had not gone she would have been left alone in Shanghai.

I still do not know why I went (other than Dorothy telling me I had to go!) because everything about the timing of the trip felt wrong to me and I always go with my instinct. However, I believe there are bigger plans for each of us. I am convinced the reason things “happen” to us, albeit sometimes painfully, are for purposes that are greater than the individual or can be comprehended at the time. I have always possessed the ability to stay calm during crises and working with multiple government agencies for what amounted to countless hours every day was something I could handle. At the time I could not see it but in retrospect, I am thankful I was the one to travel with Dorothy.

To Be Where I Have Been
As an educator, there was one profound teaching and learning observation I was able to make as a result of delays caused by the unexpected environmental stamp required for approval to leave the country. When it became apparent we were finally going to be able to leave China but would need to wait for the stamp, I asked my Hanban associate, Ada, why is it each and every school I visited in Beijing, Shanghai, Linhai City I never observed any art or music programs. The arts were nearly 100 percent non-observant as classroom curricula exercises, work products, or as student artifacts in the buildings. Ada explained to me that the focus for schools in China is in the core subject areas with an emphasis on students eventually majoring in those areas. The goal is for students to major in the core subject areas to contribute to society. The arts are left for those students whose families choose to spend resources (if they are able) outside of school. The arts were not deemed necessary for a holistic program of study in the schools.

I asked Ada if there was a Chinese art gallery we could see while awaiting the approval to make our travel arrangements back home. Ada shared with me there is an industrial “artsy” Shanghai Art District village but it did not have any western art. I explained I did not want to see any Western art. I wanted to see what the creative people of China draw, paint, and sculpt. I wanted to observe their expressions. On our last day in Shanghai we visited the Shanghai Art District, which remains my favorite site visited outside of the Great Wall. It was beautiful and amazing – and it was all absent from their schools. None of the creativity I observed was observable in any school. The creativity within the Art District extends along every path, shop, and building and decorative details along your walk. It was amazing but then it all disappears once you leave the area.

As a biologist, I possess an obvious love and appreciation of science. My graduate work in curriculum and instruction as well as my doctoral work has all been centered on science instruction, increasing instructional capacity, and improving student scientific inquiry and literacy skills.

Chris Nature-Denature Quote

In each teaching and administrative position I have held, I have focused on STEAM as a vehicle for interdisciplinary, cross-curricular teaching and learning beyond the acronym. I do not believe you can nurture innovation if you denature the arts in education. I do not possess any degrees in art. However, the overwhelming majority of the world’s most innovative products, biotechnologies, computing software, engineering advancements, etc. all originated in the United States because of balanced core subject offerings and a value for the arts in education. I invite anyone driving in their car, sitting at home, or traveling outside to not be impacted by the arts in terms of music, design, or form. It is impossible.

I believe excluding the arts from rigorous teaching and learning is a critical error. I have seen this firsthand and it is joyless. Any innovative software, hardware, or products we enjoy originated from the United States. Why? Because it occurred as the result of interactive design principles inclusive of the arts and woven within the realms of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics curricula. A teacher of the arts is no less an educator than any teacher in any “core” subject area. The products we use each and every day (computers, automobiles, smart phones, the Internet, etc.) may be mass-produced outside of this country but they were “mass-innovated” and created in the United States as a result of the arts in education.

After returning home and reflecting on the curricular programs I observed outside of the United States, I was more confident than ever of the role of the arts in teaching in learning. I was able to visit a number of other sites over the years, such as the Apple Executive Briefings in Cupertino and a variety of related science, computer tech, and makers labs over the years and the arts are major contributors to the creative, innovative process. Possessing an authentic understanding of culture is also vital, which is supported by diverse world language offerings in our schools with a commitment to creativity and innovation.

As the years passed, I continued my efforts to cultivate the Mandarin Chinese world language program for Dorothy and was fortunate to be able to work with an amazing department to nurture and expand our language offerings. We were able to significantly cultivate our world language program for a very diverse student body outside of the traditional European world languages course offerings. We needed diverse, critical languages (especially those designated by the State Department as critical languages) that better represented our student body and were also relevant for our changing world. From 2008 to 2015, in addition to adding Mandarin Chinese, I was able to lead in establishing Arabic, Russian, and Japanese language course offerings in addition to our existing world language opportunities for students. 

The Mandarin Chinese language program is a curriculum pathway I am proud still remains at Lane Tech through today, and is a testament to the memory of my friend, Dorothy.

Chris

Referenced links and documents:
Integrating STEM Topics in the Foreign Language Classroom: Promising Practices for Foreign Language Instruction, Tatiana Nekrasova-Beker and Anthony Becker, National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition

Learning a Foreign Language: A Door Opened for STEM Education, Maria Del Rosario, 12th International Technology, Education and Development Conference, March 2018

Picking Up STEAM: The Role of Languages and Linguistics ,Keith Mason, The STEAM Journal

Road to Forgiveness by Chris Dignam

STEAM into Foreign Language Education, Maggie Broderick, Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association

STEMming the Tide – STEAMing Ahead By Including World Language Education, Kathryn Murphy-Judy, Learning Languages

CANE Dubh Publishing

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