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Joel to blog for Independent during trip to China
By Harold Reutter
harold.reutter@theindependent.com
Grand Island Superintendent Steve Joel hopes to blog once a day for The Independent during his trip to China.
Joel left on the first leg of his trip today. He said the first portion of the trip will be spent in Beijing, where he believes having an Internet connection will be no problem. A portion of his trip also will be spent in Chongqing.
Joel said he did not know about the availability of Internet connections in that city. But he does know Chongqing is reputedly the most densely populated city in China, with a population of 40 million people in an area about the size of Omaha.
"It's very industrialized," said Joel, who expects to encounter smog while he is staying in Chongqing.
His trip is being financed by the Confucian Institute in China and the College Board in the United States. The trip will allow Joel to compare and contrast China's education system with the education system in America.
It also will allow American educators on the trip to learn more about China, which is at once both a developing country and a rising economic power in the world.
Brian Maher, superintendent of the Kearney Public Schools, took a previous trip with fellow educators to China. He said China offers universal education. However, the country uses a high-stakes test to winnow out some students from advancing to high school.
Another high-stakes test then winnows out high school students from advancing to college, Maher said.
The Kearney superintendent said educators also learned about the Chinese economy and how it relates to the world economy.
Since The Independent published a story that said Joel will be traveling to China, several people who have lived in China have voluntarily come forward to teach him a little about what to expect on his trip.
Joel said he has been listening to Chinese language tapes to learn how to say "hello," "goodbye" and "thank you" in Chinese. He said he was still listening to the tape on Tuesday to learn a few more words that he could say in Chinese while on his trip.
His visa for the trip to China did not arrive until it came with Monday's mail. That was the next-to-last possible day that Joel could have received his visa because the first leg of his trip to China begins on Wednesday.
Joel left on the first leg of his trip today. He said the first portion of the trip will be spent in Beijing, where he believes having an Internet connection will be no problem. A portion of his trip also will be spent in Chongqing.
Joel said he did not know about the availability of Internet connections in that city. But he does know Chongqing is reputedly the most densely populated city in China, with a population of 40 million people in an area about the size of Omaha.
"It's very industrialized," said Joel, who expects to encounter smog while he is staying in Chongqing.
It also will allow American educators on the trip to learn more about China, which is at once both a developing country and a rising economic power in the world.
Brian Maher, superintendent of the Kearney Public Schools, took a previous trip with fellow educators to China. He said China offers universal education. However, the country uses a high-stakes test to winnow out some students from advancing to high school.
Another high-stakes test then winnows out high school students from advancing to college, Maher said.
The Kearney superintendent said educators also learned about the Chinese economy and how it relates to the world economy.
Since The Independent published a story that said Joel will be traveling to China, several people who have lived in China have voluntarily come forward to teach him a little about what to expect on his trip.
Joel said he has been listening to Chinese language tapes to learn how to say "hello," "goodbye" and "thank you" in Chinese. He said he was still listening to the tape on Tuesday to learn a few more words that he could say in Chinese while on his trip.
His visa for the trip to China did not arrive until it came with Monday's mail. That was the next-to-last possible day that Joel could have received his visa because the first leg of his trip to China begins on Wednesday.
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