[Okgrantsmanship] This is news!

[Mason, Linda]

ECU Offering Master's Degree Program to Teachers in China

 
Dr. Duane C. Anderson (center), representing East Central University,
signs a partnership agreement with the Macau Song Qing Ling Foundation
International Education Center in China that will allow Chinese teachers
to earn master's degrees from ECU. Thomas Wallis (left) represented the
foundation at the signing ceremony. Watching is Dr. Bill Osborne, dean
of ECU's College of Education and Psychology.

A trip to East Central University last April by recruiters looking for
American teachers for a new school in China has evolved into a
partnership agreement that will allow Chinese teachers to earn master's
degrees from ECU. The agreement was signed by Dr. Duane C. Anderson, as
interim president of ECU, and Thomas Wallis, chairman of the Macau Song
Qing Ling Foundation International Education Center. Wallis was one of
the recruiters.

Beginning this August, Chinese students will be able to take online
graduate courses from ECU during the fall and spring semesters. They
will be required to come to ECU in the summer for two months of classes
to complete the requirements for a master of education degree in either
elementary or secondary education. "We don't anticipate more than a
handful this year," said Dr. Bill Osborne, dean of ECU's College of
Education and Psychology. "They would already have to have their TOEFL
scores and have their transcripts verified because they have to meet all
of ECU's requirements to be admitted."

The first students, who would not come to the campus until next summer,
will be the two people who came on the recruiting trip to ECU in April,
Wallis and Mia Wang. The Macau Song Qing Ling Foundation had established
an education unit, Osborne explained, with Wallis as its chairman. They
were looking for teachers for a pre-school/kindergarten, an English
immersion boarding school for children 3 to 6 years old, being built by
Wang's father in Nanjing, China. "While they were here, we outlined a
quick document showing that we could offer online courses and summer
courses at ECU. They took the information to China to Mia's father and
an agreement was worked out," Osborne said. Wallis is a native Oklahoman
with a background in communications as a trainer for adults in business.

The foundation has had partnerships with other universities that cost
Chinese students about $50,000 a year, Osborne said. "This is an
opportunity for their students to get a master's degree at a reasonable
price at a reputable university and be gone only two months," he said.
"There could be a market for this over there."

Foundation officials looked at ECU's reputation, its Web site, the
number of programs it offers and the national accreditations it holds
before agreeing to the proposal, he said. The proposal also allows for
the program to be expanded to include students seeking undergraduate
degrees from ECU. The foundation will charge fees to Chinese students to
help them go through the steps to be admitted to ECU, Osborne said, such
as securing visas and other documents, completing testing and collecting
money and fees. Students do not have the use the foundation, however.
"This doesn't cost ECU anything. It is a very well-known, prestigious
foundation," Osborne said. "It has many locations. This one is in
Macau."

In fact, the foundation is paying Osborne's expenses to go to Nanjing,
China, in July to give a lecture describing the method of continuing
education for American teachers and to promote ECU's proposal for
offering graduate degrees to Chinese teachers. He also will talk about
other program options open to potential Chinese students to encourage
them come to ECU for six months or for an entire academic year.

"This trip will focus primarily on graduate student recruitment," he
said. "But I'm sure we will also have opportunities to visit with
students about to graduate from high schools as well as those who are
in, or are about to enter, undergraduate programs in China." Osborne
said China's education system compares to the United States' in the
1950s. "In China, the teachers teach and the students sit quietly at
their desks. They never question the teacher. We know now that students
learn better if they are actively engaged," he explained. "We want them
to question what they are being taught. Critically analyze it, take it
apart and be able to apply it to something else. We want to see students
perform." Osborne said teachers should not just teach but also measure
the effect of their teaching on learning. "If students aren't learning,
why?" he asked. "Is it because of learning styles, developmental
learning or something else? It can't be all just the students. Teachers
have to be part of the approach." Osborne said ECU's master's program in
education is designed to teach students to understand and apply research
and to use that knowledge to better educate children. 

Chinese students will take a research methods course online to learn how
to do research. They will design a research study that will be approved
by ECU faculty and will conduct research at their own schools. They will
bring their results to ECU in the summer to do a study on the effects of
their teaching on student learning "For example," Osborne said, "what
are the questions we should be asking? Is one teaching method better
than another? What if we try a strategy with one group but not another?
Is doing this better than doing that? This is what the Chinese are not
doing now."

During their summer stay on campus, the Chinese will take 13 credit
hours of classes. "They will be very busy," he said, "but we want to
show them something about the culture in our country. They could design
a lesson for our students or they could design a class about our culture
to take to China." Osborne expects more than two students to enroll this
fall but wants only a small number the first year. "Evidently, a large
number of teachers want to come to the United States," he said. "There's
a potential for a very active, large program to develop here. This is a
wonderful opportunity, if we make sure we take our time and do it
right." The same online master's program is available to other students,
he said. Osborne said the Chinese agreement is the result of assistance
from a lot of other people at ECU, especially the heads of University
Development, the Education Department, School of Graduate Studies,
Career Development Center and the Admissions and Records, International
Students and Bursar's Offices. 

 

 

Linda Mason, Ed.D.

Coordinator for Grant Writing and External Funding

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

655 Research Parkway, Suite 200

Oklahoma City, OK 73104

405-225-9486

lmason at osrhe.edu

IP: 164.58.250.178

 

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