By Ma Jianhong, Teacher of Critical Languages Program 2016-17, on his experience as an exchange teacher at Izard County Consolidated Elementary School in Arkansas.
When I learned from the award letter it was mandatory for a TCLP exchange teacher to complete 8-10 hours of outreach each month, my exhilaration of exploring a new country suddenly dissipated, followed by my worry about how I could accomplish such a mission. It had been looming large on my mind ever after. A lot of questions crossed my mind. How could I balance the time between my 18-hour-per-week schedule and my outreach? How could I reach out to the nearby communities beyond my host school? What if nobody turned up at my presentation? Seven months has slipped by speedily since I started to conduct my outreach. Looking back on my work, I have come to the realization that it is a marvelous blessing, rather than a massive burden. To my great delight, local people have enjoyed my outreach, which they say gives them a new perspective of China and Chinese culture. To quote a teacher whose students attended my presentation: "One of the students said, 'This is so baller!' To translate, that's one of the best compliments an American teenager can give!" In the meantime, I have enormously benefited from my outreach activities professionally, culturally, and personally.
Because I am a Chinese native does not mean I am expert at Chinese culture. Actually, outreach enables me to learn across the curriculum and update my knowledge concerning each presentation I will make. Many teachers in the schools have requested that my presentations focus on such topics as ancient Chinese idioms, current Chinese issues, or cultural differences, so it usually takes me a long time to prepare lessons due to research. It is really a toil, but I am rewarded with an added bonus: I have gained a new insight into our own country by reading, thinking, and sharing. To some extent, this experience has incredibly sharpened my sense of national pride, as previously I took our unique culture for granted.
Outreach is an amazing platform to expand my social network in such a sparsely populated area, interact with people from all walks of life, and establish friendships with them. It gives me a glimpse of American society and culture as well as what they think of China. It also helps me dispel many misconceptions about Americans through engaging with them face to face. Without these outreach activities, I would lock myself into my small room and miss out on many opportunities to enrich my American life. Actually, I have many fond memories from outreach work. For instance, before Christmas, a class from a nearby school where I conducted an outreach presentation gave me a package containing each child's hand-made gift. Many times my outreach has afforded me the opportunity of being invited to a dinner in a restaurant or somebody's house. Some of them have become my friends who often take me for a country ride or other fun activities. Now I am acutely aware of the true meaning of outreach and its relevance to a newcomer from another culture.
About the Author
Ma Jianhong is originally from Ningbo, China. He holds degrees in English education from both Ningbo Normal University and Zhejiang Normal University. Mr. Ma has earned the professional title of senior teacher, and has acted as both the deputy age group and English Department leader. His favorite part of teaching has been acting as a class tutor. Mr. Ma enjoys reading, especially about current issues both at home and abroad, which can give students a new perspective beyond textbook learning. He is especially proud of two teaching experiences teaching English in a poor mountainous area on a "government helping government" program, and teaching Mandarin in Scotland on a British Councils program. His primary objective for TCLP is to become a global educator who can prepare his American students for a globally connected world. Mr. Ma was hosted by Izard County Consolidated Elementary School in Violet Hill, Arkansas during the 2016-17 academic year.
About TCLP
The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) is a multi-layered cross-cultural program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State.
American Councils recruits and places English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from China, Egypt, and Morocco within American secondary schools where they teach their native language and culture. Through TCLP, each party involved is positively impacted: American students develop appreciation for and fluency with the critical languages of Mandarin Chinese and Arabic, exchange teachers improve their English which intensifies the depth of their home school's EFL curriculum, American and exchange teachers develop partnerships and share both resources and teaching methods, and all students and teachers form deeper understanding of others' cultures.
To learn more, visit: http://tclprogram.org/