- Hays High School world geography teacher Robin Manning, one of 20 U.S. teachers serving as delegates to an international conference last November, is flanked by an American serviceman and a soldier of the Republic of Korea at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. Manning was recently selected as a Fulbright-Hays grant recipient for a month-long trip to China this summer. (Courtesy photo)
by JIM CULLEN
Hays High School world geography teacher Robin Manning will be offering her students a little something truly extra next school year, thanks to an incredible development announced recently. Manning was named one of 13 Texas recipients of a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant and departed this week for a month-long tour of China.
The grant is from the U.S. Department of Education and is administered through Texas A&M University, which will provide Manning and her fellow grantees an immersion experience in Chinese culture. The group includes teachers of world history, world geography and Chinese language. Lasting for just over four weeks, the course will consist of classroom and field experiences, cultural tours, observation of teaching processes and small group discussions on curriculum standards in Texas and China.
The itinerary will take Manning and her group to a number of Chinese cities including Beijing, Huhenot, Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai, Kunming and Lijang and will bring the teachers into contact with China’s dominant, as well as minority, cultures.
Before her departure earlier this week, Manning said the grant application process was challenging.
“There were seven essays to write, and since I have never done anything like that before, it was nerve-wracking,” she said.
A friend with previous success in the process offered counsel on content and, Manning says, “Apparently it worked!”
Organizers say the project’s goal is to “develop educators’ intercultural competence and enhance social studies curriculum and instruction on China in Texas middle and high school classrooms”. The program was developed by Texas A&M Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture, in conjunction with the university’s Office of International Outreach, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Council for Social Studies and, in China, the National Association of Educational Administrators.
On their return from the trip, Manning and her fellow travelers will be expected to disseminate accurate and relevant information about Chinese ethnic groups and culture to their peers through a series of conferences and multi-media products.
